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Introduction

• Published: January 2022
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Sport features prominently in French-speaking cultures as a socio-cultural symbol that shapes self-understanding. Literature from around the Francophone world provides a venue for exploring national cultures, and has examined sport as a vector of influence on conceptions of the mind, self and body. Pour le Sport: Physical Culture in French and Francophone Literature focuses on sport and physical culture as subjects of literature. ‘Physical culture’ includes modern sport and its precursors, providing a greater sense of shifting attitudes toward the body among broader changes in French-speaking societies. Although soccer dominates French and Francophone sports spaces, other activities resonate culturally and their literature reveals diverse values and concerns. Here, ‘literature’ encompasses written works possessing an imaginative, creative and artistic merit or value, and we read these as literature. This literary lens sets the present collection apart from other studies of sport in the French-speaking world, while opening our inquiry to physical culture in and outside of France offers a wider perspective of athletic activities and their representations in literary works.

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World Cup: How to talk about “le football” in French?

• June 26, 2018

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is happening, and it’s a big deal here in France!

What is it? How can you use it as a springboard into French culture? And how can you talk about it around the water cooler?

Let’s dig in!

Want all the vocabulary of the lesson ?

Want to read this lesson later , 1. le sport.

Le sport ( = sport ) is a popular topic for French conversations. Especially le football ( =soccer, football ), which we also commonly call le foot . During la Coupe du Monde , the World Cup, there will be 64 matchs de foot , matches. They’re played in un stade , a stadium.

“Tu as vu le match hier ? Il était beau !” Did you watch the game yesterday? It was great!

The last game they’ll play is la finale , the final.

A team is une équipe . Our French national team is l’équipe de France . We commonly call them les Bleus , the Blue Ones, for the color of their shirt. It’s also a nickname we give to the French national team in any sport.

That’s why you can hear in a stadium: “Allez les Bleus !” “Go the French team!”

Supporters are called… les supporters . ( Note : we sometimes “Frenchify” the term by spelling it “un supporteur”.)

Example: “Désolée, moi je supporte l’équipe d’Argentine, c’est là que je suis née.” “I’m sorry, I’m rooting for the Argentinian team, that’s where I was born.”

Before the final game, there are les matchs de qualifications , ( = qualification matches ), les matchs de poule ( = pool games ), les huitièmes de finale , ( = 1/8th finals ), les quarts de finale , (= quarter finals ), une demi-finale ( = a semi final ).

The Belgian team is nicknamed “Les Diables rouges” ( = The Red Devils ). The Cameroonian team is nicknamed “Les Lions Indomptables” ( = The Indomitable Lions ). But the most famous French-speaking team might be… L’Équipe ( = “The Team” ), the French nation-wide daily newspaper devoted to sports!

L’Équipe is one of the most-read French newspapers, and the original creator of the famous bicycle race Le Tour de France. You can read L’Équipe online. Or read and watch our lesson to get an introduction to “Le Tour de France”.

2. Le match

Un match , sometimes called une rencontre (=a meeting, or an event), is 90 minutes of individual virtuosity, teamwork, and suspense! First, everyone enters le terrain (= the field).

The game is played in deux mi-temps , two 45 minutes halves. (Note: on its own, la mi-temps is the the 10-minutes halftime pause between the two periods.)

Example: “Oh, Michel, tu as vu le but de Griezmann dans la deuxième mi-temps ?” Oh, Michel, did you see the goal by Griezmann during the second half?

Les joueurs, the players, try to get le ballon , the ball, to marque un but , to score a goal, without letting the other team score. When a shot flies past le gardien de but , the goalkeeper (also commonly called le goal), the crowd goes wild!

Example: Buuuuut !

The game starts and end with l’arbitre , the referee, blowing his whistle. He’s also the one to enforce the rules and point out une faute , fouls. Such as la main , a hand ball, le hors-jeu , an offside… A foul play can lead to un coup franc , a direct free kick, un penalty / “un péno” , a penalty kick, or even un carton , a penalty card.

“Allez, y’avait faute là ! L’arbitre est aveugle !” “Oh come on, that was a foul! The referee must be blind!”

A football field has deux camps (= two ends). The teams change ends between the first and the second halves. In front of each goal, there’s la surface de réparation (= the penalty area), sometimes simply called la surface .

