World Cup: How to Talk About “Le Football” in French?
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World Cup: How to talk about “le football” in French? Salut! 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? Hi, I’m Géraldine, welcome on Comme une Française TV. C’est parti ! 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. -- The More You Know -- Le football is un sport collectif (= a team sport). French people are also fans of le rugby (=rugby), and sometimes le handball (= handball – pronounced like “une balle” in French.) -- -- -- 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. -- The More You Know -- 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). --- --- --- --- 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. The full video lesson is available at: https://www.commeunefrancaise.com/ 1 That’s why you can hear in a stadium: “Allez les Bleus !” “Go the French team!” -- The More You Know -- 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”. -- -- -- -- 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.” 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 Extra Mile -- 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. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 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? The full video lesson is available at: https://www.commeunefrancaise.com/ 2 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 More You Know: 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. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 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!” 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.) The full video lesson is available at: https://www.commeunefrancaise.com/ 3 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. Et toi ? How many goals do you think the French team will score when they win the final game? Tell me in the comments section on the blog, I’d love to hear from you! You can get more explanations and detailed conversation scripts in my “Everyday French Crash Course”! It’s a 10-day mini-course to sound French, even to the French. Subscribe right now and get it for free: leave me your first name and email, and you’ll receive Lesson 01 immediately. Merci for watching Comme une Française TV, sound French, even to the French. Allez, salut ! The full video lesson is available at: https://www.commeunefrancaise.com/ 4 .