Monday, March 9, 2009

Bonne Fete, ma soeur!

Today is my sister's birthday.

I was thinking about how much fun we used to have pretending we knew how to speak french. We'd be walking down the mall together and there would be a "don't you want to sign up for a Sears Card?" person approaching us, and Jacq would look at me and said "Et maintenant, nous commencons parler on francais". We figured if we were speaking french, or even kind of french, to each other that they would leave us alone.

We also tried to have "All French Days" at home, where we would try to only speak french all day. The problem with this was that I knew a lot of verbs that she didn't know, and neither of us had a great accent. So trying to understand each other's quirks took some getting used to.

But in the midst of all this, we fell in love with Edith Piaf. Particularly this song. (by the way, I should say that despite taking French into University, I still credit Mme. Piaf and "Michelle, ma Belle" by the Beatles as the bulk of my language studies".

The funny memory I have of this song is when my sister decided that Edith must be anorexic because of a line in the song that Jacq thought said "I have eaten nothing". I still smile thinking of that.

So without further ado, Happy Birthday Sis. Je Ne Regrette Rien.



Non Je Ne Regrette RienNon, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Ni Le Bien Qu`on M`a Fait, Ni Le Mal
Tout Ca M`est Bien Egal
Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
C`est Paye, Balaye, Oublie, Je Me Fous Du Passe


Avec Mes Souvenirs J`ai Allume Le Feu
Mes Shagrins, Mes Plaisirs,
Je N`ai Plus Besoin D`eux
Balaye Les Amours Avec Leurs Tremolos
Balaye Pour Toujours
Je Reparas A Zero (This is the anorexia line: she thought it said "Je repas a Zero"... as in "I had zero meals". Love that.)


Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Ni Le Bien Qu`on M`a Fait, Ni Le Mal
Tout Ca M`est Bien Egal
Non, Rien De Rien, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Car Ma Vie, Car Me Joies
Aujourd`hui Ca Commence Avec Toi

2 comments:

* said...

I have been told on more than one occasion that I have a great accent ... but I have practically no vocabulary. so ...
guess I will just stick with pisin

Anonymous said...

i am totally your soul sister/ loving french...also a previous homeschool mom. Love your blog...in a hurry...will read more later: my xanga: http://www.xanga.com/MaryMother

peace ! mary knox