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7 Disney Songs in French with Lessons in the Lyrics

Disney songs often aim to teach us lessons, usually about morals and doing the right thing.

But did you know they can also teach you French? 

Many Disney songs in French are packed with lessons any language learner will appreciate.

You can sing your heart out while picking up new vocabulary and practicing your grammatical structures. 

Here are seven French Disney songs that can help you learn French—while keeping you entertained! 

Contents


1. “Je voudrais déjà être roi” (“I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”) from “The Lion King”

Lyrics

“The Lion King” is a favorite Disney movie for many, and often the first one people remember seeing as kids. It should also be one that all French learners start with. The songs like “Je voudrais déjà roi” are great for beginners.

Almost all of the grammatical constructions and vocabulary in the lyrics are simple, making it easy for newbies to study. Plus, this song will greatly help you with your French pronunciation and new sounds you’ve begun to encounter, as it uses loads of rhyming words.

For example, listen to the pronunciation of the line, “c’est la première fois que je vois un roi  (“it’s the first time that I see a king”) and you’ll begin to notice how to pronounce the oi sound in French.

Also great for beginners is the plethora of useful French adjectives that show up in the song, like peu  (little), vieille  (old) and nouveau  (new).

2. “Je veux savoir” (“Strangers Like Me”) from “Tarzan”

Lyrics

Who among us doesn’t love the songs from “Tarzan?” The fact that Phil Collins also sings all of the French versions is the cherry on top!

“Je veux savoir” has lots of good French grammar lessons in it, including many imperative sentences. The repeated lyrics montre-les-moi (show them to me) and apprends-moi  (teach me) are perfect examples of this.

The song also calls attention to the appropriate use of direct objects, like in the phrases je le ferais  (I would do it) and montre-les-moi (show them to me).

Finally, the song has tons of French possessives so you can see how and when to use those. Good examples include “viens voir ce monde qui est le mien  (“come see my world”) and “prends ma main  (“take my hand”).

3. “Jamais je n’avouerai” (“I Won’t Say I’m In Love”) from “Hercules”

Lyrics

We all admire Meg’s spunk in “Hercules,” and this is a favorite of many great songs from the movie. 

As a perk, it’s full of good French lessons like a crash course in negatives, with lines such as “non, non jamais” (“no, no never”) and “je n’avoeurai, non, non”  (“I will not confess, no, no”).

Additionally, you’ll continue your lesson in direct objects with lines like “je ne le dirai”  (“I will not say it”) and “tu l’aimes et c’est normal”  (“you like him and that’s normal”).

Lastly, this song is full of conjunctions, both basic ones like car tu l’aimes”  (“because you like him”) and subordinate ones like mêmes si tu nies”  (“even if you deny”).

4. “Comme un homme” (“I’ll Make a Man Out of You”) from “Mulan”

Lyrics

There’s much to be learned from “Comme un homme” in the way of French lessons, as the lyrics use almost every French tense including the present, future, conditional and subjunctive.

Try to pay attention to the differences between conditional and future words, like je saurai (I will know) and j’aurais (I would have). The subjunctive is another one to look out for. It turns up in this song a few times, like in the line “sois plus ardent que le feu des volcans”  (“burns more than volcanic fire”).

This song also gives you an overview of comparative structures, like in the lines “soit plus puissant que les ouragans”  (“be more powerful than hurricanes”) and plus fragiles que des fillettes”  (“more fragile than little girls”).

Lastly, you’ll gain exposure to tons of great verbs in this song, such as attaquer (to attack), frapper  (to hit) and nager  (to swim).

5. “Je veux y croire” (“I See the Light”) from “Tangled”

Lyrics

One of the sweetest and newer Disney songs, “Je veux y croire” is also full of helpful French lessons.

For one, the lyrics include the use of many different prepositions like “ma vie est à l’endroit” (“my life is here”) and “je veux croire en nous” (“I believe in us”), showing you when and how to use them.

Secondly, the vocabulary you get from this song is truly amazing. You’ll learn unique words like éclairé (enlightened or illuminated), scintillent (sparkle or twinkle) and la brume (the mist).

Gaining exposure to more advanced vocabulary is great, but the lesson continues with introductions to advanced ways of using negatives, such as sans voir, ni comprendre” (“without seeing nor understanding”).

6. “Belle” from “Beauty and the Beast”

Lyrics

As this beloved story takes place in France and even the English lyrics contain some French to begin with, you should definitely take the time to learn the full French version of the song “Belle.”

Due to the movie’s French setting, the lyrics have a lot of vocabulary that’s typical of what you’d hear on real French streets, like bonjour  (hello), mademoiselle  (Miss) and le boulanger  (the baker).

It’s also full of very useful everyday French phrases like ça ne fait rien  (it doesn’t matter), depuis hier (since yesterday) and non, hélas  (no, alas).

Lastly, there are loads of examples of the French compound past tense, le passé composé, such as “je l’ai dévoré en une nuit”  (“I devoured it in one night”) and “tu l’as déjà lu deux fois”  (“you already read it two times”). As le passé composé can be tricky for new French learners, it’s great to make use of this song to practice how and when to use it.

7. “Au bout du rêve” (“Almost There”) from “The Princess and the Frog”

Lyrics

Another awesome Disney film with some French culture from the English-speaking side of the world, “The Princess and the Frog” takes place in New Orleans and as such, it’s only fitting you learn one of the songs from this film in French.

As for language lessons, the lyrics in “Au bout du rêve” are loaded with verbs in the future tense like j’irai  (I will go), tu réussiras  (you will succeed) and je travaillerai  (I will work).

The song also provides practice with when and how to use direct objects. Good examples include the lines “Et j’irai toujours, toujours de l’avant”  (“I will always be in front of it”) and “je les soulève”  (“I lift them”).

Lastly, you’ll sing along to a lot of commands like “n’épargne pas tes efforts”  (“don’t spare your effort”) and “fais-le avec amour”  (“do it with love”), which will help you practice using imperative sentences.

Why Learn French with Disney Songs?

There are many reasons why music (and especially Disney songs) is an excellent tool to study French: 

  • Songs help us remember new vocabulary and grammar. The catchy tunes and rhyming words get stuck in our heads so we don’t forget them (even when we may want to!). 
  • Learning through songs keeps us engaged and motivated to study because it’s enjoyable and gives us a much-needed break from studying sentence structure and verb conjugations. 
  • Disney songs are conveniently familiar. Chances are you’ve seen the films a hundred times and already know the stories and songs. That means you won’t get lost and can easily contextualize the new words you’re hearing.
  • Songs for kids feature basic vocabulary and grammar that even beginner French learners shouldn’t have too much trouble with. They’re also short enough to give you some great language practice without taking up too much of your time.
  • There are so many options! Since Disney movies are extremely popular, they’ve all been translated into French. This means you have tons of opportunities for fun, animated French sing-alongs.

Best of all, most of the French versions of Disney songs are available on YouTube, giving you easy and free access to both the music and the French lyrics with their English translations.

 

If you love the idea of learning a language through songs, don’t just stop with these tunes. Explore the world of French music and see how much you can learn.

You’re bound to find songs that are as informative as they are meaningful!

And one more thing...

If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

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FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

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For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

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Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

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All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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