Mme R's French Resources

French resources for busy teachers

7 Great French Songs for Secondary Students

French songs for high school and secondary classes

It’s la rentrée so I thought it might be time to share more of my favorite French songs! Starting back to school is exciting, because it’s a fresh start, but it’s also really challenging, because it means starting all over again.

Having new French students in your class means teaching classroom expectations, learning names, creating a positive classroom environment, team-building, and getting the students excited about being in your class all while introducing as much French as you can in a way that is not intimidating. No wonder teachers go home and crash for the first month of school!

While there are so many things to accomplish in those first few weeks, I’ve always felt that reaching your students and getting them excited about your class is so important. We want them to learn as much of the language and culture as we can, and because music resonates so well with so many of us, it is my favorite way to get kids excited about my class.I play music for all sorts of activities, like using videos for vocabulary inference, reviewing terms they’ve learned, creating close activities with vocabulary and verbs, or just listening for fun when we have some free time. Music has always been a huge part of my teaching.

My last list of French songs is one of my most-read posts, so I thought it would be nice to share a few more!

Here are a few of my favorite French songs I like to play during the first few weeks of school. I try to mix up the artists I play so that students are getting new and old songs from all over the world. Although I watch all videos before showing them in class, I’ve never taught kids younger than 11, so you might decide that one of these videos is not the right choice for your class.

Here are some of my favorite French songs for secondary classes:

1. Magic in the air – Magic system

This song is amazing for FSL classes, because it has just enough English to not intimidate students, it is catchy enough that even beginners will pick up some words, and kids really love the rhythm. The message is so positive that it’s a great song to play with students who have more fluency, too.

2. Si t’as été à Tahiti – Albert DePaname

The video is hilarious! It’s a fun way to bring the passé composé into class for a quick review, and you can even talk about their summer adventures. I love to print the lyrics and create a close activity with the verbs in the passé composé.

3. L’oiseau et l’enfant – Kids United

We LOVE Kids United! Their sweet voices remake some popular French songs that I listened to when I was little. This is a modern remake of the original song that came out the year I was born.

4. Ose – Yannick Noah

This is another of my favorite French songs. I love it at back to school time, because it’s about goal-setting and not letting fear keep you from your dreams. The message is great and kids love this song!

5. Francis- Cœur de pirate

While this song doesn’t have anything in particular that corresponds to back to school, it just happens to be one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists, Canadian singer, Béatrice Martin.

6. Jeune – Louane

Louane is an artist who appeals a lot to middle and high schoolers. She has a lot of songs out there, but I think this one is catchy.

7. Je veux – Zaz

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this song before, but I just LOVE it! Zaz is a class favorite every year, and this is one of my favorite French songs!

Got any favorites I haven’t mentioned? I’d love it if you’d share them below!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Great list! A song my senior students loved last year was « C’est dommage » by Big Flo & Oli, French brothers. The message about going after something you want is very clever and is a great way to practise the conditionnel antérieur (elle/il aurait pu/dû).

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  2. My students still ask for “Les Cornichons.” I use it with the food unit. They love it. I also like Indila “La Dernière Danse” to facilitate conversation about immigration. Claudio Capéo’s “Ça va, ça va” is fantastic at the beginning of the school year when students are learning greetings, but it’s catchy any time. I love teaching with music.

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    • I love all of Indila’s songs! I don’t know “Les Cornichons.” Thanks for recommending a few more for the list. Music has always been one of my favorite teaching tools. 🙂

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    • Oh yes! My classes have always LOVED Stromae. I’m not familiar with Automat. Thanks for helping add new ideas. 🙂

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  5. My upper level students really liked
    “ Elle m’a dit” by Mika, and “Aime-moi”, and “Bien avec toi” by another Canadian, Ariane Brunet. “Dingues, Dingues” and “Elle habite à Paris@ by Christophe Mae.
    Jack and Jenny’s “Oú tu veux”.
    “Emmène-moi” by Kerredine Soltani.
    “A cause des Garçons” by Yelle is also a fun one for students
    For lower levels “J’ai perdu ma tête “ by Pink Martini, and Fou de Fa Fa just for fun.💕

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  8. How about adding the song “1er Jour d’école” by Chilla? I made a Textivate activity for it if you use that …

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  9. Thank You So Much!! But, I would also recommend the song: On écrit sur les murs – Kids United.
    It is very nice and inspirational to listen to. 😎👍😄😃

    Thank You!!

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  10. I love the songs you listed and even see a few new ones to try out in my class. Singing is one of my favorite things to do, so I have my students singing all the time. It REALLY helps their pronunciation. We even get requests to go sing in the office when it is someone’s birthday. I take them up armed with kazoos to do Je Veux (we love Zaz too!). They play the kazoos during the horn parts, it’s a huge hit with the staff and students. My students also go CRAZY for Françoise Hardy (Tous les garçons, especially). I always warn them before I play her songs that they are from the 1960’s but I have never had a student not love it. Who knew?

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    • Yay! I’m so glad you found some new songs! I think music is so fun, and kids love it. You never know what kids will like! My high schoolers always loved Edith Piaf, which I was surprised by at first.
      It sounds like your school has great support for your French program, and how fun is it that your students do mini concerts around the school! 🙂

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  11. Hello!

    The link to your friend’s post didn’t work, do you know if it’s still available? I would love to have a look!

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    • Hi there! I actually pulled that post down, because my friend retired from teaching and sold his company. The buyer hasn’t made those songs available yet, but if she does, I’ll be sure to share it!

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  12. I’ve fallen in love with Ichon’s “La Vie”…he’s adorable and contagious, in a good way!

    Reply

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