Interesting French Topics to Explore

How to use these topics

Grammar drills build accuracy, but interesting subjects keep you motivated. This list gives you topics to read about, talk about with a tutor or language partner, or turn into short writing exercises. Each section includes phrases with translations so you can start using the topic right away.

Everyday conversation starters

A simple way to begin is with questions you could ask someone you have just met. Use vous with strangers and tu with friends or people your age who offer it.

Comment vous appelez-vous ? / Comment t’appelles-tu ? (What is your name?)
D’où venez-vous ? / D’où viens-tu ? (Where are you from?)
Où habitez-vous ? / Où habites-tu ? (Where do you live?)
Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie ? (What do you do for a living?)
Où avez-vous appris le français ? (Where did you learn French?)
Êtes-vous déjà allé en France ? (Have you ever been to France?)
Aimez-vous la cuisine française ? (Do you like French food?)

If you want to answer the “where are you from” question accurately, our guide to French words for nationalities has the vocabulary. If you plan to talk shop, the phrases in learning French for business will help.

Food and drink

Food is a natural conversation topic, and it is a major part of French culture. In 2010, UNESCO added “the gastronomic meal of the French” to its list of intangible cultural heritage, and in 2022 it recognized the artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread.

Vocabulary to try:

le pain (bread), une baguette (a baguette), un croissant (a croissant)
le fromage (cheese), le vin (wine), un plat (a dish)
le petit-déjeuner, le déjeuner, le dîner (breakfast, lunch, dinner)

Questions:

Quel est votre plat préféré ? (What is your favorite dish?)
Vous préférez le sucré ou le salé ? (Do you prefer sweet or savory?)

Note that these sentences use the singular indefinite and definite articles you can review in our guide to French indefinite articles.

Traditions and festivals

If you are curious about unique French traditions, these come up often:

La Fête nationale (14 juillet): the national day, marked by parades, fireworks and celebrations.
La Chandeleur (2 février): the day when many families make crêpes.
La galette des Rois (around Epiphany, in January): a cake containing a small figurine; whoever finds it is king or queen for the day.
La Fête de la musique (21 juin): an annual music festival with performances in streets and public places. It began in France in the 1980s and has spread to many other countries.
Le 1er mai: it is traditional in France to give sprigs of lily of the valley (du muguet) on May Day.
Le Beaujolais nouveau: the release of the year’s new Beaujolais wine, in November.
Le poisson d’avril: the April Fools’ tradition, where children stick paper fish on people’s backs.
La bise: the greeting by kissing on the cheek. How many kisses, and who does it, varies by region and situation, and some people prefer a handshake, so follow the other person’s lead.

Another everyday custom is to greet people with Bonjour when you enter a shop or start a conversation before you ask for anything. It is considered polite.

The Francophone world

French is not just the language of France. Exploring French-speaking cultures gives you plenty of material:

Quebec and Canada: a distinct accent and vocabulary, plus a strong local culture.
Belgium and Switzerland: French-speaking regions with their own expressions and traditions.
West and Central Africa and the Maghreb: many countries where French is used in education, administration and everyday life.
The Caribbean and the Indian Ocean: places such as Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Réunion.

Useful phrase: Le français est parlé sur cinq continents. (French is spoken on five continents.) If you are curious about how widely, our pillar article asks is French in demand.

Films, books and music

Using media is one of the best ways to hear natural French (see best input sources for language learners for how to choose), and French immersion apps can add more:

Films: the romantic comedy Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (known in English as Amélie) and the series Dix pour cent (known in English as Call My Agent!) are popular with learners.
Books: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is short and widely read; graded readers are easier if you are at an earlier level.
Comics: Astérix and Tintin are classics in the bande dessinée tradition.
Music: French chanson, pop, rock and rap all offer listening practice. Lyrics are great for dictation.

Writing a short review in French of something you watched or read is an excellent exercise. Our guide on how to improve your French writing gives you connectors and structure for it.

Idioms and slang

Idioms are fun, and they show how French thinks differently:

Poser un lapin à quelqu’un. (To stand someone up; literally, to put a rabbit on someone.)
Avoir le cafard. (To feel down; literally, to have the cockroach.)
Coûter les yeux de la tête. (To cost a fortune; literally, to cost the eyes of the head.)
Il pleut des cordes. (It is pouring; literally, it is raining ropes.)
Appeler un chat un chat. (To call a spade a spade.)
Avoir un chat dans la gorge. (To have a frog in one’s throat; literally, a cat.)

French slang includes verlan, in which syllables are reversed: femme becomes meuf, and fou becomes ouf. Slang changes quickly and is informal, so use it cautiously until you hear it from the people you speak with.

Greetings, including a flirty hello

Greetings change with how formal you want to be:

Bonjour (hello, good day): standard and always safe.
Bonsoir (good evening).
Salut (hi / bye): informal.
Coucou: very informal and friendly, used with close friends and family.
Enchanté / Enchantée (pleased to meet you): said by a man or a woman respectively.

As for a flirty “hi”: tone and context matter more than any single word. A warm Salut, ça va ? (Hi, how are you?) with a smile is friendly and low-risk. Scripted pickup lines can come across badly, so it is better to ask a genuine question: Tu viens souvent ici ? (Do you come here often?). Always respect the other person’s response.

What is the hardest thing about French?

Learners most often mention these:

Pronunciation and spelling: many letters are silent, the French r and nasal vowels take practice, and words are linked together in speech (liaison). Learners who train their ears early tend to benefit, as the importance of phonetics in language learning explains.
Gender: every noun is masculine or feminine, which affects articles, adjectives and pronouns.
Verbs: many tenses, with many forms, and a lot of irregular verbs in French.
The subjunctive: a mood used after certain expressions, which has no direct equivalent in everyday English.
Understanding fast speech: natives speak quickly, drop sounds and use informal contractions.

Which one is hardest varies by learner. People with a background in other Romance languages may find grammar easier, while those starting from English often struggle more with pronunciation.

Celebrities who speak French

Jodie Foster is well known for speaking French. She attended a French-language school in Los Angeles as a child and has worked in French-language film and given interviews in French. For most other celebrities, such as the actors people ask about online, it is hard to verify how well they speak French, so it is best to treat online claims with caution.

Turn topics into practice

Pick one topic a week. Learn ten words and three useful sentences.
Speak or write about it. A two-minute recording or a short paragraph is enough.
Ask someone to correct you. A tutor or language partner can fix mistakes you do not notice.
Come back later. Revisiting a topic after a few weeks shows how much you have improved.