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Linguaholic

Whats your favorite song in a foreign language?


raytalks

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I love Rammstein's songs, so I can't really single out a certain song from them, because I have so many favorites! I'm not really a fan of Asian music like K-Pop, but when it comes to English songs I also have sooo many favorites it's hard to name one! But to answer your question, I think I won't get tired listening to "Mehr" by Rammstein.

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I like a lot of songs from Manu Chao, or at least the ones in Spanish. Especially ¨Me gustas tu,¨ which is silly but simple so it is easy to listen to. It is hard for me to understand most songs in Spanish, so I stick to a lot of simple ones. I like Shakira's music also, but I have to look up the lyrics and follow along. And of course, I love ¨La Bama,¨ any version. I can actually sing that one since it is easy.

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I also love the Macarena. Not only do I love the song but I am a big fan of the dance. Just recently I was at a party where the older folks were in a dance competition and it was quite hilarious.

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English is a foreign language for me, but I believe the original post implies songs not in English.

So I'll choose Sodadeby Cesaria Evora. It's a pretty famous song, and it's sung in the Cape Verdean creole, which is based on Portuguese because Cape Verde was once a colony of Portugal.

It's incredibly beautiful as a song, but I also enjoyed from a linguistic point of view. The Cape Verdean creole is really interesting: most of its vocabulary comes from Portuguese, but with variations in spelling and pronunciation, and the grammar is different from Portuguese grammar. I managed to learn how to sing it pretty well, and the language has a beautiful sound. By the way, the title of the song is the Cape Verdean spelling of "saudade".

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Foreign language songs? I'm not really a born American so I guess you can say every song I listen to. But I really like some Korean songs most of them are K-Pop but only the really good ones. I don't really get into music that I don't understand lyrically speaking because of the language barrier, I can't seem to enjoy it.

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I don't really like songs that I don't understand. But I do love listening to some Korean and Japanese pop songs. Oh and there was this one Japanese Metal song that I really like, I don't know the title but it's an opening song for an anime that I really love.

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My favorite foreign song is probably 'Azafady' by a male singer named Lola. He is Malagasy and the song has been a hit for some time within the country. It is fun to dance to and our friends here even have a routine they do to the song in Malagasy sign language that they have shown at wedding receptions. For anyone who would like to see it go to:

The word, 'Azafady' is a way the Malagasy language says, 'Pardon' or 'Sorry'. It can also mean, 'Please'. The word, 'Aza' means, 'Don't' and the word 'Fady' is taboo. So you are literally saying that there is 'nothing wrong' or when asking for something, 'if it isn't taboo' to do...

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Hey there Saholy!

Thank you for that explanation of the word Azafady. My malay is rather limitied, so I did not have any clue about the meaning of it!

In your signature I can see that you know ASL? Is that right? I would love to hear more about that. There are not many people out there having knowledge in ASL.

Have a good weekend!

Lingua

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I have a few favorite anime intro songs, and my one of my top favorites has to be the one from YuYu Hakusho and Dragonball. I've read some translations of these songs in English though and they turn out kind of silly when put that way, though I imagine that they are probably at least a little poetic in their original form which is why I'm hoping to learn Japanese so I could enjoy it in its pure form as well as many other Japanese literature and media.

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My favorite foreign song is an Arabic one called "Abdelkader", and the live version from Cheb Khaled, Rachid Taha & Faudel's "1,2,3 soleil" concert is the best of all in my belief.

Staying in the Arabic genre, the duo Sting made with Cheb Mami ( Desert Rose) is a true Gem ;)

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I love Rammstein's songs, so I can't really single out a certain song from them, because I have so many favorites! I'm not really a fan of Asian music like K-Pop, but when it comes to English songs I also have sooo many favorites it's hard to name one! But to answer your question, I think I won't get tired listening to "Mehr" by Rammstein.

Ohey! I'm also a fan of Rammstein. My favorites are either Du Hast or Amerika. My favorite foreign song isn't from Rammstein, though.

It's French!

My favorite foreign song is Dernière Danse by Indila. The music video is art, and the song itself is one of the reasons why I want to learn French. It's so beautiful.

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Melo do pirulito. It is a Brazilian song and it's in Portuguese. I used to listen to it when I was a kid, I still don't understand one bit of it even though Portuguese is very similar to Spanish. I guess one day I will start learning Portuguese and be able to finally understand the darn lyrics.

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Here are a few, I don't know what they're singing, but I just like the rhythm of the song:

Amerika - Rammstein

Alors on danse - Stromae

Gangnam style - PSY

Gentleman - PSY

Dragostea din tei - O-Zone (almost forgot :tongue:)

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I feel like I should choose a favorite song for all the languages I understand... But since I have to pick out one, I pick "leteli oblaka" (the clouds flew) by a Russian band named "DDT" (both the title and the artists are originally spelled out in cyrillic, naturally). It's quite ironic since I barely speak a word of Russian, but this one really speaks to me. It is (probably) a stream of consciousness by a man lying on the grass watching clouds and thinking "what could've been if". Give it a try if you like!

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  • 2 weeks later...

At the moment? My favorite non-English song would be Sandpiper by Kalafina. They are one of my favorite groups! If you've never heard of them, I definitely recommend giving them a try asap. They are all about harmony and their songs evoke visions of lore & fantasy, and I can just squeal about them for decades.

That aside, I feel Sandpiper in particular is very beautiful, and I love the lyrics, too. Here's the live performance from 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P_8oUY1Bwc

@Saholy: That video was like a huge advertisement for a vacation spot!  :laugh: The song is super catchy though.

@Kangoo: I've heard of this song but never actually listened to it. Now that I have, I can concur that it is a gem! I love it.

@Kektheman: There's something about French women that makes a song more enticing for me. I'm just too lazy to go out and actively look for songs. Thanks for introducing Zaz to me! I'm going to check out her other songs too.  :angel:

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I don't know that I have a favorite song in another language. I would like to hear more music in other languages, but I need to be able to understand the lyrics and the message of the song before I can really enjoy it. Hopefully I can get into some Spanish music as I learn more words in the future.

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