The Why and How: Using Les Chansons Francaises (French language songs) to Learn French.
(well, you could use them to learn Swahili but I wouldn't recommend it)
by Simpetweb
Elsewhere I have talked about the French Music Radio Stations and French Language Songs that I both listen to and recommend to French language learners but here I want to try to answer this question: why is listening to French language songs helpful with learning the French language?: Here is my response using the highly original format of bullet points (that's irony for our American readers - In fact the real irony is that (a) that was a form of sarcasm rather than irony and (b) Americans probably have a better sense of irony than the British, having been the butt of 'Americans don't understand irony' jokes promulgated by us brits pretentiously acting as bastions of the English language making the said jokes in situations where nine times out of ten the guilty citations of 'irony' are in fact, as was the case here, citations of sarcasm, when the real truth of the matter is that the only reason why anyone gives a damn about my mother tongue (a fact of which all brits benefit in some way or other) is because of the yanks.
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THE TOP TEN MOST INTERESTING
French Language Music Artists Since 2000 French language music has always had a bit of a reputation for being naff among English speaking peoples. To rebuke those accusations I therefore present some shockingly good modern era music artists (Frenchies who still sing in French, who'd have thought..). The list is accompanied with individually playable YouTube videos so you can quickly sample and decide for yourselves. I have also written a ditty on each artist, not that anyone reads now-a-days. |
Anyway, after that tangent of a bifurquation (even I don't know what that means, and I wrote it!) let's continue with my (I'm too narcisistic to say 'our') bullet pointed reasons why (scroll to top because forgot what was going on about) listening to french music is particualarly good for learning french (at last) (do I use too many parentheses?) (nah!)
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O.k. not the first time I wrote an introduction with more substance than the article itself. However, I go more deeply into the HOW part in my next article: Modern Era French Music Artists and Songs of Interest. It was just meant to be a playlist page but then I ended up going into a detailed explanation of how to use these songs as a learning tool... just read it and you'll see. Moving swiftly on to something rather similar.., try this link for a kind of (but not quite) review of some of the 100%french song radio stations that I listen to and recommend for french language learners (WARNING: the entries/order/validity of this list may change if I get desperate enough to accept cashbacks. Just saying.) You could also listen to my personal Spotify playlist (below) of my favourite French language music, an eclectic mix of the best of the past and the present but specifically selected to suit Anglophone tastebuds.
1st. Jacque Brel ~Ces Gens La 2nd. Edith Piaf ~La foule 3rd. Gainsbourg & Birkin ~Je t'aime... moi non plus (Official video) 4th. Jules et Jim ~Le tourbillon (Film clip with lyrics underneath. Fr/En) 5th. Charles Aznavour - Emmenez Moi 6th. Jacques Brel ~Ne me quitte pas (Tv appearance. Subtitles in French) 7th. Charles Trenet ~La mer (Lyrics video: French) 8th. La Valse D'amelie (piano version) (montage of clips from film) 9th Claude François ~Comme d’habitude (Tv appearance. Subtitles in French) 10th. Edith Paf ~Non, je ne regrette rien (Taken from the film 'La Môme') |
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FREE FRENCH LESSONS BASED ON FRENCH SONG LYRICS
FREE FRENCH LESSON BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Edith Piaf Je Ne Regrette Rien Probably the only French song that the average Joe knows. Well, at least it's a good one. Emotionally charged and yet short and simple song, and hence good for beginners. No extremely metaphorical lyrics, just nice and direct, which helps. (1960) FREE FRENCH LESSON BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus Very very naughty. The controversial French lyrical genius begat a controversial sexy French song. You all know this one so there's not much more for me to add... except, if you thought it was a tad risqué beforehand, just wait until you understand the 'ins and outs' (ha ha!/ lol) of the lyrics. (1969) FREE FRENCH LESSON BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Claude François Comme D'habitude Confession: I hate every song this artist ever did except this one which was truly a chef d'oeuvre. After being seen on TV by a Canadian artist, the song was bought and its lyrics re-written in English once the song had been given totally different theme. The finished product was then sung by Frank Sinatra and thus was born: 'I Did It My Way' LOTS OF GRAMMAR NOTES (1967) FREE FRENCH LESSON BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Indila Dernière Danse This was on the free to view music channels every morning for the whole of spring 2014. A hit that came out of nowhere which now has 73 million YouTube hits. Vevo wouldn't let me use the official video so I used an excellent remix in place. (burn-Vevo-burn) (2014) FREE FRENCH LESSON BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Zaz Je Veux This was the song that led to Zaz becoming Frances top selling artist abroad in 2010 (or was it another year?) The album from which it came (called Zaz as it happens) ranked high in the charts all over Europe (except, of course, the UK). Simple but potent lyrics whose meaning hit home with me. Plenty of slang phrases within so if you need to work on that then this is your song. (2010) FREE FRENCH LESSON INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Stromae Papaoutai Recent hit all over europe and the world (152 million YouTube Hits) by the now established king of electro-urban-geek music. This song is not the easiest of ones but has a very strong lyrical narrative, if not message (as do all his songs) (2013) FREE FRENCH LESSON INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Benjamin Biolay Ton Héritage Modern Classic Chanson Française. One man, one piano, one haunting tune, and a bunch of stirring lines. This one always gives me goose pimples when I hear it on the radio. The word for word translations are there but I have left it light on the grammar notes. (2009) FREE FRENCH LESSON INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Jacques Brel Ne Me Quitte Pas This song is considered by many to be the all time greatest chanson française that has ever existed. Always at the top of meta-critic polls and a personal favorite of my own (I only do songs that I like). It's an oldie (circa 1959) and yet so timeless... P.s. I have done the phonetics for this one (1959) FREE FRENCH LESSON INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED LEVEL Malicorne Le Luneux From the album Almanach, this traditional French folk song reconstructed by the experimental headonism of Malicorne in the late seventies will make you shiver with delight. I'm not sure whether the melody came from another song, but who cares when it's this good. Some oldie style wording but my notes will help you understand it. (1977?) FREE FRENCH LESSON INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED LEVEL Olivia Ruiz La Femme Chocolat Unique voice, unique style of music, unique lyrics and unique looks help this artist stand far out from the often samey nouvelle scene crowd. This particular song demonstrates well her quirkiness with lyrics that are just damnright trippy. Level: at least intermediate. (2006) |