Is it possible to learn useful French expressions with songs? Yes, it is! In this series of blog posts called "Best Songs to Learn French (#bstlf on Instagram)", we explain the meaning of everyday French expressions with the help of songs. You will learn French idioms that you should definitely know. We try to make learning French fun and enjoyable for all students, whether they are beginners or have a higher level.
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Besides you'll learn one useful expression in each article we will post in this series, you'll discover many ways of using them in different contexts (songs in this case) so that it will help your brain to remember better due to the repetition and the emotion trigger of the music. Moreover, by listening the whole song, you'll discover many new words and expressions you might understand or even learn. To be able to listen to each song and read the lyrics, you only need to click on each picture. The link will redirect you to YouTube, in a new tab.
If you'd like to see our series from the beginning, click on this link.
Nothing else, so let's get started with today's verb which is "Rester". This is the first part by the way. The last part will be published next monday.
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Rester (pøt‿-ɛtɾ)* is the word we use to express uncertainty like "maybe" or "perhaps".
* This is the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) so that you can read with the right prononciation. If you don't know the IPA for French pronounciation. I recommand you to take a look at this website for learning it.
That's being said, let's look at some examples used in French songs.
🎶 Jean-Jacques Goldman ft Sirima - Là-bas (1987)
The firt song is called Là-bas, which means "Over there", is a duet by Jean-Jacques Goldman and Sirima. This song relates about a dream of Jean-Jacques would like to live over there. We don't know where it is exactly, but what we know there is freedom there. She doesn't want him to go there, but he no longer wants to stay here. He feels like he needs to leave the place he lives, whether it's with her or not.
The expression we will explain is : "Mais je me perds si je reste là (là-bas)". [me ʒə mə pɛɾ si ʒə ɾɛst la (la-bas)
] (But I get lost if I stay here (there))
🎶 Jenifer - Notre Idylle (2018)
A romance is a passing love affair of no consequence. In this song Notre Idylle by Jenifer tells her romance with the man she loves. She would like this love affair to become more serious. She would like to claim it, to shout it from the rooftops. Apparently, this is not the case with the man she loves. For him, it's just a romance.
The expression that interests us is: "Allons voir ce qu'il reste de nos apnées sous le drap" [alõ vwaɾ sə kil ɾɛst də noz‿ apneə su lə dɾa] (Let's see what's left of our apneas under the sheet). In this sentence, Jenifer recalls the years they made love because she is wondering if all those years counts for him to make their relationship more serious. As you may figure out, "reste" has a new meaning when we use it with "il". In this example, "ce qu'il reste" which is translated by "what's left".
🎶 Claudio Capéo - Un homme debout (2016)
🎶 Claudio Capéo - Dis-le moi (2016)
Another song from Claudio Capéo, called Dis-le moi where he tells us a story about how to find happiness, make our dreams come true. He feels like people are angry and is asking to someone how to find peacefulness. We don't know who they are by the way. To sum up, Claudio is wondering if one day everyone could find peacefulness, love and happiness and how to find them if they're still exist. The expression he used is quite optimistic, "Il me reste un espoir dans tes yeux" [il mə ɾɛst œ̃n‿ ɛspwaɾ dɑ̃tez‿ jø] which means : "There's still hope in your eyes"
🎶 Joe Dassin - Le château de sable (1977)
In this song Le château de sable by Joe Dassin, Joe makes a comparison between the illusion of building a sandcastle when you start a love relationship with someone. Unfortunately for him, his love only lasts for one night. The next morning, she left him like a sandcastle washed away by the waves.
The expression is : "Il ne reste plus rien" [il nə ɾɛst ply ɾjɛ̃] (There's nothing left)
We've come to the end of the first part of episode 3 Rester. I'll be publishing the second part next Monday. Stay tuned ;) Do you have a favourite song or singer that you'd like me to feature in a future episode? If so, don't hesitate to leave a comment below this article. Please note that your email address will not be published, only your name and comment. Thank you for reading this article to the end. See you next Monday for the rest of this episode. Until then, enjoy learning French with the songs. And remember: "Language learning should ALWAYS be FUN!
Article written by Mickael. Follow me on Instagram @The French Polyglot to find out when new episodes are published.