This month I’ve been asked a couple of times for French and Spanish translations of Make New Friends. In one case, it was for Girl Scouts for World Thinking Day. The troop wanted to sing Make New Friends in Spanish to represent Mexico. In another case, a Brownie troop wanted to sing make new friends in French for World Friendship Day. They’re learning about France.
Below you’ll find Make New Friends in English, Spanish and French. The variations are for the singular and plural forms in Spanish and French.
Make New Friends
(Original Version)Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is silver,
The other is gold.A circle is round,
It has no end.
That’s how long,
I will be your friend.A fire burns bright,
It warms the heart.
We’ve been friends,
From the very start.You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
And so are you.You help me,
And I’ll help you
And together
We will see it through.The sky is blue
The Earth is green
I can help
To keep it clean.Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be.Háganse/ haceos nuevos amigos
(Spanish)Háganse /haceos nuevos amigos
Pero guarden/ guardad los viejos
Uno es de plata
El otro es de oro.Un círculo es redondo
No tiene fin
Esto es cuanto tiempo
Seré tu amigo.Un fuego arde, brillante
Calienta el corazón
Hemos sido amigos
Desde el principio.Tengo una mano
Tienes la otra
Juntémoslas
Nos tenemos el uno al otro.La plata es preciosa
El oro también
Yo soy precioso
Y tú también.Me ayudas
Te ayudaré
Y juntos
Lo lograremos.El cielo es azul
La tierra es verde
Te puedo ayudar
A guardarla limpia.Por la tierra
Por el mar
Para siempre
Seremos amigos.Fais-toi / faites-vous de nouveaux amis
(French)Fais-toi / faites-vous de nouveaux amis
Mais garde(z) les anciens
L’un est d’argent, c’est bien
L’autre est d’or, c’est mieux.Un cercle est rond,
Il n’a pas de fin
C’est aussi longtemps
Que je serai ton copain.Un feu brûle haut
Il réchauffe le cœur
Nous avons été amis
Depuis le tout début.Tu as une main
J’ai l’autre
Mettons-les ensemble
Nous nous avons l’un l’autre.L’argent est précieux
L’or aussi
Je suis précieux
Et toi aussi.Tu m’aides
Et je t’aiderai
Et ensemble
On en viendra à bout.Le ciel est bleu
La terre est verte
Je peux aider
À la garder propre.À travers la terre
À travers la mer
Pour toujours
Nous serons amis.
Here’s a link to Make New Friends on Mama Lisa’s World, my collection of international children’s songs. There you can find the song with all of its versions.
Many thanks to Monique Palomares of Mama Lisa’s World en français and Mamá Lisa’s World en español for the French and Spanish translations!
-Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pm and is filed under American Kids Songs, Boy Scout Songs, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, English, France, French, Girl Scout Songs, Languages, Make New Friends, Mexico, Scouting Songs, Spanish, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
who wrote the childrens lullaby “little girl” in New Zealand?
what is the original meaning of this song?
Love the site by the way
January 15th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Hi Lisa ….
Both of my dauthers were in Girl Scouts and so I know that song very well. It’s nice to see it in Spanish and French …
Here is my poor attempt at trying it in Polish …. perhaps one of your more fluent readers might correct my errors.
Ed
Wyrabiają nowym przyjaciołom,
Ale utrzymują stary.
Jed jest srebrny,
inny jest złoty.
koło jest okrągłe,
To nie ma żadnego końca.
Który jest jak długi (długo),
będę waszym przyjacielem.
Ogień (pożar) pali się (wypala) jaskrawy,
To ogrzewa serce.
byliśmy przyjaciele,
Od tego właśnie początku.
Wy ma jed wręczać (ręka),
mam inny.
Położony one (oni) razem,
My ma siebie.
Srebro jest kosztowne,
Złoto jest też.
JA jestem kosztowne,
I tak (więc) są wy.
Wy pomagacie mnie,
I będę pomagać wam
I razem będziemy
widzieć to przez.
Niebo jest niebieska
Ziemiia jest zielona
JA może pomagać
utrzymywać to oczyszczać (czysty).
