Written by Eddy Ramírez

"La Bohème" by Charles Aznavour is a jewel of French music that gives us the possibility to learn French words while enjoying the beauty of its melody. This song is one of the most recommended songs by our French teachers at Planeta ImmilandThis song is one of the most recommended by our French teachers at Planeta Immiland, since the interpretation is slow and this facilitates the ear's adaptation to recognize the vocabulary and the grammatical construction of each phrase. In addition, its nostalgic and emotional lyrics make the student connect with the cultural essence of French life at the time.

Read with me to the end of the blog and learn the French lyrics of this beautiful song while listening to it repeatedly to adapt your ear to the pronunciation. Let's get started!

Song 

Je vous parle d'un temps

That children under twenty years of age cannot know

Montmartre, at that time, had its lilacs right under our windows.

Et si l'humble garni, qui nous servait de nid, ne payait pas de mine

C'est là qu'on s'est connu, moi qui criais famine et toi qui posais nue

La bohème

La bohème

Ça voulait dire

On est heureux

La bohème

La bohème

Nous ne mangions qu'un jour sur deux

In the local cafés, there are a few of us who attend to the gloire

Et bien que miséreux avec le ventre creux nous ne cessions d'y croire

Et quand quelque bistrot contre un bon repas chaud, nous prenait une toile

We recite the verses, grouped around the well, forgetting the winter.

La bohème

La bohème

Ça voulait dire

You are jolie

La bohème

La bohème

Et nous avions tous du génie

Souvent, il m'arrivait devant mon chevalet de passer des nuits blanches

Retouching the design of the line of a chair, of the galbe of a hanche

Et ce n'est qu'au matin qu'on s'asseyait enfin devant un café-crème

Épuisés, mais ravis, fallait-il que l'on s'aime et qu'on aime la vie.

La bohème

La bohème

Ça voulait dire on a vingt ans

La bohème

La bohème

Et nous vivions de l'air du temps

Quant au hasard des jours, je m'en vais faire un tour à mon ancienne adresse

Je ne reconnais plus ni les murs, ni les rues who have seen my youth at the top of a staircase

I am looking for the atelier, where nothing remains in its new décor.

Montmartre looks sad and lilacs are dead

La bohème

La bohème

On était jeunes

On était fous

La bohème

La bohème

Ça ne veut plus rien dire du tout

Listen to song

Analysis of "La Bohème and its French vocabulary

The song narrates the nostalgia of a painter for his youthful days in the Montmartre district of Paris, devoted to the bohemian life. For a student of French, this song is perfect, as it offers:

• Contextual vocabulary

The lyrics are full of art-related vocabulary (atelier: canvas), Parisian urban life (Montmartre: garret), emotions (nostalgie, tristesse) and life experiences (faim: hunger, froid: cold, bonheur: happiness). Learning these words in the context of an emotional story makes them much more likely to be memorized.

• Verb tenses and narration

Aznavour makes masterful use of the past tense, enabling students to identify and understand the passé composé and the imparfait while describing memories. Lyrical narrative helps to understand how sentences are constructed to tell a story in French. For example:

Passé composé (Pretérito perfecto compuesto) for punctual actions, completed or marking a specific event in the past. It is often translated into Spanish as pretérito perfecto simple or pretérito perfecto compuesto.

• on s'est connu: we met (punctual action of getting to know each other).
• qui ont vu: who have seen (action completed in the past that has relevance in the present).

• Pronunciation and intonation

Aznavour's clear, slow and melodious voice is perfect for students to become familiar with French pronunciation. The way he modulates words and phrases, especially in the chorus, helps to capture the natural intonation of the language.

• French-speaking culture

Parisian bohemia is a mainstay of French-speaking culture. Through song, students not only learn a language, but also soak up a lifestyle, a historical period and a very French feeling, which enriches their cultural understanding and their connection to the language.

Linguistic analysis of the chorus 

The chorus of "La Bohème" is melodic and easy to repeat, so learning the song's complement and memorizing it will help you advance in the language. Here I share it, with its Spanish translation:

Choir:

La Bohème, la Bohème: La Bohème, la Bohème.

Ça voulait dire on a vingt ans: That meant we are twenty years old.

La Bohème, la Bohème: La Bohème, la Bohème.

Et l'on vivait de rien du tout: And we lived on nothing.

La Bohème, la Bohème: La Bohème, la Bohème.

Ça voulait dire tu es heureux: That wanted to say you are happy.

La Bohème, la Bohème: La Bohème, la Bohème.

Nous étions jeunes et nous étions fous: We were young and we were crazy.

• Phrases such as "Ça voulait dire" (That wanted to say) are very common structures that students can easily adopt.

• Essential verbs: Avoir (to have), vivre (to live), être (to be) appear prominently, reinforcing their conjugation and use in context.
• Adjectives and pronouns: Jeunes (young), fous (crazy), and the indefinite pronoun rien du tout (nothing at all) are important vocabulary items that are fixed with repetition.

Listen and sing "La Bohème" will allow you to accelerate your French learning process in a melodic and effective way.

This and other French classics are recommended by our certified Planeta Immiland teachers to adapt your ear to the pronunciation and gain oral fluency while singing. to adapt the ear to the pronunciation and gain oral fluency while singing.

Learn French with Planeta Immiland Education

At Planeta Immiland, we teach French through strategies that include music as a didactic resource, as well as other elements to develop oral and written production and comprehension. 

We are the first immigration language school for Canada and our certified teachers can teach you to speak French and English for work, school, personal or immigration purposes. 

We are certified by Languages Canada, which guarantees a good language learning adapted to the French-Canadian reality.

Visit our website with the available courses and, if you don't know your level yet, you can take this free free French testwith instant results and a special discount at the end of the test!

I hope you enjoyed this topic and that you will use music as an educational resource to learn vocabulary and become fluent in French. 

Thank you very much for reading! See you in the next blog!

With love, 

Planeta Immiland Education