14 May 2014 No Comments

Multiculturalism and immigration: Chansons françaises

In connection with the 8th grade Civil Rights Trip and a small unit I do in conjunction with the 8th grade Spanish classes, French C Honors has been studying Immigration and Multiculturalism in France and the Francophone world for several weeks (along with reviewing for our final exam!). We have looked briefly at Immigration to New England and Louisiania from France and Québec. We have considered issues faced by Haïtians in the Dominican Republic (complete with a Skype interview via the DR with a Haïtian teacher and an American who works with the Haïtian community). We have looked at issues that are of concern in France and Europe as a whole as they define what it means to be French. Mostly, we have had fun hearing a wide variety of songs that address these topics. Students were asked to select one of the songs we studied in this unit (and could also choose from a few others we have learned over the year) and learn at least 10 lines to recite to the class. There was an option to sing the lines as well. As you will see in the videos below, many took this task to heart and presented a very fine performance in class today. Merci beaucoup tout le monde! You have made me proud and made me laugh, today and all year!

Les Chansons de l’année: “Aïcha” by Khaled, “Métis” by Yannick Noah, “Au Bal Masqué”by La Compagnie Créole, “Ma philosophie” by Amel Bent, “Inch’Allah” by Grand Corps Malade and Reda Taliani, “Mezanmi” by Luck Mervil and Corneille together, “Seul au Monde” by Corneille, “French in America” by Josée Vachon, “J’aime la vie” by Zachary Richard and his grandson Emile, and a lot of Wanito in Créole and other musicians in French as background music!

A special BRAVO to those who were very BRAVE and decided to sing even if they “can’t sing”! 🙂

A sampling (sorry if you aren’t here…some videos had a technical problem!):

Jacques