♫She went... and... and...♫ (barking, growls) ♫When she ate some alphabet soup♫ ♫Then what happened was bizarre...♫ On the way to Martha's stomach, the letters lost their way.

They traveled to her brain, and now... ♫She's got a lot to say♫ ♫Now she speaks...♫ How now, brown cow?

♫Martha speaks♫ ♫Yeah, she speaks and speaks and speaks♫ ♫And speaks and speaks...♫ What's a caboose?

When are we eating again?

♫Martha speaks...♫ Hey, Joe, what do you know?

My name's not Joe.

♫She's not always right, but still that Martha speaks...♫ Hi, there.

♫She's got the voice, she's ready to shout♫ ♫Martha will tell you what it's all about♫ ♫Sometimes wrong, but seldom in doubt♫ ♫Martha will tell you what it's all about♫ ♫That dog's unique...♫ Testing, one, two.

♫Hear her speak♫ ♫Martha speaks and speaks and speaks and speaks and...♫ ♫Communicates, enumerates, elucidates, exaggerates♫ ♫Indicates and explicates♫ ♫Bloviates and overstates and...♫ (panting) ♫Hyperventilates!♫ ♫Martha-- to reiterate-- Martha speaks.♫ Hello!

(school bell rings) Okay, señores y señoritas, here are your Spanish vocabulary quizzes.

Some of you did excelente!

Yes!

And some of you... not so excelente.

Aw, man!

How did that happen?

I don't know, amigo.

Did you study?

Duh.

I knew I forgot something.

(groans) Okay, so this isn't your best grade either.

But don't worry, Alicia.

You'll get a chance to make it up on the next assignment.

Serámuy fácil.

Easy.

Really?

Okay, escuchen!

Listen up.

Your next assignment is something really cool.

An oral report in Spanish?

There is nothing cool about that.

Nada.

An oral report in Spanish?

What's the matter?

You're really good at oral reports.

Yeah, and you pronounce everything perfectly in Spanish.

No, I don't.

When you pronounce something, it means you say it.

I never say a word aloud in class.

But you do.

I remember on the very first day... Good morning.

Buenos días.

(loudly): Buenos días.

(kids giggling) Muy bien, uh, Alicia.

Very good.

Your pronunciation was perfecta.

I remember.

Your voice was so loud.

Yeah, well, I haven't pronounced anything since.

I just can't seem to learn any other Spanish, and I certainly can't speak aloud in front of everyone.

"Buenos días" is the only Spanish I know.

I can just see how it's going to go... Buenos días.

Buenos días, buenos días, buenos días.

¿¿Buenos días?

Buenos días!

(sweetly): Buenos días.

(fearfully): Buenos días.

Come on.

You know more Spanish than buenos días.

Yeah.

You're always raising your hand in class.

Not exactly.

BOTH: Huh?!

ALICE: Whenever Señor Craig calls for answers... Who can tell me how to say "I like school"in Spanish?

Come on, say it aloud.

Señorita Celeste?

CELESTE: ¿¿Me gusta la escuela?

SEÑOR CRAIG: Correcto, Celeste!

(sighs) ALICE: I only raise my hand after he calls on someone else.

And whenever he asks us to read aloud...

Okay, I need a volunteer to read aloud in a nice, strong voice.

Alice?

(coughs) (raspy): Sorry.

Voice gone.

ALICE: I pretend to have laryngitis.

And if things really look hopeless... Alicia, how do you say "to talk"in Spanish?

Uh, I uh... ALICE: I play the clumsy card.

Oops!

Better clean up.

Wow, I had no idea you were doing that.

Me neither.

You're my new hero.

(slurping) You done with that?

No.

But Alice, how hard can giving a speech in Spanish be?

Easy for you to say.

You're practically bilingual.

I'm not bilingual.

"Bilingual"means you speak two languages.

I'm bilingual!

I might understand more Spanish than you do because my mom speaks it, but I'm not bilingual.

I am!

I'm bilingual.

You don't speak Spanish, Martha.

No, but I can ask for ice cream in human and in dog: (whines) Please...?

(chuckling): You've got a point.

Too bad you don't speak Spanish, Martha.

You could help me with my speech.

MOM:Hey!

Don't fill up.

Tío Jorge is cooking dinner tonight, remember?

He is?!

Mm-hmm.

You're welcome to stay if you like.

He cooks Spanish food, right?

No, not Spanish, Mexican.

Helen's Uncle Jorge cooks the best Mexican food.

Deliciosa!

Oh.

Does he take requests?

What did you have in mind?

JORGE: Drop that ladle!

Hola, Jorge!

Bienvenido!

That's right.

You're not doing any cooking tonight.

Tío Jorge is here!

Orale!

Dad... ♫Porque cantando se alegran, Cielito lindo, los corazones.

♫ You're gonna love it!

I brought everything.

I got tomates frescos.

Look at these fresh tomatoes.

Aren't they beautiful?

I got tortillas to die for made by la abuelita down at the tortilla factory.

And I brought the ingredients for TD's surprise.

¿¿Quécosa?

What?

Oh, no!

Es un secreto.

A secret?

That's right.

Now fuera, fuera-- out, out, out!

Tío Jorge works alone.

Orale!

Okay, everybody!

A la mesa!

Time to eat!

Enchiladas, chalupas and TD's super-secret request... Sopa de letras con albóndigas.

