Exploring French

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Exploring French

• and French-Speaking countries

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1. What branch of the Indo-European language
family does French belong to?
Latin/Italic
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2. What does Vive la France! mean?
Long live France!
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3. What is the capital city of France?
Paris, of course!
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4. What are some of the things people go to Paris
to see?
Buildings Monuments -
Museums -
Boulevards -
Parks -
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5. What is the name of the river that flows
through Paris?
The Seine
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6. Name some famous French scientists.
André Marie Ampère The electrical term amp is
named for him.
Louis Pasteur Discovered that bacteria in milk
caused sickness. (Pasteurize comes from his
name.)
Pierre Marie Curie Famous for their work with
radioactivity
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7. Who are some famous French artists?
The Thinker by Rodin
Water Lilies by Monet
Claude Monet
Auguste Rodin
Also Henri Matisse and Paul Cézanne
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8. Name some famous French composers.
Claude Debussy
Georges Bizet
Maurice Ravel
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9. Who are some famous French writers?
Victor Hugo author of
Voltaire
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
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10. Name some countries in Africa where French is
an official language.
Mauritania Togo Gabon Democratic Republic of
Congo (formerly Zaire)
Morocco Algeria Tunisia Ivory Coast
And several others 23 altogether!
Some interesting information Casablanca (the
name of a famous movie) is a major city in
Morocco. Parts of Star Wars were filmed in
Tunisia.
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12. What countries in Europe are French-speaking
besides France?
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Monaco
Switzerland
Did you know that the actor, Jean-Claude Van
Damme is from Belgium?
Did you know that Switzerland has 3 official
languages? (French, German, and Italian)
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13. What are some French-speaking countries in
southeast Asia?
Laos Vietnam Cambodia
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14. What is the province in Canada where French
is spoken?
Quebec Also parts of Ontario, New
Brunswick, and Nova Scotia
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15. Name some islands in the West Indies and the
Pacific where French is spoken.
West Indies (Caribbean Sea)
Pacific Ocean
Guadalupe
New Caledonia
Haiti
French Polynesia (Tahiti)
Martinique
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16. What are some areas in the United States
where many people speak French?
New England New York Louisiana
Did you know that the city of New Orleans,
Louisiana has the second-largest Mardi Gras
celebration in the world?
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17. What are the bodies of water that surround
France?
The English Channel
The Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean)
The Mediterreanean Sea
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18. Which body of water is west of France?
The Atlantic Ocean (the Bay of Biscay)
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19. Who was the state of Louisiana named for?
Louis XIV, who became king of France in 1643 when
he was only 5 years old.
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20. Where does the word Cajun come from?
Acadia
People from Acadia immigrated to Louisiana, where
they were called Acadian, which gradually became
Cajun.
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21. What are some English words that originally
came from French?

• fiancé (the person you are engaged to marry)
• detour (an alternate route)
• ballet (a classical style of dance)
• gourmet (a person who knows a lot about fine
  food)
• avalanche (a huge snowslide)

These are just a few there are, of course, many
others.
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22. What does Jhabite à St. Louis. mean?

• I live in St. Louis.

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23. Why does St. Louis have so many French names
for streets, etc?

• Because it was originally a French settlement,
  founded by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau in
  1764.

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24. What is a croque-monsieur?

• It is a French sandwich ham and cheese on bread
  dipped in egg batter and grilled.