Have you been enjoying the Beijing Summer Olympics? As much as I like to follow the sporting events, the real magic for me is the coming together of diverse people, flags, cultures, and languages. Do you realize that there are roughly 5,000 translators providing 55 language services in Beijing? Two of those 55 are official languages of the Olympic Games: English and French.
Yes, French! Not only is French an influential, global language, but we have the French to thank for the modern Olympic Games. The original games were a Greek invention, of course, but they had disappeared for over 1000 years. Then along came a French teacher named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who had the idea to bring back the ancient competition. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896. The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France, in 1924.
In honor of the French contribution to the Olympic Games, learn how to say some summer sports in French. You'll see lots of easy-breezy cognates. If you're new to French, you'll be pleased to discover that over 50% of our modern-day English words have French origins.
Try to figure out the meanings of these Olympic events en français. Answers to the tricky ones are at the bottom. Bonne chance!
- Athlétisme
- Equitation
- Softball
- Aviron
- Football
- Taekwondo
- Badminton
- Gymnastique artistique
- Tennis
- Baseball
- Gymnastique rythmique
- Tennis de table
- Basketball
- Haltérophilie
- Tir
- Tir à l'arc
- Boxe
- Handball
- Canoë/Kayak
- Hockey
- Trampoline
- Judo
- Triathlon
- BMX
- Lutte
- Voile
- Cyclisme
- Natation
- Natation synchronisée
- Volleyball
- Volleyball de plage
- Pentathlon moderne
- Escrime
Answers to Tricky Sports: 1) Athletics (Track & Field), 2) Equestrian, 4) Rowing, 5) Soccer, 14) Weightlifting, 15) Shooting, 16) Archery, 25) Wrestling, 26) Sailing, 27) Cycling, 28) Swimming, 29) Synchronized Swimming, 31) Beach Volleyball, 33) Fencing
Photo Credit: Public Domain at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Olympic_rings.svg
4 comments:
Bonjour Diane, I'm new to your blog which I discovered through Polly-vous Français?
I'm a French girl, leaving near Paris and married to an American guy.
I love your blog idea (although obviously I don't need to learn French!). You are so enthusiastic about teaching French, and doing it the fun way too.
About the name volleyball de plage, unfortunately, here, in France, everybody says beach volley, you will never hear someone say volleyball de plage. But they might say it in Quebec, since they seem to be more respectful to the French language than the French are.
A bientôt, au plaisir de lire vos prochains posts.
Bonjour Isabelle! Thanks so much for stopping by. I really appreciate your comments. I just started this blog a few weeks ago, and though I had the intention of teaching beginners French, I have been pleasantly surprised by learning so much from readers. There's textbook French, and then there's the REAL language people actually use. You're expert opinion is welcome anytime :-)
Bonsoir Diane!
So many sports now, it's hard to keep track of them all! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to watch the Olympics on TV yet: too busy these days!
Isabelle is right, in Québec, they (we) are more respectful to the French language... last time I was in Paris, I couldn't believe the French were using so many anglicism (or rather plain English words): le parking, le supermarket, le drugstore, le weekend, etc.
Perhaps here we are over protective of our mother tongue, but I do think it is a MUST... otherwise we'll end up like the French people: using English words instead of our own... I guess in France it is a "moindre mal" because they are not a small "island" stuck in the middle of an English ocean... Si nous n'avions pas de loi pour protéger pas notre langue, nous serions définitivement engloutis et ce serait une terrible perte. Not only we would lose our language, but we would probably also lose our culture.
BTW, here we say le volleyball de plage et nous entendons même parfois le ballon volant de plage...
À plus!
Merci, Lyne, for the Quebec point of view. I had originally studied in France, then a few years ago I spent a month at l'Universite de Quebec a Chicoutimi. I believe I filled an entire notebook with language differences I had encountered. (I'd give anything to find those notes!) I completely understand the need for Canadian francophones to be so protective of their language. It's an absolute necessity. I try to teach my students both French and Quebecois expressions. Sometimes, I admit, I switch back and forth with whatever word is on the tip of my tongue. I'm probably a linguistic mess! When in Quebec, I was mistaken for Belgian, and a few weeks later when I was in Paris, I was mistaken for Quebecoise. I was just beaming peacock proud that no one guessed I was an anglophone . . . of course they would have figured it out after about ten minutes ;-)
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