This is a guest post written by our friend, Lisa Yannucci.
The songFrereJacquesis sungby kids in their native languages all over the globe.
And kids everywhere know the tune.
Morning bells are ringing! Ding dang dong! Bim bam bom!
That makes it ideal to introduce children to international culture.
Morning bells are ringing!
After you hand out the lyrics, you could have the kids singFrereJacquesin the language they know it in.
In the US, we learn it in French so we sing the original version first.
Then I provide an English version for the children to sing which is basically a translation of the French.
This allows them to understand what the song means in French.
They love to see that language in its non-Roman text because its so exotic looking.
Below the original text I provide the pronunciation so they can give a shot to sing it.
you might use an iPhone or Android phone, with a portable speaker to do this easily.
Heres a link to a pdf printoutthat you’re free to use in your presentation.
It covers the songs of over 125 countries and features a major collection of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.
Lisa also publishes a line of books and apps devoted to global songs and traditions.
She lives on Long Island, New York with her husband and two children.
