Yesterday, we went to the Spanish program at the SICM.

[conuly]

(That's the best kid's museum in the city, bar none, have I said?)

At the end, everybody sang Los Pollitos.

By "everyone", I mean "all the native speakers, who learned this as kids". I do not, as it happens, mean me.

Since this is a new program, it hasn't had very many people (until yesterday), so Jenny-who-runs-the-program had neglected to bring the words.

(Well, most nearly everybody knew the song anyway. It was just me, and Olive (who speaks Urdu, not Spanish) who didn't.)

So I had to look it up online. Quite a catchy melody, really. But that's not why I'm posting.

I'm posting about the "Bate, Bate" chant up above. As I said, I'm not a native Spanish speaker. And, while I took it in school, we never had the chance to review children's songs (more's the pity). And yet, I knew that one. I know I knew it, because I've said it, at least the "bate, bate, chocolate" part, and thought I made it up. Clearly, I didn't, but where I learned it, I haven't the slightest clue.

Weird, no?