Latin Music USA
From Mambo to HipHop.
Which one should you consider showing...?
Latin Music USA (2009)
Advantages
- You can watch/show it free online through the PBS website. (Which gives you the option of assigning parts to watch at home or in a computer lab w/speakers)
- This is a very well done and entertaining documentary.
- It can be viewed in English or Spanish (for upper levels).
- PBS includes some online teaching materials in both languages.
- English Viewing Guide
- Spanish Viewing Guide
- Available for $29.95 plus S&H on Amazon. Last time I checked, there were some used copies available for $19.95.
Disadvantages
- It is four hours long and takes up too much class time. It is probably more detailed than it needs to be for a high school Spanish course. You can, of course, show only selected parts. The difficulty with this is knowing which parts to edit.
- I would not recommend this for middle school or younger due to the mention of drug use and a few choice words here and there. At some point I will go and try to find exactly where they are so teachers can fast-forward if they think it is better to do so.
From Mambo to Hip Hop (2008)
Advantages
- This is a concise, 56 minute documentary.
- Well done
Disadvantages
- Not available in Spanish
- Not availble for free online (at least not that I've found). You can watch it on YouTube (five minutes at a time), but what I found wasn't good quality.
- I have ordered this but have not personally viewed it yet. It has great reviews, but I cannot personally comment on the content, specifically if there is any inappropriate language.