Listen to the French Music, watch the French video , answer the French questions about the French Video and send your French answer to asktheprof@frenchmalaysia.com . The French Prof will correct your French "Homework"
French Music :
- Quand j'étais pauvre : Dewey Balfa - Louisiana : Cajun
- Aicha : Cheb Khaled - Algeria : Rai
- Je t'attends : Axelle Red - Belgium
- Balthazar (bande dessinée)
- Je t'aime encore : Celine Dion - Canada
Quand j'étais pauvre (Dewey Balfa, Louisiana : Cajun)
Who are the Cajuns?
The French colonized Canada beginning in 1604, with many settling in what is now Nova Scotia but was then called Acadie. The word Cajun comes from the word Acadian. Canada, however, was a contested area, settled by both the English and the French. The English army took Acadie in 1713. They forced the French settlers to swear an oath of loyalty to the British crown. Those who refused were deported beginning in 1755. They were taken to various destinations: back to France, to New England, and to other French possessions, such as Haiti and Louisiana.
Few Acadians stayed in the port of arrival, New Orleans. Some settled in the regions south and northwest of New Orleans and along the Teche, Lafourche and Vermilion Bayous. Far more went further west to the marshes and prairies of south central Louisiana. They became hunters and trappers and farmers.
The earliest Acadian songs were long ballads originally
from France. They told of hard life and suffering. Cajun
music is first and foremost, social music. Life was hard
toiling in the fields, and it was a welcome relief to hear that
Boudreaux or Landry was having a bal de maison, a house dance,
on a Saturday night. Families appeared and furniture was moved
to make room for dancing. Children were put aside and
encouraged to sleep, giving the name fais do-do, or go to sleep,
to these dances.
Lyrics : Quand j'étais pauvre (Dewey
Balfa)
Mais
quand moi j'étais jeun',
joli et bien capabl',
Parc'que
moi j'étais pauvr',
personn' voulait de moi,
Et là j'ai
eu la chanc'
que moi j'm'ai fait d'l'argent,
N'import'
où j'peux aller,
tout l'mond' veut m'courtiser.
Quand
mém' j'suis pas joli,
Quand mém' j'suis pas capabl',
Du
moment qu' j'ai d'l'argent,
Tout l'mond' veut m'courtiser
Download
: Quand j'étais
pauvre (Dewey Balfa, mp3 337kB)
Read more about Cajun Music and Cajun Culture :
Cajun
French Music Association
The Cajun French
Music Association is a non-profit organization dedcated to the
promotion and preservation of Cajun music and culture.
French song from this Algerian-French
music writer. His French music is inspired by the hardships
felt by the young French-Algerian population in French Algeria.
This
French song is very popular, it has been a French hit in
Malaysia as well, soit should sound very familiar!
Aicha (Audio, 681kB, music-.rm file)
Belgium has produced a
number of famous music stars such as Maurane, Philippe Lafontaine
and, of course, the legendary Jacques Brel. These artists
have all come from Belgium's French-speaking community,
Wallonia. More recently, the country's Dutch-speaking region,
Flanders, has also proved a hotbed of musical talent, spawning
a number of highly successful groups such as Clouseau and
Vaya Con Dios. But now a new breed of artist has emerged
on the Belgian music scene in the form of Axelle Red, a
young singer who has managed to straddle the country's linguistic
and cultural divide, singing in both French and Dutch. Axelle
Red's smooth soul style has not only made her a huge hit
in her homeland, it has also made her one of Belgium's best-selling
musical exports of all time.
Fabienne Demal, better known
to European music fans as Axelle Red, was born in the north
of Belgium, in the Flemish town of Hasselt, on February
15 1968. She was thus brought up in an environment where
everyone spoke Dutch. But Axelle's parents were both originally
from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium, and
at home they would speak to their daughter in French as
well as Dutch. So Axelle grew up speaking both languages
fluently. (This talent would serve the singer well in later
life, for she was able to record her songs in Dutch as well
as French and build up a strong following of fans across
the whole of Belgium). Axelle's parents would also encourage
their daughter's passion for music, introducing her to the
sound of legendary American soul stars such as Aretha Franklin
- a singer whom Axelle Red still cites as one of her greatest
musical influences.
