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In The Kingdom Of The Winter Snowman

La période de Noel est ici (Christmas time is here) ! Every time I leave mon appartement (my apartment) I can hear les chants de Noel (Christmas carols) as I make my way to le marché de Noel to drink du vin chaud. While listening to la musique, I was surprised that many of les chansons (the songs) that I grew up with in English have French versions as well!

Image is “Snowman” by Toshiyuki Imai on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

English and French versions

Hearing a song you know par coeur (by heart) in another language can be a strange experience. It’s easy to hum along, but not knowing any of les paroles (the lyrics) can be frustrating.

L’autre jour (the other day), I heard a very familiar song that I could not chanter (sing): Au Royaume du Bonhomme Hiver.

I couldn’t chanter because I only know la chanson in English: Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

After humming along and doing my best to listen to les paroles, I knew I would have to learn la chanson française.

Looking up les paroles taught me du nouveau vocabulaire (some new vocabulary) like le traîneau et le foulard (the sleigh and the scarf). It also taught me that la chanson is very different in french.

Most importantly, I could chanter the next time I heard la chanson!

Voici les paroles avec la traduction anglaise :

Au Royaume du Bonhomme Hiver / Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Écoutez les clochettes

Du joyeux temps des fêtes

Annonçant la joie

De chaque cœur qui bat

Au royaume du bonhomme hiver.

Listen to the bells

Of the joyful holiday times

Announcing the joy

Of each beating heart

In the kingdom of the winter snowman.

Sous la neige qui tombe

Le traîneau vagabonde

Semant tout autour

Une chanson d’amour

Au royaume du bonhomme hiver.

Under the falling snow

The sleigh wanders

Spreading all around

A love song

In the kingdom of the winter snowman.

Le voilà qui sourit sur la place

Son chapeau, sa canne et son foulard

Il semble nous dire d’un ton bonasse

Ne voyez-vous donc pas qu’il est tard ?

There he is smiling in the plaza

His hat, his cane, and his scarf

Seemingly telling us in a soft tone

Don’t you see that it’s late?

Il dit vrai tout de même

Près du feu, je t’emmène

Allons nous chauffer dans l’intimité

Au royaume du bonhomme hiver.

He speaks the truth anyway

Next to the fire, I’m taking you

Let’s go warm up in privacy

In the kingdom of the winter snowman.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.