Euro Song Contest French Reading

This French reading about the Euro Song Contest will be a great addition to your class and a way to include your students in a huge event that takes place each year. Are you a fan of the big song contest that takes place every year in Europe? You know the one – about 40 countries in Europe (and a few other places) submit songs and everyone votes by phone for their favorite one.

What is this contest you speak of?

It’s not really called the Euro Song Contest – the actual name is trademarked. But it’s pretty easy to figure out which one it is – and this year it will take place from May 10-14. It will be held in Turin, Italy and 40 countries are participating this year. Each group/singer will perform a song in either the first semi-final (May 10) or the second semi-final (May 12) and viewers will cast their votes. The top 20 acts will proceed to the final on May 14, where they will be joined by the big 5 – Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

How can I use the contest in my classes?

You can watch the contest in a world language class, as it is a great cultural point. But I’m afraid that you’ll be a little disappointed if you’re hoping to use the contest to actually hear songs in languages other than English – very few of the songs in 2022 are in languages other than English – and the ones not in English are in pretty uncommon languages. France’s submission is in Breton, which is pretty cool – but not helpful for those wanting to hear French!

Spain’s song is partially in Spanish, but the rest is in English. If you teach Italian, Greek, Serbian, Albanian, Lithuanian, Slovene, Ukrainian, Dutch, Romanian, Portuguese, Icelandic or Latin(!) you might find the songs themselves more useful. So what can you do instead? I would focus on more productive language – have your students watch the songs of the Euro Song Contest and rate them, or write a quick opinion in the target language. Or watch social media during the contest for tweets and posts in your target language – you will probably be able to find quite a few! You can also have students write captions or respond to posts from the singers.

Why should I care about this Euro Song contest – I don’t live in Europe!

It’s fun. It’s silly. Even people in Europe admit that a lot of the acts are cheesy, and there’s definitely a “type” of song and performer that goes to the contests. Netflix even made a movie about it, poking fun at the contest – and they even got some of the past contestants to appear in the film! The film is just as silly as the contest, but it’s all just a fun way to be entertained without getting too invested in the winner and loser.

French Reading Euro Song Contest – add MORE to your class!

You can also prepare your students for the Euro Song contest with this French reading about the competition. It discusses the history of the contest, how the contest is judged, the rules for singers and songs, and more! It also includes activities for students to rank the songs they like the most and vote to allot the points.

You can have your own class song ranking and see how it compares to the actual results! Best of all, there are three different versions of the French reading – a simplified one for novices, one for intermediate (includes more past tense and more details) and one for advanced students (includes the subjunctive). No matter what level your students are, they can enjoy learning about the Euro Song contest. It is available in several versions – a print version, a Google drive version and a bundle of the print and Google version if you want to be prepared either way.