Children's Songs in Occitan

Finally, I have found a site that has written Occitan, spoken (and sung) Occitan, and English. The English part is important to me. I have spent time on some sites trying, with my lack of experience in the language, to figure out what is being said, only to find that I am reading French. I did so poorly in French 101 that I promptly switched languages. It is a language that I suppose will always remain a mystery to me.

Anyway, the site is Mama Lisa's World and it showcases children's songs from around the world. Here is the page for Occitan.

Occitan and Cezanne in Provence

I decided to learn Occitan. It's not easy to find material for non-French speakers. I searched around and finally found some software. I've learned, according to the progress meter, about 500 words. My competency in the grammar section is not quite so good. I'm working on it, though.

Once I learned a language well enough to speak it. I tried to converse with a native speaker and found that language classes don't necessarily translate into conversational competency. It was rather embarassing. It was also disappointing. After spending all that time and money, I had expected a little better.

So, for Occitan, I am seeking out spoken media--movies, radio, and yes, television shows--so that I know what I know before I head out from my cozy English-speaking environment.

In my quest for Occitan materials, I set up my TiVo to search for shows on Provence and various other keywords that might turn up Occitan as a spoken language. Today it got me "Cezanne in Provence". It was an interesting hour-long biography of the artist, with lots of his paintings and the originals (landscapes, objects, photographs of people) shown. If you have a chance to check it out, and you have an interest, it's on PBS.