The "Hips Don't Lie" singer is keen to have children with fiance Antonio de la Rua but says the couple don't have any plans to get married in the near future.
She said: "The fact is I'm not very traditionalist. We live together as husband and wife, we don't need anything to make it official, especially not for the paparazzi or magazines."
"Why fix things that aren't broken? But I do want to have lots of babies with him."
The 32-year-old beauty – who got engaged in 2001 – also wears her engagement ring on her middle finger as it is too big for her.
She added: "This is my engagement ring but it's too big so I wear it on my middle finger. I haven't got around to having it made smaller yet."
Shakira also credits Antonio with keeping her down-to-earth.
She told Britain's Sunday Times Magazine: "I've been in the public eye for along time and I don't know any other way of living – it's everything I know."
"My family and my friends remind me what's real, which helps, and Antonio – he is a wise man. If I get a bit silly he brings me back and reminds me who I am."
