Discover essential vocabulary for sports in French! Learn how to pronounce popular sports, explore useful phrases, and boost your language skills with our easy guide. France has a rich sporting culture, from traditional pastimes to globally recognized events like the Tour de France. Whether you're a sports enthusiast or a language learner, understanding sports terminology in French will open up a new world of communication and cultural appreciation.
Unlock the dynamic world of French sports with this comprehensive guide! Whether you're a passionate athlete, a dedicated fan, or a curious language learner, understanding French sports vocabulary will not only enhance your vocabulary but also deepen your appreciation for France's vibrant sporting culture. From the roar of the crowd at a football match to the elegance of a tennis rally, we'll equip you with the essential vocabulary, practical phrases, and pronunciation tips to confidently navigate any sporting conversation.
France boasts a rich and diverse sporting heritage, deeply woven into the fabric of its national identity. Beyond its historical significance, the country is a global hub for athletic excellence, hosting internationally recognized events and producing world-class athletes across various disciplines. Learning French sports vocabulary offers numerous benefits:
France's sporting landscape is incredibly varied, encompassing traditional pastimes and globally recognized events. Let's delve into some of the most popular sports and the essential vocabulary associated with them:
Football is arguably the most popular sport in France, with a passionate following and a highly successful national team, "Les Bleus."
Rugby holds a special place in French hearts, particularly in the south. The national team, "Le XV de France," is a formidable force on the international stage.
With the prestigious French Open (Roland Garros), tennis is a hugely popular sport in France, boasting many successful players.
Here are the names of other types of sports in French that most of us in France at least try once at school in PE (for many of them, we have a shorter colloquial version):
Pay special attention to the pronunciation of the English words we use for sports activities in French. For all sports in -ball we pronounce it with an ‘o’ sound as if it were written ‘-boll’ but for ‘le handball’ we actually pronounce the ‘a’!
Some other sports we tend to do outside of school and can be considered traditional French sports, depending on where you live in France:
One interesting name of sport in French is the word we use for ‘jogging’: we created a new ‘English’ word for it:
For more detailed information on specific sports and French sport vocabulary, check out our blog post on Olympic sports in French.
Beyond individual words, knowing common phrases will help you engage in sporting conversations:
You can learn more useful phrases for sports in French on Drops or in the different resources available on French language resources.
France has a long tradition of cycling as a sport, and a lot of amateurs around the country do it on the weekends. During the summer, this culminates in the biggest international cycling event in the world: Le Tour de France. On top of the usual terms for bikes and cycling that you can find in Drops, here are a few more French cycling terms that are specific to the Tour de France:
The best way to get better at French is to use it as much as you can, whether you’re a beginner and are learning the different ways to say hello in French, you’re already familiar with the ways to say bye in French or you’re an advanced user, just find any possible occasion to speak French!
"Love my fun language learning and practice with daily Drops sessions, and monthly Challenges to participate in, and quiz mode to test contextual learning - brilliant! So much thought, consideration and inclusivity has gone into the design and function of this app, I can't praise it highly enough."
"Great little learning app! I've learned at least 5-10 new words in Spanish in my first 5 minutes. Easy to pick up and thorough."
"Great language learning app! It helps you get daily words done in a short amount of time. I would highly recommend using drops to learn whatever language you want to learn."
"What an amazing app! I’ve tried several apps for language learning and I cannot recommend Drops enough. I don’t know how a short Drops session can teach me as much as 1 hour+ of focused use of other apps, it’s like magic."
"Amazing language learning tool. Excellent app for increasing vocabulary in your foreign language of choice. Useful for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. The repetition of the words makes them much easier to remember, and without the hassle of making your own flash cards. I have used Drops for two years now and have seen great results."
"Very engaging way of learning Yoruba in a stimulating way. Will be using to learn myself and to teach my child!"
"Less than a week in but using this alone with the popular one babbel working on German. When using just one app I got bored, babbel is not as fun. So using both at once actually let's my adhd do its thing but I still focused since I can switch easily between both apps and work in different areas. Also I like the quick little sessions makes me feel like I actually did something."
"So engaging. I speak Spanish well, but often forget words in conversation that I know I should know. This game is fun and quickly brings back vocabulary I may have put in the back of my brain after not using it for awhile. Case in point: I spent 11 years in construction, then went back to teaching in English and/or Spanish depending on the teacher/student"
"Amazing app"
"I have been desperate to find an app that really helps me learn Japanese and this is the best by far"
"I like that you can switch between different subjects and topics constantly and it’s really easy to learn a lot of vocabulary very quickly! This works perfect for me because I can learn a lot of words but then practice sentence structure with my grandmother whose from Croatia"
"Fantastic app great opportunity to learn languages on your spare time. Drops makes it easy to learn and retain words to formulate sentences."
"Best of the best. Awesome app in every sense"
"This app us the best and how I am doing Learning Ukraine is Helping me alot tnx"
"Definitely recommend! I'm using this to learn mandarin 10/10"
"Fun and interactive. Great for repetition!"
"Very engaging way of learning Yoruba in a stimulating way. Will be using to learn myself and to teach my child!"
"Amazing language learning tool. Excellent app for increasing vocabulary in your foreign language of choice. Useful for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. The repetition of the words makes them much easier to remember, and without the hassle of making your own flash cards. I have used Drops for two years now and have seen great results."
"Great little learning app! I've learned at least 5-10 new words in Spanish in my first 5 minutes. Easy to pick up and thorough."
"I have been desperate to find an app that really helps me learn Japanese and this is the best by far"
"I like that you can switch between different subjects and topics constantly and it’s really easy to learn a lot of vocabulary very quickly! This works perfect for me because I can learn a lot of words but then practice sentence structure with my grandmother whose from Croatia"
"Fantastic app great opportunity to learn languages on your spare time. Drops makes it easy to learn and retain words to formulate sentences."
"What an amazing app! I’ve tried several apps for language learning and I cannot recommend Drops enough. I don’t know how a short Drops session can teach me as much as 1 hour+ of focused use of other apps, it’s like magic."
"Love my fun language learning and practice with daily Drops sessions, and monthly Challenges to participate in, and quiz mode to test contextual learning - brilliant! So much thought, consideration and inclusivity has gone into the design and function of this app, I can't praise it highly enough."
"Definitely recommend! I'm using this to learn mandarin 10/10"
"This app us the best and how I am doing Learning Ukraine is Helping me alot tnx"
