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12 Songs For Learning French

12 Songs For Learning French
Songs for learning French

One of the best ways to learning language is through using music. The advantage is that somehow using a melody helps to make the learning process of new words much faster.

My name is David and I’ve been teaching French online since the beginning of 2014. I’ve helped hundreds of students to reach their goals in learning French. The following is a collection of ten songs which I have hand picked, reviewed and found to be very helpful for my beginner students over the past seven years.

A lot of the songs are by the French singer, Alain Le Lait. I’ve included French lyrics with translations for videos which don’t include English subtitles.

The best songs for learning French

French Alphabet Song

This is the French alphabet song sung to the same tune as the English version. At the end of singing of the alphabet you’ll hear, Maintenant je les connais, toutes les lettres de l’alphabet, which translates to “Now I know them, all the letters of the alphabet”.

video source: Learn French Through Music

French Numbers Song

This song simply goes through the French numbers 1-10. I suggest students to start here not try to memorize 1-100 all at once. If you’re really able to master 1-10 perfectly the rest of of the numbers will fall into place on their own.

I particularly like this song as the singer counts backwards from ten to one. This is a very useful and effect way for learning the numbers.

video source: KidsTV123

French Greetings Song (Bonjour! Bonjour!)

This is the French Greetings Song by Alain Le Lait. This is great way to get to know the French greetings! The video doesn’t have subtitles so I put French lyrics with English translation below the video.

video source: tialela99

Bonjour song lyrics

  • Bonjour! Bonjour! Comment ça va? / Hello! Hello! How are you?
  • Bonjour! Bonjour! Très bien, merci! / Hello! Hello! very well, thank you!
  • Je suis content d’être ici / I’m happy to be here
  • Avec tous mes petits amis / With all my little friends
  • Bonjour! Bonjour! Comment ça va? / Hello! Hello! How are you?
  • Merci! Merci! Merci d’être ici / Thank you! Thank you! Thanks for being here
  • Merci! Merci! Écoutez / Thank you! Thank you! Listen!
  • Aimez-vous cette chanson? / Do you like this song?
  • J’espère que je suis dans le ton / I hope I’m in tune
  • Merci! Merci! Merci d’être ici / Thank you! Thank you! Thanks for being here

French Colors Song

This is a fun little song for learning the French colors. What I like most about this video is that the lyrics are written out both in French and English. Each color is assigned a sentence. For example, “Bleu, c’est la couleur du ciel” or “Blue, it’s the color of the sky”.

video source: Learn French Through Music

French Days Of The Week Song

This is a lovely video for learning the days of the week but unfortunatly there are no subtitles in English. The singer, Alain Le Lait, lists out the seven days of the week then says, Il y a sept jours dans la semaine, or “There are seven days in the week”. Here you can find a complete lesson on the days of the week.

video source: tialela99

Months of the Year Song

After you learn the days of the week it will be time to learn the twelve months of the year. The months are pretty easy as they’re similar to English. After singing through the twelve months, the singer sings, “C’est les douze mois de l’année” or “They’re the twelve months of the year”.

video source: tialela99

Parler (to speak) song

I decided to include a song on the verb parler on this list because parler (to speak) is the first and most important verb you’ll learn in French. You’ll use parler as a base verb for learning hundreds more verbs. I put the French and English lyrics to the song below the video.

video source: tialela99

Parler song lyrics

  • Je parle à mon chien / I speak to my dog
  • Tu parles à ton chien / You speak to your dog
  • Il parle à son chien / He speaks to his dog
  • On parle à notre chien / We speak to our dog
  • Nous parlons à notre chien / We speak to our dog
  • Vous parlez à votre chien / You speak to your dog
  • Ils parlent à leur chien / They speak to their dog

Être (to be) song

The next important item on this list is the song for learning the verb être, which means to be. You will be using this verb all the time and it’s really important to learn it well from the very beginning. In the song, the singer simply goes through the conjugation in the present tense: je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes and ils sont.

video source: tialela99

Avoir (to have) song

The next logical song on this list is the song for learning the verb avoir, which means to have. The singer goes through the basic conjugation: j’ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez and ils ont. Then he sings, Il faut le savoir par coeur or “You need to know it by heart”.

video source: tialela99

Aller (to go) song

This video will help you to learn the verb aller, which means to go. This very comes in extremely handy when describing where you’re going. You can also use to express the near future tense. After conjugating the verb, the singer sings, “Le verbe aller, faut pas l’oublier“, which means “The verb aller, you better not forget it”.

video source: tialela99

French Body Parts Song

You’ll find this song very helpful to learn the vocabulary words for the different parts of the body. Since the video didn’t have English subtitles, I’ve written out the lyrics in both French and English below the video.

video source: tialela99

Body parts song lyrics

  • Tu as deux mains / you have two hands
  • Et deux pieds / and two feet
  • Tu as deux jambes / you have two legs
  • Et un nez / and a nose
  • Tu as un ventre / you have a stomach
  • Et un dos / and a back
  • Et des muscles sous la peau / and muscles under the skin
  • Tu as une tête et un cou / you have a head and a neck
  • Deux oreilles et deux genoux / two ears and two knees
  • Tu as deux yeux et deux joues / You have two eyes and two cheeks
  • Une bouche qui mange tout, et / A mouth that eats everything, and
  • Sous la peau il y des os / Under the skin there are bones
  • Des petits et des gros / Big ones and little ones
  • Des os, des os, il en faut / Bones, bones you need them
  • C’est parce que tu as des os que / It’s because you have bones that

French Family Members Song

This final song by Alain Le Lait is about the members of the family. The video is in French only so I included the lyrics and translation below.

video source: tialela99

Family members song lyrics

  • Aujourd’hui je vais vous présenter a ma famille / Today I’m going to introduce my family.
  • Venez, suivez moi / Come follow me
  • Tout le monde est dans la cuisine / Everybody is in the kitchen
  • Il y a mon père et ma mère / There’s my father and mother
  • Mon petit frère Nicolas / My little brother Nicolas
  • Ma souer n’est pas là. Elle est allée au cinéma / My sister isn’t here
  • Mon grand-père, ma grand-mère / My grandfather, my grandmother
  • Et mon oncle Robert / And my uncle Robert
  • Ma tante n’est pas là / My aunt isn’t here
  • Ce soir elle chante à l’opéra / Tonight she’s singing at the opera
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French songs | Lessons by David Issokson

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David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

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