Axelle's passion for music intensified
during her teenage years and, besides her love of soul music,
she also became a committed Abba fan, learning all the Swedish
supergroup's hits by heart. The young teenager also devoted
a great deal of time and energy to dance lessons.
Axelle
soon proved to have a powerful singing voice and, at the
tender age of 15, she was spotted by a talent scout from
a Belgian record company. Axelle was immediately invited
into the studio to record her first single - and, as they
say in the music world, the rest is history. The single
"Little Girls" went rocketing to the top of the
Belgian Top 50 in 1983, catapulting the young Axelle Red
to overnight stardom.
Encouraged by this early success,
Axelle began spending more time in the studio and she eventually
went on to record a highly accomplished demo tape. In 1985
Axelle's tape would fall into the hands of the English guitarist
Mick Ronson (famous for his work with rock legend David
Bowie). Ronson was greatly impressed by Axelle's voice and
put forward the idea of producing an album with the young
Belgian singer. Unfortunately, Ronson's record label, Redbus,
rejected the idea of releasing an album by a relative unknown
and the project bit the dust. But Axelle gained a great
deal of confidence from this experience.
After this
brief interlude, Axelle returned to her studies with renewed
enthusiasm, dividing her time between a law degree and a
drama course at a performing arts school. But in 1988 Axelle
would abandon both her law studies and her drama course
to launch a full-time singing career, after signing a major
recording deal with BMG.
Axelle called upon her brothers,
Seff, Daniel and Richard, to help her with her first single
and the family songwriting team would come up with Axelle's
legendary hit "Kennedy Boulevard". This single
proved a huge hit in Belgium, earning Axelle Red her first
gold disc in 1988. The following year the young singer was
back at the top of the charts with another best-selling
single entitled "Aretha et moi".
In 1992 Axelle
Red left BMG after signing a new deal with the Belgian branch
of Virgin. Instead of returning to the recording studio
immediately, however, Axelle would spend the next few months
concentrating on writing new material for her first album.
The
singer was finally ready to go into the studio the following
year and set to work on her debut album, "Sans plus
attendre". Released in September of that year, Axelle
Red's first album would not only prove a huge smash in Belgium,
it would also rocket the young Belgian singer to fame in
other European countries. Indeed, the catchy soul and r'n'b
fusion of "Sensualité", the first single release
from the album, would go on to become an enormous hit in
France.
Axelle Red makes music history in belgium
Axelle
Red's two follow-up singles "Elle danse seule"
and "Je t'attends", soon echoed the success
of "Sensualité" in Europe and Quebec. But it was
Axelle Red's album "Sans plus attendre" which
was to prove the greatest success story of all. Shortly
after its release "Sans plus attendre" went gold
not once, not twice, but five times in the singer's native
Belgium, selling a staggering 500,000 copies - a score which
made it the best-selling album of all time in Belgium !
Following
this phenomenal success, Axelle Red set off on her first
major tour, proving that her exceptional voice was just
as impressive on stage as it was on her studio recordings.
The young Belgian singer was soon invited to perform at
a number of prestigious European music festivals - including
the famous Francofolies festival in La Rochelle, where she
brought the house down in 1994.
Meanwhile Axelle Red
continued with her songwriting, working on new tracks for
her second album. In 1995 the singer would achieve one of
her greatest childhood dreams, flying out to the U.S.A.
to record her second album in a studio in Nashville, the
legendary birthplace of country music.
Axelle Red's
second album, "A tâtons", was released in October
96. This album, which displayed even greater soul influences
than Axelle's first album, featured a number of special
guest stars from the soul scene including Isaac Hayes and
Steve Cropper, the songwriter responsible for Otis Redding's
legendary hit "Dock of the Bay".
The success
of Axelle Red's second album established the young singer
as one of Belgian's leading musical exports. And at the
end of 97 the young Belgian star was chosen, together with
Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour, to perform at the opening
ceremony of the World Cup (held in France in June 98). The
two artists were asked to perform their famous duet "La
cour des grands", a song which they performed for the
first time at the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize
held in Oslo on 11 December 1997.
