Learn Hardcore French: Nous parlons souvent de la culture française pendant le dîner. - We often talk about French culture during dinner.

Parler is the infinitive: to speak / to talk. You use it after another verb, e.g. Nous aimons parler (We like to talk).
Nous parlons = we speak / we talk / we are talking (present tense).
- Je parle
- Tu parles
- Il/Elle parle
- Nous parlons
- Vous parlez
- Ils/Elles parlent

In French, you don’t add an extra auxiliary like are in English (no we are talk). The meaning we talk and we are talking are both covered by the simple present nous parlons; context tells you which one is intended.

Why is the adverb souvent placed between parlons and de la culture? Could it go somewhere else?

Adverbs like souvent (often) usually come after the conjugated verb in simple tenses:

Nous parlons souvent de la culture française.

That is the most natural, neutral position.

Other possibilities:

Souvent, nous parlons de la culture française.
Emphasis on often (As for how often: often, we talk about…).
Nous parlons de la culture française souvent.
Possible, but sounds a bit heavier or more marked; the adverb is stressed more.

So the default rule you can remember: in simple sentences, put adverbs of frequency (souvent, toujours, rarement, etc.) right after the main verb.

Why do we say parlons de la culture française and not parlons la culture française?

In French, parler almost always requires the preposition de when you mean to talk about something:

Parler de quelque chose = to talk about something
- Nous parlons de la culture française. = We talk about French culture.

If you say parler quelque chose, it changes meaning and is limited to special cases like parler français (to speak French, as a language). For topics, use parler de:

parler de politique – talk about politics
parler de toi – talk about you
parler de la culture française – talk about French culture

So parlons la culture française is incorrect in standard French; it must be parlons de la culture française.

Why is it de la culture and not just de culture?

Here de la is de + la, where:

de comes from parler de (to talk about)
la is the definite article for the feminine noun culture

So:

Nous parlons de la culture française.
= We talk about the French culture / French culture (in general)

If you said de culture française without the article la, it would sound more like:

Nous sommes de culture française.
= We are of French culture / We come from a French cultural background.

So in the original sentence, de la is expected because we’re referring to a specific, known concept: French culture. French often uses the article where English doesn’t.

Why is française spelled with an -e at the end instead of just français?

Because française is an adjective agreeing with culture, and culture is a feminine noun:

la culture → feminine singular
Adjective must match: français (masc.) → française (fem.)

Some forms:

un film français – a French film (masculine)
une culture française – a French culture (feminine)
des films français – French films (masculine plural)
des traditions françaises – French traditions (feminine plural)

Also note: adjectives of nationality in French are written with a lowercase letter:
français, française, anglais, espagnol, etc.

Why is culture feminine in French? How do I know the gender?

The grammatical gender of French nouns is largely arbitrary; you usually have to learn it with the word.

la culture – feminine
le livre – masculine
la langue – feminine
le pays – masculine

There are some patterns (for example, many nouns ending in -tion and -ture are feminine: la nation, la situation, la culture, la peinture), but there are exceptions.

A good habit is to always learn nouns with their article:

la culture (f.)
le repas (m.)
le dîner (m.)

Why is it pendant le dîner and not au dîner? Are both possible?

Both exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

pendant le dîner = during dinner, while dinner is happening (focus on the time period)
au dîner = at dinner, at the event/occasion (more like at the dinner [event])

In everyday conversation, pendant le dîner is the natural way to say you do something while you are eating dinner.

Examples:

Nous regardons la télévision pendant le dîner.
We watch TV during dinner.
J’ai rencontré mes collègues au dîner.
I met my colleagues at dinner (at that dinner event).

In your sentence, pendant le dîner is the most appropriate because you’re describing an activity that regularly happens at that time.

Does le dîner always mean “dinner”? Could it mean “lunch” in some places?

In modern standard French in France:

le déjeuner = lunch
le dîner = dinner (evening meal)

However, in some regions and in Québec or other Francophone areas, traditional usage can differ:

In some places, le dîner can mean the midday meal (what others call lunch).
le souper can be the evening meal.

But in most French-learning contexts and textbooks (especially European French), you can safely remember:

le déjeuner – lunch
le dîner – dinner

Could we say On parle souvent de la culture française pendant le dîner instead of Nous parlons…?

Yes. In spoken French, on is very commonly used instead of nous to mean we:

Nous parlons souvent… – We often talk… (more formal/written)
On parle souvent… – We often talk… (everyday spoken French)

Points to note:

Verb with on is 3rd person singular: on parle, not on parlons.
The meaning is still “we” when used this way.

So:

On parle souvent de la culture française pendant le dîner.
is completely natural in casual conversation.

Can I move souvent to the beginning or the end: Souvent nous parlons... or Nous parlons de la culture française pendant le dîner souvent?

Grammatically, yes, but the tone and naturalness change:

Souvent, nous parlons de la culture française pendant le dîner.
- Correct.
- Emphasises “often”: Often, we talk about French culture at dinner.
Nous parlons de la culture française pendant le dîner souvent.
- Possible, but sounds less natural and heavier.
- The adverb at the end gets special emphasis; it can sound a bit “added on” or poetic.

For neutral, everyday French, the best and most natural version is the original:

Nous parlons souvent de la culture française pendant le dîner.