Poprzek ziemię
Poprzek morskich
Przyjaciół na zawsze
My będzie zawsze jest
January 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Lisa,
I’ve made an attempt in German … I think I got it pretty close
Anfertigen neu Freunde ,
Aber aufhalten die alt.
Man ist silbern ,
Anderen ist Gold
Kreis ist darum ,
hat null Ausgang.
Das heißt wie lang ,
Ich wirst sein ihrer Bekannter.
Ein abdrücken brennt aufgekratzt ,
Es erwärmt die Gemüt.
Wir haben gewesen Freunde ,
Vom sehr Vorsprung.
Sie haben man Arbeitskraft ,
Ich habe Anderen.
Tun Sie zusammen ,
Wir haben untereinander.
Silbern ist köstlich ,
Gold ist zu.
Ich bin köstlich ,
Also bist du.
Du Hilfe mich ,
Und Ich wirst helfen du
und zusammen
Wir wirst sehen es hindurch.
Die Himmel ist blau
Die Erde ist grün
Ich könnt abhelfen
Zu aufhalten es anständig.
Quer auf dem Land
Quer auf dem Bett See
Freunde für immer
Wir Wille allemal sein
January 15th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Thanks Ed! If anyone would like to post the song in any other languages – feel free!
-Mama Lisa
January 17th, 2008 at 2:00 am
see also
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/makenewfriends.html
I have a Norwegian translation
Lage ny venner ,
Bortsett fra oppbevare gjengangeren.
En er som sølv ,
Det annet er gullet
Gå rundt er i omkrets ,
Den har nei end.
Det er hvor lenge ,
Jeg vil være din venn.
En gi avskjed brannsår lys ,
Den hjertelig hjertet.
Vi har blitt venner ,
Helt fra begynnelsen.
Du har ettall hånd ,
Jeg har den annet.
Putte seg sammen ,
Vi har hverandre.
Sølv er kostbar ,
Gullet er også.
Jeg er kostbar ,
Hvorfor er du.
Du hjelpe meg ,
Og Jeg vil hjelpe du
Og sammen
Vi ville se den igjennom.
Himmelen er blåfarge
Jorden er grønn
Jeg kanne hjelpe
Å oppbevare den feilfri.
Vannrett landet
Vannrett havet
Venner alltid
Vi ville alltid være
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
What tune is the song sung to? Where can I find it so that I can teach my culturally diverse music class the song?
Carmen Holley
April 1st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I would also like to know what tune this is sung too. The words are lovely and i would like to teach it to the children I teach during Internatinal Week.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am
its to the tune of make new friends…u know the girl scout song?
February 21st, 2010 at 9:33 am
Lisa,
Thank you so much for posting the words to “Make New Friends” in French. My girls want to learn the first verse for World Thinking Day, but I can’t figure out how to keep the tune when singing it in French. I’m sure my pronunciation is off as well. Can you direct me to someone who can sing it for me (maybe over the phone)?
February 21st, 2010 at 5:22 pm
We tried to come up with a version of the 1st verse for you that is singable. Here are two choices. The first one seems easier for English speakers to sing:
Fais-toi des amis,
les anciens aussi,
les uns d’argent
les autres d’or
The second one rhymes:
Fais-toi des amis,
gard’ les anciens
l’un est d’argent,
l’autre d’or, c’est bien!
Thanks to Monique for these versions!
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:40 am
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!
January 25th, 2011 at 10:25 am
Does anyone know how to sing this in Mandarin or Cantonese? My girls want to sing it at our World Thinking Day celebration where they will present China. I only need these two verses:
Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is silver,
and the other’s gold!
Silver shines,
And gold does, too.
Keep them both,
They will shine for you!
October 27th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I have a spanish translation that can be singable:
Haz amigos
y guarda los viejos
uno es plata
y el otro de oro es.
December 6th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Thanks so much for this! My girl scout troop is singing this song in Spainish for Girl Scout Week/Thinking Day.! We have so much fun trying to sing it ! its hard to keep the same tune when u dont exactly no the words ! ahaha well Thanks! (:
January 25th, 2016 at 8:01 pm
Lisa,
I was also looking for a singable French version of Make New Friends. I bought the app but it’s not on there. I would like our group of Girl Scouts to actually hear someone else sing it. Can you send me to any site that will provide someone singing it?
Thanks!