French Christmas Carols
If you're going to celebrate the holidays in France or you're a teacher looking to teach your students some French holiday sayings, learning a few French Christmas carols can come in very handy. In addition, learning and singing songs is lots of fun. As a student, learning lyrics is a lot more fun than memorizing vocabulary lists, so if you're learning French, check out some French Christmas carols. If you're a teacher who hasn't yet taught their students any songs, consider making some holiday songs the first ones you bring into your classroom.
Christmas in France
Since France is a predominantly Catholic country, Christmas is an important holiday. For this reason, there's a large selection of French songs for the holiday season, much like the extensive list of English Christmas songs. Christmas is a traditionally family holiday in France, with families eating big meals together and attending church services together. Of course, like many traditions, the French traditions surrounding Christmas are slowly changing as new generations create their own traditions. Whether or not families still go to church together on Christmas may change in the near future, but Christmas carols will most likely still be sung!
French Christmas Carols
Like in many other languages, French songs for Christmas can be divided into two main categories: religious hymns and children's Christmas songs. In both categories, many songs are direct translations of Christmas carols sung in English, German, or some other language.
Religious Hymns
Songs often sung at church during Advent are Christmas songs commonly sung in France, just like some of the Christian songs in English that have made it into the mainstream culture, such as 'O Holy Night'.
Il est né le divin enfant
An upbeat song as far as Christian songs go, this one is a delight to hear and to sing along.
Minuit Chrétien
One of the most beautiful Christmas songs of all time whether sung in a church or on a stage. Check out this Rufus Wainwright live version if you're a fan of his work or looking for a contemporary singer singing this classic Christmas song.
un Flambeau Jeannette Isabelle
This religious song borders on the brink between traditional Christmas hymn and a mainstream holiday song. Most will recognize the English title 'Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella'. This instrumental version is especially lively.
Children's Christmas Songs
Christmas is lots of fun for children; in addition to the songs that surround the religious history of Christmas, a long list of children's songs can be heard playing in schools, homes, and just about every store during the holiday season.
Le petit renne au nez rouge
Do you recognize this title as 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'? A fun Christmas song for children who speak all languages, this song will remain a classic for generations to come. Listen to Le petit renne au nez rouge on you tube to see how many words you can understand.
Petit Papa Noël
This sweet lullaby is exclusively for the Christmas season. This song's sweet, lilting sound lulls many children to sleep during the holidays. Unlike many French Christmas songs, this song does not have an English equivalent song; enjoy the original French lyrics as sung by French or Québécois singers.
Mon beau sapin
The French variant of 'Oh Christmas Tree', borrowed from the German song 'O Tannenbaum' is another sweet-sounding holiday song loved by adults and children alike for its gentle harmony.Nana Mouskouri sings the musical ode very beautifully.
Vive le vent
Perhaps the most lively of all Christmas songs, 'Jingle Bells' is just as much fun in French as it is in English! This version has lyrics so that you can follow along!
For teachers and students, it is fun to use music in the classroom. You can find extensive lists of French holiday music at Momes.net or listen to clips of some of the most popular French holiday songs at emusic.com. Not only is hearing the songs lots of fun, learning the words is a great way to improve one's French!
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