https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed If you have spent any time around young French people, listening to French music or scrolling through French social media, you may have come across words such as 'meuf', 'ouf', 'chelou' or 'relou'. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260907/french-grammar-tip-how-to-use-and-understand-verlan Mon, 07 Sep 2026 16:17:32 +0200 french-grammar-tip-how-to-use-and-understand-verlan If you follow French politics, you will soon be hearing a lot about parrainage - here's what that means and how it affects the race for the presidency. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220209/french-elections-what-is-parrainage-and-how-does-it-affect-candidates Wed, 09 Feb 2022 16:56:08 +0100 french-elections-what-is-parrainage-and-how-does-it-affect-candidates The French are famously proud of their language and several bodies to exist to safeguard it from the looming threat of English words and phrases - but is it ever actually illegal to use English in France? https://www.thelocal.fr/20220607/right-to-french-when-is-it-illegal-to-use-english-in-france Tue, 07 Jun 2022 12:07:26 +0200 right-to-french-when-is-it-illegal-to-use-english-in-france Two words on La Poste’s fleet of Log’issimo vehicles have angered a French language lobby group, which is bringing legal action. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260610/frances-la-poste-slammed-for-use-of-english-phrase-on-vans Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:58:21 +0200 frances-la-poste-slammed-for-use-of-english-phrase-on-vans The men's football World Cup tournament gets underway in June with France among the bookies' favourites - so here are some helpful French football phrases to shout while watching. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210614/allez-putain-french-phrases-for-watching-euro-2020-football Mon, 14 Jun 2021 11:15:41 +0200 allez-putain-french-phrases-for-watching-euro-2020-football From AI instructions to flirting, via influencers, slackers and chocolate - here are some of the new words that have been included in French dictionaries for the first time this year. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260512/the-new-words-added-to-the-french-dictionary-for-2027 Tue, 12 May 2026 16:29:46 +0200 the-new-words-added-to-the-french-dictionary-for-2027 The French language is famous for its expressions... and hair is used in a lot of them. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260416/10-everyday-french-expressions-inspired-by-hair Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:31:49 +0200 10-everyday-french-expressions-inspired-by-hair France heads to the polls on Sunday, March 15th for the first round of the 2026 municipal elections - here are a few key words and phrases you will need to know. https://www.thelocal.fr/20210615/granny-hugging-to-crowd-bathing-the-essential-vocab-to-understand-french-politics Tue, 15 Jun 2021 11:58:19 +0200 granny-hugging-to-crowd-bathing-the-essential-vocab-to-understand-french-politics French is a very colourful language - sometimes literally. From yellow laughter to having the blue fear, here are some of the language's best colour-related idioms and expressions. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260302/10-everyday-french-expressions-inspired-by-colours Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:53:49 +0100 10-everyday-french-expressions-inspired-by-colours Talking about money can be a bit awkward, especially if you do not know the correct words or context to use them in. Here is your guide to financial terms in French: https://www.thelocal.fr/20220907/the-essential-vocabulary-guide-for-talking-about-money-in-french Wed, 07 Sep 2022 12:33:01 +0200 the-essential-vocabulary-guide-for-talking-about-money-in-french Nearly three months after his release from an Algerian prison, French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was on Thursday elected to become a lifetime member of the Académie Française, the intellectual guardians of the French language. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260130/novelist-sansal-elected-to-academie-francaise-after-prison-ordeal Fri, 30 Jan 2026 09:04:30 +0100 novelist-sansal-elected-to-academie-francaise-after-prison-ordeal If you are looking to take a French language test - whether that is for admission into French university or for residency/ citizenship purposes, here is what you can expect in terms of prices and where to find exam centres. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240131/how-much-do-french-language-tests-cost-and-where-can-i-take-them Wed, 31 Jan 2024 16:30:11 +0100 how-much-do-french-language-tests-cost-and-where-can-i-take-them If you are practicing your French on Duolingo, you might be asked to translate a sentence with the word 'soit' used multiple times. No, this is not a typo. Here's how to express 'either, or' and 'neither, nor' in French. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251103/french-grammar-tips-how-to-say-either-and-neither-in-french Mon, 03 Nov 2025 17:41:02 +0100 french-grammar-tips-how-to-say-either-and-neither-in-french It's not just 'sacrebleu' - unfortunately your French textbooks might have included quite a few phrases that will make your French friends laugh at you (affectionately, of course). https://www.thelocal.fr/20251027/9-french-expressions-that-make-french-people-laugh-at-you Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:25:17 +0100 9-french-expressions-that-make-french-people-laugh-at-you From the legally defined to the casual term of endearment there are a lot of ways to describe your significant other/romantic partner/love bunny in French - here's a look at the most common terms and when to use them. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251006/conjoint-copain-and-cheri-how-to-describe-your-partner-in-french Mon, 06 Oct 2025 18:26:32 +0200 conjoint-copain-and-cheri-how-to-describe-your-partner-in-french If you are spending time in France it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that you will be caught up in a strike - here's the French vocabulary you will need. https://www.thelocal.fr/20191216/twelve-french-phrases-to-use-if-you-get-caught-up-in-a-strike Mon, 16 Dec 2019 11:43:49 +0100 twelve-french-phrases-to-use-if-you-get-caught-up-in-a-strike September 2025 in France means a busy schedule of strikes with the possibility of widespread disruption - so you might need some good words for chaos. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250915/nine-french-words-to-help-you-complain-about-chaos Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:42:25 +0200 nine-french-words-to-help-you-complain-about-chaos From offensive swear words to polite requests, here are 10 ways to say 'pipe down' in French. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250818/10-ways-to-shush-someone-in-french Mon, 18 Aug 2025 15:56:03 +0200 10-ways-to-shush-someone-in-french Getting to grips with French grammar is not easy - which is why this series offers tips and tricks for French learners. This week we are looking at the slippery word 'droit' and its various uses in French. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250804/french-grammar-tips-all-of-the-uses-of-the-word-droit Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:14:01 +0200 french-grammar-tips-all-of-the-uses-of-the-word-droit It's one of the best known French phrases abroad, even people who speak no French at all will know it, but do the French themselves use 'deja-vu' to talk about the disquieting sense of having already witnessed a scene or a conversation? https://www.thelocal.fr/20250801/do-the-french-say-deja-vu Fri, 01 Aug 2025 12:42:36 +0200 do-the-french-say-deja-vu