Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance Courts between the 15th and 16th centuries. Ballet began to spread from Italy to France and began to be taught around the world to aspiring ballerinas. In the 1830s, Marie Tagiloni introduced Pointe shoes to the ballet industry and in the 19th century, dancing on En Pointe became very popular and was only reserved to women.
Pointe shoes are more advance and technical ballet shoes and are typically worn after the age of 10, though age varies depending on how much training and experience you have preparing for pointe. When you first begin your ballet journey you normally wear ballet slippers, they can be made from leather, canvas or satin, and they can have a full leather sole or a split sole.
The reason why many terms and steps are French and why French is the language of ballet is because during the early years of ballet, King Louis XIV of France, who had a passion for ballet and created these terms that are still used in modern ballet today. He established the very first school of ballet and today is know as Paris Opera Ballet, located in none other than Paris, France.