Escuchar a

[fglorca]

Is “escuchar a” only used when you are listening to a person (i.e. the personal ‘a’)?
Tenemos que escuchar a Juan.

Would this make the use of ‘a’ as a preposition incorrect in the sentence below?

“Después de un concierto allí, salió de fiesta a una discoteca y escuchó por primera vez a la canción.”

I always thought the preposition ‘to’ in ‘to listen to’ (the second ‘to’ here) was already built into the verb ‘escuchar’.


Many thanks in advance.

[Rusty]

Your understanding is correct.
The personal 'a' is needed when the direct object is a person (and the preposition is tied to the person, not the verb). Otherwise, no preposition is needed prior to saying the direct object.

[fglorca]

Thank you, Rusty.
Would a native speaker make this mistake? I'm almost certain that I heard a native use 'escuchar a' followed by 'la canción' recently.

[Rusty]

All native speakers make mistakes, in every language.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@fglorca: You wouldn't believe the many mistakes native speakers make. :D