On 21 March 1998 Axelle
celebrated a happy event in her personal life, when she
married her manager/teenage sweetheart Filip Vanes (whom
she had known since law school) at a ceremony in Marrakesh
(Morocco). Shortly afterwards, Axelle returned to the studio
to record a Spanish version of some of her greatest hits,
adapted into Spanish by Ignacio Ballesteros. The album,
entitled "Con Solo Pensarlo", was released on
8 June 1998. Two days later Axelle, a renowned football
fan, performed at the opening ceremony of the World Cup
(held at the famous Stade de France) with world music star
Youssou N'Dour. This memorable ceremony was broadcast worldwide
on satellite TV.
Meanwhile, Axelle Red's album sales
continued to go from strength to strength. By the end of
98 sales of Ms. Red's début album had topped the 400,000
mark and her second album, "A tâtons", had sold
370,000 copies to date. Axelle, who has been a passionate
soul fan all her life, realised one of her childhood dreams
at the end of 98, organising a concert with some of the
greatest living legends of the soul scene. On 16 November
1998 the Belgian star presented her special tribute show
- appropriately entitled "The Soul of Axelle Red"
- at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, taking to the stage
with a host of prestigious stars including Sam Moore (of
Sam and Dave fame), Eddie Floyd and Percy Sledge.
A few
weeks later Axelle Red was due to appear at another major
musical event. Fans expected to catch her in concert at
Amnesty International's mega-concert (organised at Bercy
Stadium in Paris on 10 December 98). However, the flame-haired
Belgian star was forced to cancel her appearance at the
last moment. Doctors advised Axelle, who was four months
pregnant at the time, against performing. On 21 January
1999 the singer gave birth to a baby daughter called Janelle.
Although Axelle is apparently delighted with her new role
of mother, the singer was eager to get back to work as soon
as possible. And it appears that Axelle wasted no time at
all - she is already working on material for a new album!
Meanwhile, Axelle's career continues to go from strength
to strength. Indeed, on 20 February 99 the young Belgian
star triumphed at the 'Victoires de la Musique' (the annual
French music awards), carrying off the award for Best Female
Artist of the Year.
That same year, she released an
album in French. Entitled "Toujours Moi", it featured
her hit, "Ce Matin". She then embarked upon a
big tour including no less than 400 dates. A public recording
released soon after the tour under the title "Alive"
reflected the intensity of the experience.
A Duet
with Renaud
Exhausted after such a performance, Axelle
Red took a year off in 2001 and travelled around the world
with her family.
In 2002, Renaud who was working on his
new opus asked her for a duet. She agreed and they recorded
"Manhattan-Kaboul" which soon rocketed to the
top of the French singles chart and scooped up the Victoires
de la Musique 2003 as best song of the year.
Going back
to the studio to record a new album, Axelle Red decided
to pay a tribute to disco music, a genre she had danced
upon as a teenager and rediscovered by accident during her
year of travelling around. In November 2002, she released
"Face A/Face B" that she co-produced with Al Stone
(who also works with Jamiroquaï and Björk). The first single
was entitled "Je me fâche". Even though she was
expecting a child, Axelle Red embarked upon the promoting
tour and did two dates at the Olympia on March 28th-29th
2003. On June 24th she gave birth to a little girl called
Gloria.
Straddling Belgium's linguistic and cultural
divide, Axelle Red has achieved enormous popularity in both
the north and south of her homeland. The young Belgian singer
has also proved herself to be one of the rare European artists
capable of following in Aretha Franklin's footsteps and
performing real soul music.
