Test Your French/Francophone Trivia!

Directions: Complete the following trivia questionnaire. You may not use the Internet to look for
answers.

1. True or False: French is the only modern language that has a significant cultural heritage and/or
presence on 5 continents. (1 point) True! French is spoken in North America, South America—
(French Guyana), Africa, Europe, and Asia. Please refer to the map of the Francophone world—
uploaded to blackboard.

2. About 30 countries in Africa are considered to be Francophone or French-speaking. (1 point)

Please refer to the map with the list of African nations where French is spoken. (uploaded to
blackboard)

3. True or False: The region known as France used to be referred to as “Gaul.” (1 point) True

4. True or False: France is sometimes referred to as “the Hexagon.” (1 point) True! If you look at a
map of France, you will see that it is shaped like a Hexagon!

5. True or False: French Creole is not considered to be a language. (1 point) False. Creoles are
considered by linguists as languages.
Bonus: where are French Creoles spoken? (1 point for each correct location) French Creoles are
spoken in Louisiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Haiti.

6. There are three nations in Asia that were colonized by the French: name all three. (1 point each)
The French colonized part of Asia and used to call this region French Indochina. Today, we refer to
those three nations as Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They are of course all independent nations
today.

7. True or False: Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guyana are independent nations and are no
longer part of France. (1 point) False. While the nations of the African continent and Asia our
independent, French Guyana, Martinique, and Guadeloupe are all still part of France today.

8. The Sorbonne University in Paris was founded in the year 1257 by Robert de Sorbon. (1 point)
Can you believe it? La Sorbonne has been around for a long time!

9. True or False: France has the largest population of Muslims in Europe and the largest Jewish
population in Europe. (1 point) This is true! The population of France is 66,000,000. This includes a
Jewish population of roughly 500,000 or less than 1% and a Muslim population of between 7%-9%
or close to 6,000,000.

10. True or False: The Louvre (Paris) is the largest museum in the world. (1 point) True!

11. How many Americans speak French in their homes on a regular basis? (1 point) The population
of the United States is 330 million. 2 million Americans speak French in their home as their primary
language of communication.

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12. True or False: French is one of the official languages of the United Nations, Red Cross, and the
Olympic Committee. (1 point) True!

13. True or False: Prior to World War I, only about 1/3 of all people living in France spoke French.
(1 point) It’s true! France was and is linguistically diverse. Other languages spoken in France
include Occitan, Breton, Corsican, Alsatian, Italian, German, Catalan, and Basque.

14. True or False: French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the
world after English. (1 point) It’s true!

15. True or False: Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) was put to death by the Guillotine. (1 point) False.
She was burned by fire. We did not see the invention of the Guillotine until the French Revolution
in 1789.

16. True or False: Marie Antoinette (Queen of France in 1789) was not French. (1 point) It’s true.
She was from Austria.

Total Score:___________