Non-English bands that perform in English

Cannot believe no one has picked this one off:

1752542806995.webp
 
Yep, they claim their French is the purest because it's the classic one, whereas french French has evolved.
The jury might be still out on that one, as technically it's the Academie Francaise which decides (or at least - releases "official" guidance) on what new words are in, what has changed in the language, etc. Been going on for centuries, at least in part a reason for why French is so difficult and has so many exceptions to the rules.

In the meantime, when someone speaks Quebequois French on French TV, the French put subtitles. In French.
I wish I could actually speak French, I learned it in school from grade 3 through 9 but yet they really didn’t teach us how to have full conversations at all.

Almost every other day in Niagara Falls I have French speaking guests who don’t understand a lot of English so if I could speak French it would make my walking tours that much better for them.
 
I learned French by being dropped in a French school after Christmass in 4th grade. Didn't speak a word. By June, I was part of the 5 from a class of 16 that didn't have to redo the year. The rest were all native French. All I can say is it wasn't easy.
On the flip side, I learned English by watching every movie in our local theater. There were two movies per week, one from Monday to Wednesday and another from Friday to Sunday. Me and my friend would go to every single movie, as long as it wasn't Russian (didn't have any beef with them, it's just that their movies sucked, at least for us teenagers). The tickets were the equivalent of 30 cents.
The rolls were about an hour each, so the projectionist had to switch them mid-movie. Usually we'd lose a random amount of footage, as the copies that were coming to our theater were used ones from larger theaters in better neighborhoods, and the junction would be cut deeper and deeper. Plus the projectionist was constantly drunk, so as we grew up we'd get used to him falling asleep more and more, and sometimes we'd have to wake him up yelling and whistling come roll swap time.
Anyhow - the magic word here was SUBTITLES. These things are a gift from above. They no longer perfected my reading skills, they allowed words to match written word.
To this day, I won't watch anything without CC.

So to learn French - Duolingo (even the free one) can get you very, very far. Plus watch movies that you know by heart, but in French. With subtitles. First - in French with English subtitles, then in French with French subtitles. Nowadays you can combine them any way you want.

And don't give up. If needed - get the first few chapters on the book "Atomic Habits". You do little additions, day in and day out, and then they pay up explosively.
When I was learning French I was threading water the first four months or so. Then one day I simply understood what people were saying, and it went avalanche style from there. What you learn is there, but the first few months - it sleeps.
 
I wish I could actually speak French, I learned it in school from grade 3 through 9 but yet they really didn’t teach us how to have full conversations at all.

Almost every other day in Niagara Falls I have French speaking guests who don’t understand a lot of English so if I could speak French it would make my walking tours that much better for them.
I know what you mean. I had grandparents who spoke fluent "cajun" French on mothers side. My dad's family spoke Italian. Wife's family , both sides also spoke French very well. All these years later, I have been sorry I did not take the time to learn from all of them. My youngest son is going on a trip to Paris soon and he said the same thing the other day. Wishing he had learned some too when he had the chance.
 
Last edited:
The global entertainment market is controlled by a handful of US or UK based corporations so any band that wants to be successful globally has to sing in English. There are some minor exceptions like Gypsy Boys whose name is English but songs aren't.
 
Once again, you need English to make it to levels which are still way, way too low to make even the slightest blip on that handful of corporations' radar. Gigs, club performances, and any concert outside of own country are things that most of the time benefit from being in English, in an environment where everything counts.

Maybe less so nowadays with internet, but definitely a major thing back when all the bands discussed above appeared and tried to make it.

As for the corporations - if anything, they'd make Swahili, Lemerig or Njerep exclusive and mandatory, should there be an extra ounce of money in it. They are corporations.

If Aggretsuko is any indication, death metal is better in Japanese than in English, even when the English version is stellar.
 
Last edited:
Rammstein is an exception to that.

I forgot to mention Jinjer (Ukraine) earlier. They're a regular on my playlist along with Lacuna Coil (Italy).

I also listen to some Russian based bands that don't sing in English. (Russian is my 2nd language) Tracktor Bowling and Louna (same lead singer), Slot, and Amatory. I only listen to their older stuff (2000-2010) though as they started going too "pop" in recent years with overproduction and lack of energy.
 
Back
Top Bottom