--- title: 'Oli, the international Belgian singer of Guadeloupe' url: 'https://van-helden.net/en/actu/oli-chanteur-belge-international-de-la-guadeloupe' markdown: 'https://van-helden.net/en/actu/oli-chanteur-belge-international-de-la-guadeloupe.md' lang: en date: '2026-11-13' description: 'My website now speaks English. And even a little Creole.' --- # Oli, the international Belgian singer of Guadeloupe 13 November 2026 By popular demand of a single person, my website is now multilingual. [![Oli, at a very administrative desk on a Guadeloupe beach, answering three old phones at once](https://van-helden.net/user/pages/05.actu/oli-chanteur-belge-international-de-la-guadeloupe/oli-trois-telephones-plage-web.jpg)](https://van-helden.net/images/3/b/7/b/3/3b7b33d984b0728ee3eca1471ecd3ac9777f84b5-oli-trois-telephones-plage-web.jpg) *Note: in case you missed the previous episode, I [rebuilt my whole website](https://van-helden.net/en/actu/nouveau-site), prettier, younger, faster. Newsletter subscribers got it in a… let's say minimalist layout. Promise, it will be prettier and richer from now on, starting with this one.* The website is now available almost entirely in French and English: the about page, the records, the shop, the contact page, and even a few of my songs which have long had, though few people know it, an English version ready to invade the "hit-parades" on the other side of "la Manche". Nobody knows because I haven't chosen yet who will sing them (Ed or Billie, my heart is torn). But no need to wait for the cover: you can already discover the *déjanté* world of [Eurydice](https://van-helden.net/en/songs/eurydice?v=fr%2Cen) or the *insensées* thoughts of [Malade](https://van-helden.net/en/songs/malade?v=fr%2Cen), and a few others (you'll recognise them, they have little flags on the [Songs](https://van-helden.net/en/songs) page). [![Eurydice in French and English, side by side](https://van-helden.net/user/pages/05.actu/oli-chanteur-belge-international-de-la-guadeloupe/eurydice-cote-a-cote-web.jpg)](https://van-helden.net/images/6/f/a/2/5/6fa25882951cbe20a3a85d957931ed90ed036f7b-eurydice-cote-a-cote-web.jpg) But why, you may ask, do only a few songs have an English version (and only one a [Creole version](https://van-helden.net/en/songs/on-na-pas-des-metiers-faciles?v=fr%2Cgcf))? Because they are not translations, let alone automatic ones: it is real writing work, with rereadings, corrections and rewrites. Exciting, but it sometimes took longer than the original. A word-for-word translation would betray more than it explains, and some puns or figures of speech just don't travel (try explaining a "croque-guitare" to an Englishman). For the other songs, English speakers still get a short summary before the original lyrics. Another category left out of globalisation: the old news posts, a good hundred of them from another time, which didn't seem worth translating. New ones will get their English version. Usually. Like this one. As for the old ones: pardon my French. Also new: a "Full screen" button on every song. The lyrics fill the screen, sized to fit, on a black background. Handy for singing with me. Or instead of me. --- ## Navigation - Parent: [News](https://van-helden.net/en/actu.md) - Next: [J'ai reconstruit tout mon site](https://van-helden.net/en/actu/nouveau-site.md)