Archive for 'Music'
French language and culture – the past as prologue Posted by Tim Hildreth on Feb 19, 2019
I’ve talked about nostalgia before. I’ve also shared mid-century songs from French yé-yé singers like Katty Line and Jacqueline Taïeb . But as the movement known as les gilets jaunes enters its third month, I had to share this new oldie I came across. Plus ça change… / The more things change… While les gilets jaunes don’t have…
Lost In The Deep Blue French – Translating Le Bleu Lumière Posted by John Bauer on Feb 6, 2019
After spending the last week singing les paroles (the lyrics) of my favorite song from Vaiana (Moana), I needed to bring it up again. In general, les paroles are often about creatively mixing sounds and words to evoke specific emotions from the audience and that’s no different in the case of How Far I’ll Go…
Singing Happy Blue Songs – Moana In French Posted by John Bauer on Jan 31, 2019
It’s no secret how much I think taking a moment to chanter une chanson (sing a song) is great for practicing French. What may be a bit of surprise, even more than singing along to French pop songs, is how I often use les chansons de Disney as well! Mon film préféré de Disney (my…
French Culture – Recent News Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 29, 2019
This past month has had its share of news. Some of it happy, some sad, but as we say au revoir (good bye) to janvier (January) and look towards le mois de février (the month of February), a few in particular are worth pausing on in this week’s review of recent news out of l’Hexagone. Tintin a 90…
French Music – More from Calogero Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 22, 2019
Calogero has quickly become one of my favorite French singers. He has a way of combining great melodies with powerful language that evokes emotions, memories, and plein de sentiments (lots of emotion). Like Voler de Nuit which I shared previously, the song below is from his great 2017 album Liberté chérie (Cherished freedom). On a tous …
French language and culture – remembering New Year’s Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jan 1, 2019
Bonne Année 2019! Happy New Year! Le jour de l’an (New Year’s Day)* is a time for looking ahead and for looking back. And looking back over the last year got me thinking about the related vocabulary of memories. Like English, French has multiple words for remembering. For the most part, they mean the same…
Dreaming Of A Noël Blanc – White Christmas In French Posted by John Bauer on Dec 26, 2018
It may be time to wind down the season and maybe even leave the warmth of our winter beds, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop celebrating the holidays! While we wait for the new year, there’s still some time to enjoy les fêtes (the holidays) and learn one more chant de Noël (Christmas…