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 missed the first part of the episode 3 Rester, please click on this link to follow this lesson in song from the beginning.
Let's get started!
🎶 Vitaa et Slimane - Je te le donne (2017)
In this duet Je te le donne by Slimane and Vitaa, they tell about a love story where both of them can't live without each other. They give their heart and they have nothing to lose, nothing to win. In other words, they just want to love.
The expression we are going to see is: "Je reste digne même si ça fait mal" [ʒə ɾɛst diɲ mɛm si sa fe mal]. This happens where one of them is not there. The absence of that person hurts. We can translate this sentence by: "I remain dignified even if it hurts".
🎶 Charles Aznavour - Hier encore (1964)
In this song Hier encore, Charles Aznavour tells about his youth, when he was 20 years old. He regrets that he made mistakes and wasted his youth by going out the night, he lost his friends. It sounds like Charles would have liked to do things differently. The expression that interests us is :"J'ai fait tant de projets qui sont restés en l'air" [ʒe fe tɑ̃ də pɾɔʒe ki sõ ɾɛstez‿ɑ̃ lɛɾ], which means : "I've made so many plans that never came to fruition." In this context, "tant de projets qui sont restés en l'air" has the same meaning as "tant de projets qui n'ont pas abouti". In this song, Charles is a bit hard on himself because when you are 20 years old, you're still young and it's normal to want to start a lot of projects and failing is a part of reaching success later.
🎶 Celine Dion - Encore un soir (2016)
In this song Encore un soir (One more night), Celine Dion tells about the passage of time. It's a sad song. She doesn't complain. Life has given her a lot, as she says, but she would have liked to spend more time with her husband in this way.
The expression is: "Ça restera entre nous, oh juste un léger retard" [sa ɾɛstəɾa ɑ̃tɾ nu, o ʒyst œ̃ leʒe ɾətaɾ] (This is just between us, oh just a slight delay).
🎶 France Gall - Débranche (1984)
In the song Débranche, France Gall tells about her relationship with a man. She wants to enjoy every moment. That's why, she asks him to unplug electronic devices such as the radio or TV. Besides, news are not really nice and prevents them to spend time together for real.
The expression "Il n'reste que du brouillard sur les chaînes de télé" [il nɾɛst kə dy bɾwijaɾ syɾ le ʃɛn də tele] means that only bad news are broadcasted. The literal translation would be: "There's nothing left but fog on the TV channels".
🎶 France Gall - Les gens bien élevés (1973)
The next one is another song from France Gall called Les gens bien élevés. She tells about her ex-boybriend who decided to left her for her best friend. But from that, both girls are not friends anymore. They can't help but insult each other. That's why in the song there are some words replaced by a sound from a trumpet maybe. I'm not sure of the music instrument. You know that well-bred people try to always be polite, even though it's difficult for France Gall due to the circumstances. In fact, it's ironic. They just pretend being well-bred and that's okey that he left her for her best friend. We feel like that it's only mask you put on our face to hide what you really feel. Anyway, the expression that shows that idea is "Mais quelle idée de rester fâchés" [me kɛl ideə də ɾɛste fɑʃe]. In English, we'd say something like :"But what's the point of staying angry". It's said ironically of course.
That's it for the second part of this episode. Tell me in the comments what you think about this series. Would you like more of these? Have you a favourite singer or a song you love that you want me to introduce in the next episodes, feel free to let me know by writing a comment below.
Thank you for reading this post until the end. See you next Monday for a new episode. In the meantime, 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.