How to Sing a French Lullaby to Your Baby

Chantez une berceuse . . . sing a lullaby. Soothe your baby and help her sleep with the most famous lullaby from France.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A basic knowledge of French pronunciation
• A baby
• A rocking chair (optional)

1. Listen to French lullaby, "Fais dodo" to learn the melody. The artists Raffi and Daniel have both made beautiful recordings. Downloads are easily available online.

2. Practice the lyrics in French:
   Fais dodo, Colas mon petit frère
   Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo
   Maman est en haut, qui fait du gâteau
   Papa est en bas, qui fait du chocolat
   Fais dodo, Colas mon petit frère,
   Fais dodo, t'auras du lolo.

3. Find out what the lullaby means in English:
   Go to sleep, Colas my little brother (Colas is probably short for Nicolas)
   Go to sleep, and you'll get a treat.
   Mom is upstairs making some cake
   Dad is downstairs making some chocolate
   Go to sleep, Colas my little brother
   Go to sleep, and you'll get a treat.

4. Wrap your baby snug in a blanket. Dim the lights, settle comfortably in a rocking chair, and sing softly to your precious bébé.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are not a French speaker, listen to recordings of "Fais Dodo" several times in order to pronounce the lullaby correctly.
• Never try to pronounce French phonetically. There are a lot of tricky silent letters!

Resources

• International Lullaby CD's

[AbbyNormal]

on 6/9/2008 I remember learning this from MY high school French teacher! Thanks ...

[akchrist]

on 6/8/2008 Sounds like such a sweet song, I need to learn more french!

[Felicity]

on 6/2/2008 This is lovely - thanks for sharing this with us.