(sniffing) Is that Spanish for "smells really good"?

No.

It's Spanish for "alphabet soup with meatballs,"right?

Sí!

You bet.

Now, buen provecho!

Eat up.

Alice, what are you doing?

Uh... eating?

You can't!

You're allergic to meatballs, remember?

No, I'm not... You're already getting a rash.

Come outside.

You need some fresh air.

I'll go with you.

Huh?

That was strange.

Martha, you come too.

TD, what are you doing?

Helping you.

Helping me?

You could have at least given Martha your soup.

Are you kidding?

This soup is amazing.

Besides, your oral report is due before mine.

What are you talking about?

Martha?

Speak.

Hola!

(gasps) ¿¿Hablo español?

Sí!

¿¿Sí?

See?

Um...?

All you have to do is tell Martha what you want to say, record it, memorize it, then recite it-- instant oral report.

(squealing with delight) TD!

You're a genius!

I know.

Hey, wait.

This is such a great idea.

Why aren't you using it yourself?

I don't know.

Oh.

Well, thanks.

(gasps) I've got to get more soup!

Okay, Martha.

This should be easy.

Whatever I say, you recite it back in Spanish.

Ready?

Lista!

(hisses) (laughs weakly) For my oral report, I'd like to talk about Mexican food.

Para mi informe oral, quisiera hablar sobre la comida mexicana.

This is so brilliant!

I love Mexican food.

A mítambién me encanta la comida mexicana!

Enchiladas, chalupas, carnitas.

(hisses) Enchiladas!

Chalupas!

Carnitas!

The end.

El fin.

TD: Hey, guys.

I got some regular soup so you can talk normal once you're done recording.

A tiempo perfecto!

Huh?

(slurping) Perfect timing.

All that talk about Spanish food really made me hungry.

Bye, Martha.

Thanks.

All I have to do is memorize this and I have my speech.

(growls) Nelson, it's the only way I'm going to pass Spanish, okay?

MARTHA (on tape): Para mi informe oral, quisiera hablar sobre la comida mexicana.

ALICE (haltingly): Para... mi informe oral, quisiera hablar sobre la comida mexicana.

ALICE: Enchiladas!

Chalupas!

Carnitas!

Fin!

Muy bien, Señorita Alicia.

A-plus.

TD: "Local Girl Passes Spanish Oral Exam with Flying Colors!"

TIO JORGE: "American Ambassador to Mexico Suddenly Taken Ill!"

MARTHA: "President Asks an A-Plus Student to Take Over as Ambassador to Mexico!"

No!

Sí!

Sí!

No!

No!

Embajadora Alicia, ¿¿quépiensa de esta conversación?

Um, I think I should tell you something.

¿¿Sí?

The fact is, I, um... don't actually understand Spanish.

How is this possible?

You got an "A-plus" on your oral report.

Well, it's like this.

I memorized what the dog said and recited it.

You know, recite?

"Recite"means you say it out loud from memory, like a nursery rhyme or something.

Like a nursery rhyme?

You mean you cheated?

Cheater, cheater, cheater, cheater...!

Cheater!

Cheater!

Aah!

(sighs) It was only a dream.

(meows) Okay, okay.

I'll tell Señor Craig the truth.

Let me see if I understand.

The dog translated your words into Spanish and then you memorized-- memorizaste-- what the dog said?

Yeah, that's right.

I cheated.

Not really.

Huh?

You learned the way everyone learns.

By taping talking dogs?

(laughing): No.

By memorization.

Cuando memorizamos algo-- when we memorize something-- it just means we learn it.

Take the ABCs.

We don't know them when we're babies.

But our parents sing the song, and we repeat it.

Lo repetimos.

Like a nursery rhyme.

I know.

Right.

And then something happens.

We start to connect the song with the letters and presto-- we've memorized, or learned, our ABCs.

Look at it this way.

What if I asked you: ¿¿De quétrataba tu informe oral?

Mexican food.

La respuesta en español, por favor.

(sighs) De la comida mexicana.

¿¿De verdad?

¿¿Te gusta la comida mexicana?

Sí, me gusta mucho.

¿¿Y cuál es tu favorita?

I understand what you're saying!

Me gustan las enchiladas!

¿¿Lo ves?

Hablaste en español!

No se te hizo tan difícil, ¿¿verdad, jovencita?

Don't get carried away.

I'm not that good.

Yet.

Yet.

So does that mean I don't have to do a make-up report?

No, it means you will have to do a make-up report.

(groaning): Why did I ask?

And your own translation this time.

But at least it should be easier now.

Pues sí; bastante fácil!

(laughs) Hasta luego.

Adiós, Señor Craig.

Welcome to "Define That Word."

Contestants, are you ready?

Yeah!

Sure!

Okay!

Great!

Our word today is "articulate."

Articulate.

Who can tell me what it means?

Okay, TD.

You want to tell me what "articulate"means?

The North Pole didn't come to work on time?

Hmm... that's bizarrely wrong.

Maybe you can tell everyone how you got there.

That's what the boss would say.

Get it?

Arctic, like the North Pole?

(bossy): "Arctic, you late!"

Helen, care to hazard a guess?

"Articulate" means "pronounce"?

Close.

When you articulate, that means you say something clearly.

Well, that's all the time we have.

See you next time.

Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org