So where did French originate?

Modern day France and Belgium were once included in an ancient territory called Gaul. When Gaul was conquered by the Romans the Gaulish language was taken over by Latin.

Latin in this area then gradually changed with the influence of lots of different groups of people over seven centuries to become French.

French today still has Latin roots and there even still exists some Gaulish words in modern French, for example ‘battu’ (beaten).