French Subtitling Service

Everything you never needed to know about the French

Where’s the letter W?
The letter W doesn’t exist in French. There are no French words with W in them. If you see a word such as WIFI or WC, it’s because the word has been borrowed from English.

France has 75 regional languages
Before France became the official language of France there were all kinds of regional languages including the Celtic language, Gaulish. Now France has 75 regional languages spread across the country including Parisian, Bourguignon and gascon.

French words in the kitchen are used all over the world
France is known for its cooking and many French words have been borrowed to be used in other languages especially those referring to food preparation. Words like cuisine, chef, julienne and sauteing are all French words used by chefs and cooks almost everywhere.

Tourism is big business
If countries make money out of tourism, then France is surely very rich. That’s because it is the most visited country in the world. Every year over 89,000 visitors come to France to sample the food, fine wine, history, and culture. Paris is a favourite destination, and the Eiffel Tower is of course one of their most treasured monuments.

Snails are a delicacy
The French love food and one of their favourite dishes are snails which in French is called Escargot. You can eat them as an appetiser at a bar served with a juice in small glasses. Or you can have them in a restaurant cooked with garlic and butter.

Travelling snails
Talking about snails I bet you didn’t know that you can’t carry live snails on a train in France without a ticket. So you must remember if you’re carrying less than 5 kilos of snails there must be a ticket for you and a ticket for the snails.

King for 20 minutes!
Louis the XIX was crowned King after his father abdicated. But the poor man obviously didn’t fancy the job because about 20 minutes later he abdicated too.

Don’t put the bread the wrong way up
It’s supposed to be unluck in France if you put bread on the table upside down. The superstition arose in the middle ages when the town executioner would pick up his loaf from the baker who would hang the bread upside down. People then related upside down bread with death and misfortune.

Take a selfie
If you love taking pictures with your phone you have a Frenchman to thank. A Parisian called Philippe Kahn invented the camera phone in 1997 and the rest as they say is history.

Kisses at the station
In 1910 the French introduced a law that prevented couples from kissing on a train platform. It was supposed to ease overcrowding. The law doesn’t exist any longer which must be a relief for couples who want to part with a romantic smooch on the platform.

French is a Romance language like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. It is spoken by around 338 million people and in Europe it is the third most spoken language after English and German. It is also the official language of 28 other countries, which include Canada, Switzerland, Gabon and Chad. French speakers can also be found in places such as Jersey, French Polynesia and Tunisia due to French colonisation in the past.

In Africa, there is a large majority of French speakers, either of a first or second language and French is said to be the fastest growing language on the continent.

From the 17th century French was used as a diplomatic language and this only changed in the 20th century when it was replaced by English. Sub Saharan Africa speaks French, but the dialect is difficult for other French speakers to understand. However, written French is very similar to that found in France and other French speaking countries.

Canada has a large majority of French speakers, both as a first and second language. It is the only official language in Quebec, whereas other provinces share the language with English at federal level. In the United States, French is said to be the fourth most popular language after English, Chinese and Spanish. French today is one of the most important diplomatic languages.