Famous French Player for 2018

Football players can be un attaquant (= forward), un défenseur (= defender), un milieu de terrain (= midfielder)… or un remplaçant (= a substitute). In 2018 for instance, we’ll have des attaquants such as Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappé, and des défenseurs such as Paul Pogba.

3. La Coupe du Monde de 1998

La Coupe du Monde de 1998 (= the 1998 FIFA World Cup), happened twenty years ago. And it’s still important! It happened in France, and that’s where Les Bleus won their first (and so far only) World Cup.

There was massive popular support, and giant crowds in the streets to celebrate. The players were treated as heroes, and they still are very famous: Zinedine Zidane became a giant star in France for instance, and Didier Deschamps , the team captain, is now le sélectionneur de l’équipe de France (= the national coach).

It was a big boost for the country’s morale! (Note: Culturally, it was seen as a big victory for “La France Black Blanc Beur”, a diverse team uniting French people from all origins and minorities.)

We all sang together the 1998 French Soccer Hymn, a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. Another French monument, former singer Johnny Hallyday, also got in the action with a special song: go watch it, it’s called “Tous Ensemble” and it’s amazing.

Want to save this for later ?

How many goals do you think the French team will score when they win the final game?

Tell me in the comments section on, I’d love to hear from you!

Bonne journée, Géraldine

Join the conversation!

Bonjour, Geraldine! Demain après-midi, il y aura une fête à l’Alliance Française de Denver pour regarder les demi-finales de La Coupe du Monde. Très pratique pour moi … c’est juste après ma classe de français du matin. Allez les Bleus!

Merci bien Géraldine pour cette leçon! Nous avons vu la quart-final France-Uruguay au stade Nizhny Novgorod, et c’était génial:) Allez les Bleus!

Merci Géraldine pour les mots à propos le foot. Je ne suis qu’un débutant en le français, et pour moi les nouveaux mots sont très serviable. J’aime bien vos leçons. Robert

Mon mari est très joyeux ! 4-2 ! Incroyable ! Allez les Bleus !

Merci — comme toujours — pour cette vidéo très utile et pour la chanson ! J’attends toujours avec plaisir tes leçons ! 🙂 Allez les Bleus ! (Et allez l’Argentine !)

Allez l’Argentine ! 😀

Zinedine Zidane, une étoile géante pour le meilleur coup de tête du football! Brillant!

ahahah. Oui, il y a ça aussi, en effet !

Merci bien Geraldine! Chaque matin dans la salle de sports tout le monde parlent du foot et maintenant je peux en parler avec plus de confiance. C’est genial!

Bravo Prue ! De quoi as-tu parlé ce matin ?

Dans le tour de seize équipe: La france 3, Argentine 1. C’est dommage parce que j’adore Sr. Messi, mais j’aime la France ! Allez les Bleus !

On croise les doigts, Colin !

Mon mari et moi nous étions en France en juin pendant la Coupe du Monde de 1998. C’étais incroiable! Allez les Bleus!!!

Bonjour Jan, Super ! Ca a dû être extraordinaire ! Qu’est-ce qui t’a le plus plu ?

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Le Football

Football will interest many students and may even engage students who are otherwise not interested in traditional subject matter.

What is the word for a red card? Can you describe the skills of a player?

L'histoire du football

Series of short articles about the history of the game of football. Covers the World Cup and the presidents of FIFA among other things. Good simple timeline also included. Accessible language.

How it maps to the curriculum

Strand: Reading

Strand unit: Sport

Suggestions for use: Look at the timeline (within some articles). Get the students to research a football team of their choice and select the major landmarks in its development to the present.

FIFA - French Version

The French language version of FIFA, the world governing body for football. Contains news, information, history, and various activities associated with the sport. While content changes there are usually interactives that will engage students, e.g dream teams etc.

Suggestions for use: Some advance prep work required for teacher but the articles are usually short and accessible. And they may interest students that might bnot otherwise engage.

French language version of the official UEFA site - governing body for football in Europe. Contains information articlesn news items, latest results and standings from the various leagues.

Fédération française de football

Official site of the governing body for French football. Contains information and news about football including all the latest results from domestic competitions and the national team. Articles are reasonably short and accessible.

