does anyone know of some music that has english and french versions (and the french version doesn't suck)? i'm trying to improve my french and have found that i learn fastest through listening to english versions of songs, learning the lyrics, then listening to the translated version. so you can make recommendations, i listen to bands like:

gin blossoms, better than ezra, ted leo and the pharmacists, tracy bonham, sponge, weezer, green day, rancid, bad religion, sister flo, scissor sisters, tom petty, ween, veruca salt, nirvana, pixies, phoenix, modest mouse, juliana theory, notwist, rem, joy division, dinosaur jr., ben folds five, smashing pumpkins, seven mary three, tool, the cure, the church, depeche mode, lo-fidelity allstars, dandy warhols, the shins, elliot smith, tom waits, nick cave, alanis morrisette, ani difranco, jane's addiction, daft punk, air, paul oakenfold, her space holiday, neutral milk hotel, brazilian girls, guster, jets to brazil, the faint, offspring, mates of state, sr71, eve 6, blind melon, collective soul, postal service, moist, less than jake, meat puppets, artificial joy club, primus, johnny vicious, widespread panic, phil collins, pantera, ramones, static x, nine inch nails, islands, snake river conspiracy, oakenfold, beck, de la soul, jump little children

10/27/2006 10:53:22 AM

gotta get that MC Solar joints

10/27/2006 10:54:08 AM

we play some band that sings in french on wknc.

not sure what the name is.....

10/27/2006 11:01:17 AM

I can't think of any songs in both English and French except for "Beyond the Sea", that Bobby Darren song, but plenty of old songs like that would have been done in more than one language.

I used to have some badass 60's Beatles-esque French rock bands on my computer, but I can't find them anymore

And then, of course, there's Stereolab. One of the songs on The Blow's new album is in French...uh...there's plenty of French music.

[Edited on October 27, 2006 at 11:03 AM. Reason : ]

10/27/2006 11:01:37 AM

d'ur d'ur d'etre, bebe

10/27/2006 11:13:47 AM

i think the stills have at least one song in french, maybe more. dunno.

10/27/2006 12:12:22 PM

Quote :

"does anyone know of some music that has english and french versions (and the french version doesn't suck)? i'm trying to improve my french and have found that i learn fastest through listening to english versions of songs, learning the lyrics, then listening to the translated version. so you can make recommendations, i listen to bands like:"

Keep in mind that, in terms of lyrics, english translations of foreign songs (and vice versa) are often a significant departure from the originals.

10/27/2006 12:42:45 PM

That's a dumb idea. It's good to listen to french music to help you learn but not english versions too. Just download the lyrics of a french song translate it yourself (get help for idioms and cultural expressions) and then listen and memorize the lyrics and practice singing. Often the english translations are changed too much.

Same goes for watching movies. Do NOT look at the english translations you need to develop a feeling for french expressions and not try to direct translations all the time. That is, think when to use a french expression in french, not using an english phrase translated into french you'll fuck up the meaning 70% of the time.


That being said. You'll need to get some soft music, I.e. not MC Solar joints.
Jacques Brel, edith piaf, Yves Montand, etc... will be good. Listening to hip-hop or modern rock will be too much slang for your level.


Besides MC Solar is so passe. there are many newer better hiphop artist out there. I mean MC Solar was a pioneer and all, and I like him. Just better stuff out there now.

[Edited on October 27, 2006 at 12:51 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on October 27, 2006 at 12:53 PM. Reason : .]

10/27/2006 12:45:39 PM

my favorite song that is french/english is "retour a vega" by the stills...actually none of the words are in english but they do have it translated in lyrics

[Edited on October 27, 2006 at 1:14 PM. Reason : s]

10/27/2006 1:14:08 PM

My MC Solar post was a joke.

although, we did use MC Solar in my French 5 class in HS.

(~1999)

10/27/2006 1:17:21 PM

I know Celine Dion has a couple of songs that she has french and english versions of.

If you can listen to Phil Collins, Celine isn't too far of a stretch.

10/27/2006 1:21:22 PM

Voulez vous coucher avec moi?

10/27/2006 1:40:32 PM

mc solaar

10/27/2006 1:42:53 PM

I'd suggest listening to French music with English translation on the booklet, that helped me a lot. Just keep a dictionary nearby and you'll catch on if you play it a lot.

