In a recent reader survey, one of the top requests you, chers lecteurs, (dear readers) of the Transparent Language French blog made, was for more help with pronunciation. Providing a comprehensive overview of French pronunciation would take une éternité (an eternity / forever), but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a go at it!

A few weeks ago, I shared a song by the French singer and t.v. personality Dorothée. I was lucky enough in 1993 to see her perform live (with my step-daughters!) and I often go back to her videos . . . both because she has so many fun songs to choose from, but also because – since her songs were mostly aimed at children – she uses a lot of repetitive vocabulary and she has a very distinct – and proper – accent (I suspect you’ll see a few more from me in the future!). This week, we’ll look at (listen to!) examples of the “oo” sound in French.

Tu dis*,	You say,
Tu dis que tu m’aimes**	You say that you love me
Tant pis !***	Too bad!
C’est pas mon problème	That’s not my problem
Tu dis,	You say,
Que tu n’aimes que moi	That you love only me
Tant pis !	Too bad!
Moi je ne t’aime pas !	Me, I don’t love you!
Je sais bien que…	I know that . . .
Tous les garçons sont des voyous, ouh, ouh, ouh	All boys are rogues, oh, oh, oh
Ils nous appellent « mon petit chou**** », ouh, ouh, ouh	They call us « their little love », oh, oh, oh
Ils nous regardent comme des hiboux, ouh, ouh, ouh	They stare at us like owls, oh, oh, oh
Puis ils se jettent à nos genoux, ouh, ouh, ouh	Then they throw themselves at our knees, oh, oh, oh
Mais leur cœur***** n’est qu’un gros caillou !	But their hearts are nothing but big stones!
Tu dis,	You say,
Tu dis que je t’envoûte	You say that I charm you
Qu’il faut,	That it’s required
Qu’il faut que je t’écoute	It’s required that I listen to you
Tu dis	You say
Que ce n’est pas ta faute	That it’s not your fault
Tant pis !	Too bad!
Tu paies pour les autres !	You’re paying for everyone else (the others)!
Je sais bien que…	I know that . . .
Tous les garçons sont des voyous, ouh, ouh, ouh	All boys are rogues, oh, oh, oh
Ils nous appellent « mon petit chou », ouh, ouh, ouh	They call us « their little love », oh, oh, oh
Ils nous regardent comme des hiboux, ouh, ouh, ouh	They stare at us like owls, oh, oh, oh
Puis ils se jettent à nos genoux, ouh, ouh, ouh	Then they throw themselves at our knees, oh, oh, oh
Mais leur cœur n’est qu’un gros caillou !	But their hearts are nothing but big stones!
Ne m’en veux pas	Don’t hold it against me
Si je ne te crois pas	If I don’t believe you
T’es doux, t’es chou, un peu fou	You’re nice, you’re cute, a little crazy
Comme un petit toutou	Like a little doggy
Mais !	But!
Je sais bien que…	I know that . . .
Tous les garçons sont des voyous, ouh, ouh, ouh	All boys are rogues, oh, oh, oh
Ils nous appellent « mon petit chou », ouh, ouh, ouh	They call us « their little love », oh, oh, oh
Ils nous regardent comme des hiboux, ouh, ouh, ouh	They stare at us like owls, oh, oh, oh
Puis ils se jettent à nos genoux, ouh, ouh, ouh	Then they throw themselves at our knees, oh, oh, oh
Mais leur cœur n’est qu’un gros caillou !	But their hearts are nothing but big stones!

*** ‘Tant pis’ is a very handy French expression for expressing shared dissapointment as well as disdain (just like the English ‘too bad’ can be sympathetic or judgemental). Equally useful is ‘Tant mieux’ which means ‘very good/well’ or ‘just as well’.
**** ‘chou’ literally means ‘cabbage’ but is also a common expression of endearment akin to “dear” or “love”
***** Notice that in French this formulation is singular. Where in English we would say “their heartS ARE stones” the constuction in French is singular since  – even though there is more than one boy – each boy only has one heart!