Back in March, I introduced my students to the music of Beninese singer Angélique Kidjo. Kidjo is a multilingual, multiple Grammy winning musician and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Her work incorporates many influences. I chose the songs “We Are One” (“Nous sommes un”) from The Lion King 2 and “Bomba” to show to my students.
I showed my students this brief presentation to introduce them to her. I also took this opportunity to remind students how widespread the French language is in Africa and that 60% of the world’s French speakers live there. I did the presentation on Nearpod, but I have converted it to Google Slides for teachers to access. Email subscribers, click here to view the presentation.
Then, I showed the music videos for the song “We Are One” (“Nous sommes un”). First, I showed the English version, with Angélique Kidjo herself singing it. Then I showed the version from the French dub of the movie, with the lions singing it, because I could not find a version with Kidjo singing it in French. The French version conveniently has subtitles in both French and English. Email subscribers, click here to watch the English version and click here to watch the French version.
Next, on Nearpod, students were asked to share what they thought the message of the song was and whether or not they agreed with it. Of course, they are free to agree or disagree with it and I did not insert my own feelings here. Most students said they did agree, but in the selections below (which I made on Canva to showcase on my class blog), I tried to include a variety of different perspectives.
Next, I showed students the music video for Kidjo’s song “Bomba,” which is a tribute to the beautiful outfits worn by women in Benin. The song is not in French, but the visuals offer a lot culturally. Email subscribers, click here to watch the video.
Next, I asked students to compare and contrast the outfits in the music video with women’s fashions in the United States.
This concluded the lesson. I did this lesson in March to coincide with Black History Month in the U.S., but there really is no specific time of year that this lesson has to be done. You will notice a lot of English in this lesson. While I strive to use French, and have my students use it, as much as possible during my instruction, during cultural lessons it can be difficult to maintain that for the whole lesson. I introduce the content in French, but the cultural conversations that we are having, and the revelations and observations students are making and sharing are very valuable and simply cannot be conducted in French with novice students. I know some will disagree with me on this, but I think a teacher has to carefully consider when staying in the target language may inhibit meeting culture-related lesson objectives, and this lesson was an example where I did decide to incorporate discussions in English.
By the way, all the graphics in this post were created with Canva. I love putting student quotes into graphics on Canva, because they provide a nice visual for this blog, my classroom blog, and updates that I send home through Parent Square, our school’s home-school communication platform. Visuals are so important! Adobe Express is a similar program which can accomplish the same thing. Our school subscribes to both, but I just have more experience with Canva so that’s what I use.
Now, I am hardly the foremost expert on how to incorporate music into the world language classroom, but below are some resources, some mine and some from others, that may further be of interest to you if you are looking for more ideas.
Roxxem – Roxxem is a site I just discovered which allows teachers and students to watch authentic music videos with French subtitles and an English translation underneath. Students watching on their own can click individual lyrics for a definition. Each song page has a description of the song in English, as well as the lyrics and translation. You can also play games with the lyrics, but I feel they are too difficult for novice learners. There is a free version as well as paid versions which allow teachers to track student progress.
The French Corner – Musical Connections – I describe an activity I did in class to introduce students to a variety of songs from all over the French-speaking world and get them talking about them in French.
The French Corner – How to Create Your Own Independent Exploration Library for Your Students – I describe how I have curated a library of resources for my students to browse at their own leisure. Within this library is a section dedicated to authentic music.
Helen Myers – ChatGPT recommendations: francophone song – Helen Myers describes her process using ChatGPT to get authentic music recommendations
Mme R’s French Resources – 10 Great French Songs to Play in Class – Mme R shares 10 of her favorite authentic French songs.
What can I DO {-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-da} with a song? – The Comprehensible Classroom – Martina Bex shares a variety of ideas for exploiting an authentic song.
Manie Musicale – I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Manie Musicale on here. For those unfamiliar, it is an annual bracket-style competition for students and teachers of French. Similar to March Madness basketball in the United States, participants try to predict which of 16 francophone songs will be the most popular. Although I’ve never partaken, anyone can browse the library of songs used, and their 2025 songs are available to play on Roxxem!
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