Je t'attends (Axelle Red, Belgique) (Audio, 562kB, music-.rm
file)
Fill in the blanks with weather-related words
Tous ces gens qui passent autour de moi
Dans la ville
Ces gens qui courent et qui marchent au pas
Ou vont-ils
Est-ce ……………………. qui les pousse
Vers d'invisibles rêves
Que voient-ils au bout de leur course
Quand ……………………………….. se lève
Réponds-moi, je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Tous ces gens qui se serrent dans leurs bras
Sur leurs coeurs,
Qui n' savent plus ce que c'est
d'avoir ……………………………
D'avoir peur
Est-ce la terre qui retient leurs pas
Ou …………………….. qui est trop ………………
Ils marchent à l'écart du hasard
Que savent-ils de l'amour
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Cent fois, sans toi
J'ai cherché ma route
Sans foi ni loi
Seule avec mes doutes
Cent fois, sans toi
Le coeur en déroute
Sans foi ni loi
J'ai perdu ma route
Je t'attends
Je t'attends, je t'attends, je t'attends
Vocab
je t'attends = I wait for you
j'attends = I wait
une course = a journey, a running trip
se serrer = to squeeze up
leurs bras = their arms
savoir = to know
ils savent = they know
retenir = to hold back
léger / légère = light (not heavy)
lourd = heavy
à l'écart de = away from
par hasard = by chance
la loi = the law
la foi = the believe (faith)
un doute = a doubt
le coeur = the heart
en déroute = in defeat
j'ai perdu = I have lost
Balthazar (bande dessinée)
Balthazar est un jeune ………………… plein d'audace qui adore s'amuser. Il découvre
le monde au cours de fabuleuses aventures avec son ami
Ganesh.
Ganesh est le meilleur ami et le mentor de Balthazar. Ce sage Hindou a exploré la jungle et découvert la Cascade Magique qui le transporte avec Balthazar partout dans le monde.
Balthazar et l'Ornithorynque
Balthazar ne sait pas ………………… et regarde avec envie ses cousins s'ébattre dans la rivière. Le radeau magique l'emmène avec Ganesh à la rencontre d'un drôle d'animal, un ornithorynque, qui l'aidera à se jeter à l'eau en surmontant sa peur.
Regardez la vidéo : "Balthazar, l'un des nombreux héros dessinés à Bucarest par Dacodac" (1158kB, .rm)
Cochez la bonne réponse.
CELINE DION : FRENCH MUSIC : paroles de "Je t'aime Encore"
Download French Music of Celine Dion (.mp3 403kB)
Ici l'automne chasse un été de plus
La 4L est morte, on a repeint la
rue
Elisa a deux dents, petit Jean est grand et fort
J'apprends la
guitare... j'en suis à trois accords
J'ai trouvé des girolles au marché ce matin
J'aimerais vivre à Rome... oh
j'aimerais bien
J'ai planté des tulipes, mais elles tardent à
éclore
C'est tout je crois... oh oui : je t'aime encore
Mais où es-tu ?
Si loin sans même une adresse ?
Et que
deviens-tu?
L'espoir est ma seule caresse
J'ai coupé mes cheveux... enfin dirais-tu !
Ça m'a fait bizarre, mais j'ai
survécu
On m'invite, on me désire
Et je danse et je sors
Mais quand je
danse.... je t'aime encore
Mais où es-tu ?
Si loin sans même une adresse ?
Et que deviens
tu?
L'attente est ma seule caresse
hmmmm hammmmm
Et je t'aime encore
Comme dans les chansons banales
Et ça me
dévore
Et tout le reste m'est égal
De plus en plus fort
A chaque
souffle
A chaque pas
Et je t'aime encore
Et toi tu ne m'entends
pas....
CELINE DION : FRENCH MUSIC
ENGLISH LYRICS of French Music "Je t'aime
Encore"
The English translation of the French Music is not literal :
some ideas
that work well in a French context but don't have much sense in an English
context are changed to make more sense in English.
In the French music, Celine is talking about a 4L : this is translated from the French music into English by old Chevy... a car that has meaning for English people, there where the 4L is the first name given to the old Renault 4.
Read the English words of the French Music :
Here the autumn ends bringing back the rain
The old Chevy's dead they
tried to fix it in vain
Elisa's got her first teeth, little Jimmy is getting
strong
I'm learning guitar I almost know a song
I've found some chanterelle at the market this morning
I'd like to live in
Rome, oh it would be such a good thing
Try to grow some flowers, the same I
tried before
That's all for now, Oh yes je t'aime encore
But where are you
So far with no address
How's life for you
My
hope is my only caress
Finally cut my hair, I hear you say at last
It's been kind of strange but
you see I survived
When I'm asked I go out, I dance all night and more
But
when I dance...Je t'aime encore
But where are you
So far with no address
How's life for you
Time
is my only caress
Je t'aime encore lust like in an old fashioned song
And it burns in my
soul, anything else seems too long
Oh more and more, it's strong as I can
be
Oui je t'aime encore
But you, you cannot hear me.