French Open 🎾
aka Roland-Garros. Tennis, anyone?
The French Open is one of the most important tennis events of the year. Not only is it one of the four tournois du Grand Chelem (Grand Slam tournaments), Roland-Garros is the only tournament played on clay courts.
But first things first:
What is this tournament actually called?
In English, it’s generally called the French Open. But it has several names in French:
Roland-Garros
le tournoi de Roland-Garros
les Internationaux de France
You might also hear talk of le Championnat de France international de tennis - this precursor to the French Open took place from 1891 to 1924. At that point, the tournament was opened to foreigners and became les Internationaux de France. A few years later, in 1928, a new stadium was inaugurated and named Roland-Garros, after a French aviator who fought and died for France during WWI.*
Lessons
No, sorry, I don’t have any tips to improve your serve. I haven’t played tennis in years, and even when I did, I wasn’t that great at it. But I can help you out with understanding the commentators and talking about amazing break points.
📚 Tennis terms
Learn all the important French vocabulary, from people and players to essential verbs. (And scroll to the end for a list of assorted French tennis books.)
❓ Jouer + à vs de
Speaking of verbs, this one can be a little tricky when it comes to deciding which preposition you need.
🎲 Sports, Games, Hobbies
If tennis isn’t your thing, take a look at this page for vocab related to all kinds of other pastimes.
Listening and Reading
Le tournoi de Roland-Garros
Discover some of the particularities about the French Open in this audio article. Click any word in the transcript for the translation and links to related grammar lessons.
Le stade Roland-Garros
Go behind the scenes with the people modernizing the French Open stadium.
Jouer au tennis en France
Practice your reading comprehension with this article about joining a tennis club in France.
📺 More French listening practice
If you just can’t get enough, check out these official video channels:
Writing
At the sporting goods store
Help Alain buy tennis equipment for his son in this beginning translation exercise.
Mon idole Roger Federer
Dictée (combined listening and writing practice) about one of the greatest tennis players in history.
* Source: Wikipedia : Internationaux de France de tennis
Juste pour rigoler
💗 Merci !
Thanks for reading - see you in two weeks!
📧 Partagez !
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