Do you like music? Do you like movies? Do you want to learn French? I’ve just recorded this especially for you!
We’re talking about:
- The best French musicals of all time,
- Which ones you should watch,
- How to make sure you get the most out of the musicals you are watching,
- And I have a special bonus for those who stick to the end!
The old master of French musicals - Jacques Demy
If you don’t know him, you might know a few of his movie.
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We’re talking tales here, but not necessarily as old and popular as his Peau d’Âne, but also modern ones, like Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.
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If you are a fan of Catherine Deneuve’s beauty, you should definitely watch those two and keep your eyes open.
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This woman was pure beauty…
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Check out:
- Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
- Peau d’Âne
- Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
And then came Starmania!
There’s musical movies, but then there was STARMANIA.
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The first very successful French Rock Opera.
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A little revolution.
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It gave us super well known songs such as Le Monde est Stone, Le Blues du Businessman, Quand on Arrive en Ville,…
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And revealed some amazing French singers like Daniel Balavoine and France Gall.
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You should definitely check it out if you are interested in French pop culture.
The most successful French musical of all times... Notre Dame de Paris
After Starmania, we got a bit of a dry period.
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Until Notre Dame de Paris exploded all records.
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Born from the imagination of the same Quebecois as Starmania: Luc Plamondon. Well, not entirely, as the story is based on a novel by Victor Hugo.
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To give you an idea of a success of the show: it is still played today.
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And gave us a new generation of French and Quebecois singer: Garou, Patrick Fiori, Julie Zénatti,…
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You’ll get to listen and sing along songs such as : Belle, Le Temps des Cathédrales, Danse mon Esmeralda,..
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Also, if you don’t know the story, you’ll get the real one, not the Disney version.
And the new master of French musicals - Dove Attia
Dove Attia is the new king of French musicals.
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Since the 2000’s he has produced 8 huge musicals, of which 3 were enormous successes.
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Check out:
- Les Dix Commandements,
- Le Roi Soleil,
- Mozart L’Opéra RockÂ
- 1789 Les Amants de la Bastille.
A few tips to learn French with musicals
Ok, you now have plenty of musicals to choose from! Which is super great.
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But, remember that just simply watching movies and musicals is not going to help you much.
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Yes, you’ll hear French, but you will be lacking practice.
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I have a whole system to learn French with movies, and I present it in my course The Art of Learning French with movies.
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But, here are a few tips to get you started already.
Don’t simply watch passively. Try to be actively listening, actively looking for vocabulary you don’t understand,…
The more active you’ll be, the better you’ll remember the words and sentences you want to learn.
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When I say active, I don’t mean running in front of the musical eh. I mean, actively engaging with the material.
Put the subtitles if you don’t know.
If the meaning is too hard to get, please put the subtitles. There’s no need to just stay in front of something you don’t understand a word of.Â
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That’s how babies learn languages, but the thing is, you’re not a baby anymore, right?Â
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So don’t hesitate to put on the French or English subtitles.
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Remember, the goal is for you to engage with what you are watching. And you can’t engage if you don’t understand anything at all.