Winter has finally arrived in the northern capital. Last Saturday the Parade of Lights was held in our little suburb. It attracted over 100,000 people, and yesterday we had our first snowfall. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
“Vive le vent” is a little refrain which is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells and is a popular French song heard at Christmas time each year. Children especially love to hear this song and others like it, because they are usually sung with much animation and sweeping arm movements.
When I was a kid, we used to sing this type of song over and over again, until our parents finally asked us to stop. “C’est assez!” “Ok, that’s enough,” they would say. There was something about repeating the same song over and over again that used to drive them crazy. Funny thing is, I have never forgotten how to sing those songs!
When it comes to learning a language, repetition is good for you! Repeating words, phrases, even whole sentences is a good thing. It trains your brain and your mouth muscles and wears little pathways in your grey matter. It is a bit like walking the same path over and over again. Eventually, by repeating the same thing again and again, you do not have to think about what to say, you just say it and it becomes automatic.
So, this Christmas, instead of singing the usual English songs that are familiar to you, why not try singing some French songs instead? By singing them over and over again, you will learn some new vocabulary, some new verbs and phrases and if you sing them often enough, you will not have to think about the words. They will just spring out of your mouth!
The following website provides the lyrics for a number of French Christmas songs. Many are sung to the same tune as well known English songs.
Here is a list of the French and English equivalents:
Mon beau sapin————————–Oh Tannenbaum (Oh Christmas Tree)
Le petit renne au nez rouge———–Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Sainte Nuit——————————–Silent Night
Vive le vent——————————-Jingle Bells
From our family to yours, Joyeux Noël! Bonne Année!