Map Latin America

Your Guides Hola! My name is Anka and this is my friend Naira. Welcome to our home, Latin America.

Music

Latin American music is a reflection of the amazing mix of people who live here. The indigenous people have a unique kind of traditional music. Latin American pop music is popular all over the place, and has even been successful in other parts of the world.

I love all kinds of Latin American music. Here are a few of my favorites that you might have heard on the radio in your hometown.

Reggaeton

This type of music is most popular with Latin American teenagers. It blends reggae, hip hop and dance music with traditional Latin American rhythms like the bomba.

Andean Music

The traditional music of the Inca people has been passed down through centuries. It’s played mostly on wooden wind instruments like the pan flute. You can hear musicians playing traditional Andean tunes in the streets of many countries, including Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Art

Tourists who visit Latin America are all searching for one special souvenir to remember the region by. Whether they bring home a hammock, a wall-hanging or a poncho, it’s the local weaving they’re after.

Latin America’s ancient indigenous groups are famous for their weaving.

All three of Latin America’s ancient indigenous groups—Inca, Maya and Aztec—are famous for their weaving. Today, Latin America’s indigenous people carry on this tradition. Some people even weave in their homes and sell what they make in the local markets. The detail in their work is truly amazing.

Songs We Sing

My friends all across Latin America love singing. Some evenings, we sing one of our favorite songs called El Condor Pasa (pronounced El kohn-dor pah-sa), or Flight of the Condor. It’s a traditional Inca folk song. We sing it in Quechua, but the English version goes like this. Listen to the song and see if you can keep up!

Oh mighty Condor, owner of the skies,

Take me home, up into the Andes, oh mighty Condor.

I want go back to my native place to be

With my Inca brothers.

That is what I miss the most, oh mighty Condor.

Wait for me in Cuzco, in the main plaza,

So we can take a walk in Machu Picchu and Huayna-Picchu.

Learn the Lingo

Practice these phrases in Quichua, a common Latin American indigenous Language. Click on the words to hear how they are pronounced.

Hello / Imanalla

How are you? / Allillachu cangui?

My name is / Ñuca shutimi can

I love you / Ñuca kuyani

Will you be my friend? / Ñucahuan parlasha niguichu?

How much is this? / Mashnatac can?