Le Figaro - Football

News reports and articles from a national newspaper in France. The articles are well broken up and reasonably accessible.

Suggestions for use: Get the students to select what they believe to be the big news story of the day - and write a paragraph or two about it.

Le Monde - Football

Football articles and news reports from a quality newspaper in France.

Suggestions for use: Get the students to select what they believe to be the big story of the day and write two paragraphs about it.

Online French media outlet focusing on football. Articles tend to include lots of images and video links. Language reasonably accessible.

Suggestions for use: Select a specific story that interests and write a short piece explaining it.

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• French Idioms

How to Talk about Sports and Hobbies in French [+15 Examples & Quiz]

• Sam Denishin
• November 3, 2020

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In this grammar lesson, you will learn how to talk about sports and hobbies in French.

In this lesson you will learn about:

• the two idioms you must use: jouer à versus faire de
• how to use jouer à
• how to use faire de
• ongoing versus habitual activities
• how jouer à and faire de are used in sentences
• how you can quiz yourself on how to talk about sports and hobbies in French
• how to practice with flashcards on how to talk about sports and hobbies in French
• how and why you should use the courses of Language Atlas to learn French

Please refer to the French A1 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar, if you are curious about this fits in French A1 .

By the end of the lesson, you will know all about how to talk about sports and hobbies in French!

Table of Contents

Sport and hobbies in french: jouer à versus faire de.

When talking about sports and hobbies in French, you will need to know two idioms:

• jouer à + [sport/hobby]
• faire de + [sport/hobby]

In French you can jouer (play) and faire (do) a sport/hobby.

For every sport/hobby there’s a set choice of the two idioms that you must choose.

So, one idiom can go only go with one sport/hobby.

In the following chapters you will find out which sport/hobby goes with which idiom.

Please take a look at how the idiom jouer à is used in French.

Je joue au tennis. I play tennis.

Tu veux jouer aux échecs ? Do you want to play chess?

Il joue au football. He plays football. [known as soccer in U.S English]

Nous jouons au basket-ball. We play basketball.

Jouez -vous aux échecs ? Do you play chess?

Ils jouent aux cartes. They play cards.

Please don’t forget about contractions in French , à + le and à +les contract into au and aux .

Please take a look at how the idiom faire de is used in French.

Je fais du sport. I do sports.

Tu fais du ski ? Do you ski?

Elle fait de la natation. She swims. [on a regular basis]

Nous faisons du vélo tous les week-ends. We cycle every weekend.

Faites -vous du sport ? Do you do any sports?

Je fais de la voile. I sail.

Please don’t forget about contractions in French , de + le and de +les contract into du and des .

Ongoing versus Habitual Activity

Can you tell the difference between the following examples?

Je danse. I’m dancing.

Je fais de la danse. I dance. I do dancing.

In the first example, someone is in the middle of dancing. It is an ongoing activity.

In the second example, someone dances on a habitual basis.

When you use faire de [sport/hobby] , you are referring to doing a sport or a hobby on a habitual basis.

Examples Sentences on How to Talk about Sports and Hobbies in French

The final section of this lesson on how to talk about sports and hobbies in French is about seeing the idioms in action.

This is valuable because you can improve your understanding on how to talk about sports and hobbies in French through examples.

Je joue aux jeux vidéo. I play video games.

Je ne sais pas jouer aux échecs. I don’t know how to play chess. I can’t play chess.

Quiz Yourself on How to Talk about Sports and Hobbies in French

At the end of every lesson you can do a small quiz.

You will see the sentences of the previous chapter.

You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.

Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.

You can redo the quiz as many times as you want.

Je tennis. I play tennis.

Je fais . I dance. I do dancing.

Tu ski ? Do you ski?

How to Practice With Flashcards for This Lesson

Using flashcards is an absolute necessity when it comes to learning a language!

It is the best way to memorize what you learn, you can personalize your progression because it adapts to your actions, and all flashcards have audio to improve your hearing and pronunciation.

Please read our article on how to learn a new language for more information on flashcards and the best way to learn a new language.

There are two ways to practice with Flashcards for this lesson.

