French Christmas carols: chants de Noël

Bring some festive fun into your home this Christmas with these traditional Christmas carols…en français!

French Christmas carols, or Chants de Noël, are popular across France where Christmas is an important holiday. The French typically celebrate en famille, generations of the same family gathering for big festive meals and attending religious services at Church. For children it is an exciting time – children’s Christmas songs are sung and played at home, at school and in shops across the country in the run up to 25th December.

Although the French have their own carols, they do translate carols from other countries of the world. Below are lyrics to Silent Night, O Christmas Tree and much-loved Jingle Bells…

If there’s one fun way to learn a language and pick up new vocabulary, this is it – and no dictionary in sight!

Douce nuit (Silent Night)

Douce nuit, sainte nuit!

Dans les cieux! L’astre luit.

Le mystère annoncé s’accomplit.

Cet enfant sur la paille endormit,

C’est l’amour infini,

C’est l’amour infini!

Sweet night, holy night!

In the heavens the star shines.

The foretold mystery comes true.

This child sleeping on the hay,

Is infinite love,

Is infinite love!

Christmas_Trees

Mon beau sapin (O Christmas tree)

Mon beau sapin,

Roi des forêts,

Que j’aime ta verdure.

Quand vient l’hiver

Bois et guérets

Sont dépouillés

De leurs attraits.

Mon beau sapin,

Roi des forêts,

Que j’aime ta parure.

My beautiful tree,

King of the forests,

How I love your greenness.

When winter come

Woods and tillages

Are stripped

Of their attractions.

My beautiful tree,

King of the forests,

How I love your finery.

Vive le vent (Jingle Bells)

Vive le vent

Vive le vent

Vive le vent d’hiver

Qui s’en va sifflant soufflant

Dans les grands sapins verts

Oh!

Vive le temps

Vive le temps

Vive le temps d’hiver

Boule de neige et jour de l’an

Et bonne année grand-mère

Joyeux joyeux Noël

Aux mille bougies

Qu’enchantent vers le ciel

Les cloches de la nuit.

Oh!

Vive le temps

Vive le temps

Vive le temps d’hiver

Qui rapporte aux vieux enfants

Leurs souvenirs d’hier.

Sur le long chemin

Tout blanc de neige blanche

Un vieux monsieur s’avance

Avec sa canne dans la main

Et tout là haut le vent

Qui siffle dans les branches

Lui souffle la romance

Qu’il chantait petit enfant

Oh!

10 best chat-up lines in Spanish

Don’t let the language barrier stop you from chatting up the man or woman of your dreams!

Read on and you’ll have the confidence to walk right up and deliver a killer line, just when you need it…

1. ¿Crees en el amor a primera vista, o tengo que cruzarme contigo otra vez?

Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk past you again?

2. “Perdóname, pero he perdido mi número de teléfono. ¿Me puedes dar el tuyo?”

I’m sorry, but I’ve lost my phone number. Could you give me yours?

3. “Hola, soy tu hombre perfecto. Alguien ha dicho que me estabas buscando.”

Hello, I’m your perfect man. Somebody said you were looking for me.

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4. “Hola, soy un ladrón, y estoy aquí para robar tu corazón.”

Hello, I am a thief, and I’m here to steal your heart.

5. “Debo estar muerto ya que estoy viendo un ángel.”

I must be dead because I’m looking at an angel.

Latino Dancers. Painting of Merenge or Salsa Dancing Couple

6. Esta es una canción excelente. ¿Quieres bailar conmigo?

This is a great song. Would you like to dance with me?

7. ¡Ay que curvas! – ¡y yo sin frenos!

Look at those curves – and I don’t have brakes!

8. Tu papá debe ser pirata, porque tú eres un tesoro.

Your father must be a pirate, because you are a treasure.

9. “¿Cómo te sientes al ser la más bella muchacha en esta sala?”

How does it feel to be the most beautiful girl in the room?

couple and bar sign

10. “¿Puedo comprarte una bebida?”

Can I buy you a drink?

Language note: These chat-up lines are mostly aimed at men chatting up women, but can easily be modified if you are female. Equally they are in the informal ‘tu’ form, but can be modified into the more informal ‘usted’ form.

¡Suerte!

Suzanne Furstner Scholarship 2014 – Winning Entry

Congratulations to Shervin Hejazi who has won this year’s Suzanne Furstner Scholarship. Shervin wins a 4-week CertTESOL course in Prague with Oxford House TEFL during 2015.

‘My Dream Teaching Job’ by Shervin Hejazi

“Time up!”

The class of students put their pens down, except the odd one or two who frantically try to finish their last sentence. It is my weekly intermediate English class to young Spanish students who wish to be fluent in the English language, and today’s exercise is to write about your ‘dream job’.

“Alex,” I call, “would you like to start?”

Alex beams as he elevates his notebook and begins to describe his dream job. “My dream job,” Alex begins proudly, “is to be the President of the United States!”

Suddenly the class erupts into laughter.

“Alex,” his colleague Cris whispers, “you know you’re not an American citizen, right? Kind of importante.”

“Oh,” Alex bemoans, his head sinking as the beam disappears from his face.

“Hey,” I interrupt the class’s unanimous laughter, “let’s not put Alex down. If he wants to be the President, he can be the President.” I look directly at Alex. “Alex, I challenge you to be the first Latino to be the President of America. That’s definitely a dream worth having.”

Alex’s beam returns.

“How about anyone else?” I ask, “who would like to share their dream job?”

One by one, my class of students share their hopes, dreams and passions. There were future lawyers, teachers, psychiatrists, athletes; as well as the less typical: circus clowns, comic book artists and ghost writers. It was a diverse class of optimists and enthusiasts, all determined to make their mark on the world, all possessing that young belief that the world is truly their oyster. Suddenly, I felt a pang of pride. Here I was, witnessing the development of a new generation of bright minds. I felt truly grateful that they accepted me as a tutor in aid of their journey.

The ‘dream job’ question then comes to Clara, one of my more cautious students. I noticed several scribbles on her notebook, and a conflicted look on her face. “Would you like to share your dream job with the class, Clara?”

“Well, Sir,” she begins, “I’m not really sure.”

“That’s OK,” I advise, “you don’t have to know what you want to be. My parents still don’t know, and they’re retired!”

The class laugh again.

“Well,” Clara continues, “I don’t know what job I want, but I know how I want to feel. I want to feel like I’m helping people, like I’m making a difference, that people can maybe depend on me, look up to me, and trust me to be there for them. If I have a job where every day would be like this… well, I think I would like that.”

And then there was no laughter. There was only silence. A universal silence, as each student knew that what Clara had said was something worth pondering. It was a noble endeavour, a reasonable dream, and my previous pang of pride could be felt once again, even stronger.

“And what about you, Sir?” Clara asks, returning the question. “What is your dream job?”

I look around the class of students, watching their faces as they eagerly anticipate an answer. A knowing smile forms across my face.

“Well, class. It seems I’m lucky.”

“Why’s that?” asks Alex.

I pause to smile again.

“Because I have already found it.”

The Suzanne Furstner Foundation was set up in memory of our much-loved friend and colleague Suzanne Furstner. The annual Scholarship reflects Suzanne’s love of TEFL, languages and travel, awarding a full time TEFL course in one of our best worldwide locations. Please visit www.cactustefl.com for details of all our TEFL courses and the Suzanne Furstner Foundation.