I learned German with that method, and also in referencing a grammar book every now and then. It was so helpful that I actually never learned much in class for four years in high school German - I had learned three tenses, hundreds upon hundreds of vocabulary words, and pronunciation all from a few albums.

10/27/2006 3:59:35 PM

Quote :

"MC Solaar"

10/27/2006 4:03:42 PM

C'est stupide, cette idea. On faut apprendre une langue en la classe!

10/27/2006 4:12:33 PM

Emersion by music is actually not so stupid once you try it, dude. It's excellent for conversational skills.

10/27/2006 4:16:53 PM

I'd agree with the various other folks who've said to just listen to the music in French. Try to muddle through it by listening to the lyrics, and translating them with the help of a dictionary and/or a copy of the paroles. (Sing along if you feel like it. It might help your pronunciation. I don't know; my pronunciation was always horrific.) If you find a song that's sung in both English and French, odds are at least a few liberties have been taken with the lyrics so that it's still singable in both languages.

^x8
Heh. We had to listen to Patricia Kaas in my HS French IV class around the same time. We were just thankful we didn't have to listen to Celine Dion.

10/27/2006 4:29:15 PM

Well, if you want your vocabulary to consist of colloquial song lyrics, I guess it's brilliant. Good luck reading or writing.

10/27/2006 4:36:46 PM

http://www.yomgaille.com/gnarf/un_lapin.php3

10/27/2006 4:49:23 PM

kamelot does a french version of don't you cry called ne pleure pas...you can find it on the karma album iirc

10/27/2006 5:21:29 PM

MC Solaar is a cool rapper.

I know its weird, but Celine Dion is French Canadian and for French class in high school we listened to one of her famous songs in french. I think most of her CD's are in french versions too.

10/28/2006 2:34:57 AM

frankie j did no es amor in both

10/28/2006 2:44:53 AM

I don't know if it'll help you learn a language the first time around, but it can help you maintain your knowledge of the language. My husband is fairly fluent in German, but there aren't many people around here that he can practice his German on. I listen to a lot of German Industrial music so he's constantly telling me what the song is saying and correcting my personal versions of the song:

For months I sang "We've got a house." instead of "Geh g'radeaus."

So, good luck!

10/28/2006 9:28:31 AM

the wierd looking guy in nada surf loves to break out his french

10/28/2006 9:36:47 AM

the bridge of psycho killer by talking heads is french

10/28/2006 12:53:54 PM

Alouette, je t'alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.

10/28/2006 5:02:51 PM

i like vanessa and the o's

http://www.myspace.com/vanessaandtheos

but my first thought about french is Francoise Hardy

10/28/2006 6:13:59 PM

Quote :

"gin blossoms, better than ezra, ted leo and the pharmacists, tracy bonham, sponge, weezer, green day, rancid, bad religion, sister flo, scissor sisters, tom petty, ween, veruca salt, nirvana, pixies, phoenix, modest mouse, juliana theory, notwist, rem, joy division, dinosaur jr., ben folds five, smashing pumpkins, seven mary three, tool, the cure, the church, depeche mode, lo-fidelity allstars, dandy warhols, the shins, elliot smith, tom waits, nick cave, alanis morrisette, ani difranco, jane's addiction, daft punk, air, paul oakenfold, her space holiday, neutral milk hotel, brazilian girls, guster, jets to brazil, the faint, offspring, mates of state, sr71, eve 6, blind melon, collective soul, postal service, moist, less than jake, meat puppets, artificial joy club, primus, johnny vicious, widespread panic, phil collins, pantera, ramones, static x, nine inch nails, islands, snake river conspiracy, oakenfold, beck, de la soul, jump little children"

10/28/2006 6:40:25 PM

I have both english & french versions of the Les Miserables soundtrack...

PM me if you think they'd help

10/30/2006 6:28:24 PM

Quote :

"That's a dumb idea"

thanks for being so kind!

anyways, i know things don't translate verbatim. i speak other languages and know this already. i learn faster from hearing whole phrases and finding out what they mean, then looking up other words individually. what i'm interested in mostly is hearing pronunciations and reading the lyrics as they go along with them. thanks for the suggestions

10/31/2006 11:28:10 AM