• The Flashcards in our Courses

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Quel est ton sport préféré ? / Quel est votre sport préféré ? – Coffee Break French To Go Episode 9

• Coffee Break Languages
• February 5, 2020
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To ask “what is your favourite sport?” in French you can say quel est ton sport préféré ? , or in a more formal situation, quel est votre sport préféré ?  In this episode of Coffee Break German To Go, Pierre-Benoît asks this questions to interviewees in the streets of his hometown, Pornic. You can use the answers of our interviewees to help you learn to answer this question yourself.

In the first part of the video, watch the interviews without subtitles and try to understand. In the second part of the video, we’ve provided subtitles in French at the top of the screen. You can choose to turn on subtitles in English using the Subtitles/CC button.

In this first series of Coffee Break French To Go, Pierre-Benoît is in the town of Pornic, in the west of France, and in each episode she’ll ask passers-by one question. Of course, that one question will result in many answers, and it’s through these answers that you can practise your French and build your vocabulary.

Coffee Break French To Go will be published every two weeks here on YouTube, and each Season will be filmed in a different part of the French-speaking world.

If you’d prefer not to wait for all 10 lessons of Season 1 to be published, you can access downloadable versions of the videos along with audio versions and lesson notes / transcripts in the Coffee Break Academy .

Coffee Break French To Go is based on the popular podcast series and online course Coffee Break French. For access to the free podcasts, please click here .

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Sports in French: 250 Words and Phrases

France is no stranger to sports fanatics and great athletic teams , boasting the ever famous Paris Saint-Germain soccer team among others for its soccer-crazed citizens and also home to the renowned Tour de France .

But let’s face it: people talk about sports more than they play them. So join in.

If you’re into sports, the following French sports vocabulary will be an ace/home run/goal for you.

Types of Sports

The people in sports, people in american football, people in soccer, athletic actions, equipment, locations and things, ski equipment and locations, swim equipment and locations, cycling equipment and locations, talking about matches, trophies and tournaments, common sports sayings.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Luckily for you, most French words for sports are extremely similar to their English counterparts , so you should be able to memorize this first list pretty quickly!

Without these people, sports would cease to exist, so learning the following vocabulary is a must. Pay special attention to the words that change their spelling depending on gender.

Verbs are very important not only for sports but also for everyday life. The following list is made up of the essential and most commonly used French action words in sports.

Certain equipment and places are necessary for each sport. Here are some items and locations needed for the most popular sports.

How’s the game going? Where are we? Who’s winning? This vocabulary will help you keep up.

Even if you’re not a huge sports fan, you’ve probably watched some of the big games below.

Keep practicing your vocabulary and who knows, you may just find yourself seated at the 2024 Olympics in Paris!

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Are Sports Parts of the French Culture?

The role of sports in the french culture.

The French seem to be better known for smoking in cafés while drinking fine wine and discussing New Wave cinema rather than for their athletic abilities. A quick Google search of “Why are the French so ...” turns up with “romantic”, “dark”, “thin”, “depressed”, and “healthy”. I’m not sure what an amalgamation of those characteristics would be, but “athletic” is not the first thing that springs to mind.

The Sport Events that France Hosts

And yet France hosts events such as the Tour de France 🚴🏽‍, which is an annual cycling competition held in different stages over a period of three weeks, passing through the Pyrenées and the Alps, and ending at the Champs-Élysées. France also hosts the French Open 🎾, a major tennis tournament held in late May / early June at the famous Stade Roland-Garros.

In addition, France has the reigning winning team of the World Cup⚽, the most popular worldwide soccer championship, which the French feel very strongly about. In addition to these signs of an affinity for sports, smoking in cafés, as well as in other enclosed public places, has been banned in France since 2006 and smoking laws are becoming stricter and stricter, with current bans extending to places such as children’s schoolyards and including electronic cigarettes. So, moving away from a rather dated image of a paunchy Frenchman in a Speedo wading in a lake with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, what role exactly do sports play in French life?

