Wow! Show season is (un)officially over. It still have one show left that was postponed. We have now moved on to our new lesson: Around the World in a Song. In this lesson, I am highlighting the song "Kye Kye Kule (pronounced che-che koo-lay), which is a classic Ghanaian children's song. I always love to dig up as much information as I can about the material I use. I wanted to find out what was the original language of this song and the meaning of its lyrics.
One long google search later, this is what I found:
- The lyrics don't mean much. They are nonsense words.
- Nobody knows what language the song is in because they are nonsense words and there are 79 languages in Ghana!
The best part of my search is that I rediscovered Smithsonian Folkways, a marvelous resource of folk music from around the world. I also found that they offer FREE courses on folk music and how to implement it into the classroom through iTunes U. Thank you! They also offer 1-week intensives with certification in world music pedagogy! That's so exciting!
(Anybody? Just me? Okay...)
If you're a teacher of any kind, I highly recommend Smithsonian Folkways as a must-have cultural resource. Check it out!
-Ash
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