The best way to begin learning a foreign language is to memorize songs. The words stick much better when they have a tune to them. The French national anthem is “La Marseillaise,” written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, during the French Revolution. It was banned after Napoleon’s reign but brought back by popular demand in 1879—and it has remained the country’s anthem ever since.
The entry trick to “La Marseillaise” is the movie Casablanca. Get the movie and simply join in, or watch that clip on YouTube. All the right passion and pronunciation is there for you to copy. Keep rewinding and copying until you have it by heart.
“LA MARSEILLAISE”
FRENCH
Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
L’étandard sanglant est levé,
L’étandard sanglant est levé,
Entendez-vous, dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes.
REFRAIN
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs.
Liberté, liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs;
Combats avec tes défenseurs;
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents;
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!
REFRAIN
ENGLISH
Let us go, children of the fatherland,
Our day of glory has arrived.
Against us stands tyranny,
The bloody flag is raised,
The bloody flag is raised,
Do you hear in the countryside
The roar of these savage soldiers?
They come right into our arms
To cut the throats of our sons, our countrymen.
CHORUS
To arms, citizens!
Form up your battalions,
Let us march, let us march!
That their impure blood
Should water our fields.
Sacred love of the fatherland,
Guide and support our vengeful arms.
Liberty, beloved liberty,
Fight with your defenders;
Fight with your defenders;
Under our flags, so that victory
Will rush to your manly strains;
That your dying enemies
Should see your triumph and glory!
CHORUS