French Gym Culture vs. American Gym Culture

The French appreciation for sports might be distinct from having a gym culture that permeates every facet of society. We can compare French gym culture, or lack thereof, to American gym culture, which thrives in the entertainment industry, educational institutions, fashion, and even turns of phrase (if you want to estimate something in a very vague way, you can give a “ballpark figure”, even if the last time you were in a baseball stadium you were there to listen to live streaming of Mozart’s Don Giovanni from the opera house a mile away). Famous athletes regularly appear on television commercials for cold cereal (something has to make it less boring than it is) and soft drinks, as well as athletic gear. The viewing audience for the yearly Super Bowl, the final game of the American football season, is so large that snagging an advertising spot at half-time is like striking gold.

The Sports Culture at French Universities

College sports are also wildly popular in American culture, with universities regularly recruiting elite athletes to boost their own teams. Sports are also a part of the daily lives of many Americans, with joggers dotting the streets of American suburbs, or the large parks found in more metropolitan areas, while donning the latest trends in athletic gear. For an American who wants to slip in a pre-brunch workout on Sunday, it is perfectly understandable to wear that $324 Lululemon outfit when meeting up at the local brunch hotspot. I was reminded of this when visiting a friend in Silicon Valley and wondering if it would be acceptable for me to wear cutoffs and the Dolly Parton t-shirt he’d lent me when we ourselves were headed to brunch. He reminded me of what everyone else would be wearing and said it would be perfectly fine.        

While the French would be much less likely to show up to brunch in Nike dri-fit mesh training shorts™, they will likely be supportive of their sports teams, even at the notoriously studious École Normale Supérieure, where I saw a normalien watching the World Cup on television. Yes, there was only one person in the common area watching. And he was watching so calmly while remaining seated in his chair that I wondered if he was awake, since he remained more or less motionless, even as his team was WINNING. Perhaps he thought he was watching a documentary. As for brunch, this is more of an American thing, probably related to the fact that American breakfasts are much more copious than French breakfasts and a morning meal is easier to turn into an event in America. Normaliens do have a very cute way of organizing Sunday lunches together in their residence halls, and will likely not show up to these in athletic gear either.        

So no, there is not a huge sports culture at French universities which, unlike American universities, do not have sports teams and have very minimal gym space. I did see a normalienne playing ping-pong at the ENS gym while wearing Mary Janes, which is more like something you might see on the on the television show Cheers (which takes place in a bar), than something you would see at an American gym, where all of the latest advances in athletic footwear would be on display.

Outdoor Sports are Much More Popular for French

Rather than participating avidly in gym culture, the French tend to gravitate toward outdoor sports, perhaps due to France’s Mediterranean climate. In addition to cycling and tennis, sailing is popular, with the Vendée Globe, an around-the-world yacht competition occurring every four years, starting in the French Atlantic. Considered an elitist sport in countries such as the US and UK, sailing in France covers a broader social spectrum, with sailing activities being offered for free beginning in primary school. Skiing is popular as a vacation activity in the Alps and Pyrenées areas, and also practiced by very skilled professionals, including those who won medals in the sport at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. Rugby is hugely popular in France, particularly in the Southwest, where it rivals soccer as the favored sport. French rugby teams are a strong presence in international championships, with the French women’s team being ranked third by World Rugby in 2017. Basketball is also well-loved, and the French national team has shown a strong presence in European as well as Olympic games. It is also a popular sport in city parks, such as the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, where avid players regularly meet up to play.

Considering all of these activities, it seems that there is a lot of opportunity in France to participate in sports and to be spectators. As for the question of whether or not the French are athletic, it seems that while some do fit the exported cinematic image of cigarette-smoking Derrida-discussing café patrons, others are outside sailing, cycling, skiing, and enjoying the many athletic activities that France has to offer.

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• My 8 Observations About French Stereotypes
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Sports, hobbies & leisure activities in French

French lesson 7 of vocabulary: sports, hobbies & leisure activities in french.

The lexicon (vocabulary) of sports, hobbies and leisure activities is very important in French. Indeed, it is widely used by Francophones. At the beginner level (A1 level), this is one of the first things to learn and master. The French vocabulary of sports, hobbies and leisure activities will allow you to present yourself by expressing your hobbies and activities and what you like in French. It will also allow you to introduce another person by expressing their hobbies and activities and what they like in French. In the beginning, it will be very useful for you to have a basic conversation. Afterwards, this will also be very useful to you because the vocabulary of sports, hobbies and leisure activities is used a lot. The video below will teach you the vocabulary of sports, hobbies and leisure activities in French:

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