I Need Help On France??

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Rillifane

The first thing you need to understand is that generally speaking the French are more formal than most North Americans.

In everyday speech this means appending "s'il vous plÃ¢it" to any request. It means saying "je voudrais" and not "donnez moi" when ordering from a menu. It means calling the waiter "Monsieur" and not "GarÃ§on." It means greeting the staff at a shop with "Bonjour" (madam or monsieur as appropriate).

The French tend to follow the older practice of not calling each other by first names or using the familiar without at least some acquaintance (although this is not so much true of young people). As a young person you should never call an adult by their first name. Address people using their title (Monsieur, Professor, Inspector, etc).

The easy presumption of friendship or the discussing of personal matters with relative strangers that is common in North America is sometimes seen as boorish or crude by the French. So, expecially when dealing with older people, dial it back a couple of notchs.

Americans in particular who will talk about the intimate details of their love lives, the state of their personal finances, and the cost of everything they own with someone they met ten minutes ago are, for that reason, regarded as utterly outrÃ©. Don't volunteer such personal information unless directly asked about it.

On the other hand, Americans, who have been taught to never discuss politics or religion, sometimes think they are being singled out for abuse when the French express their opinions on such matters. They are not, of course. It is just the French love of a good argument. Don't take it personally.

If you're going to be taking any classes while you're there, be prepared to be shocked at how far behind French students your own age you are. French K-12 is much tougher, much more disciplined, and places more emphasis on rote learning of facts than American schools.

Even if you don't take classes you'll be at a real disadvantage with your French peers when it comes to a command of factual knowledge. You'll also find that the French care more about logic and reasoning than opinions. If you do venture an opinion about something be prepared to back it up with facts and logic.

Of course, its also true that amoung young people in particular, a lot of popular culture is obviously inspired by America (even if they won't admit it). So in matters of music, clothing, TV, movies, and such you'll be up to speed and maybe even a bit ahead.

One cultural quirk you won't get at first is slang. I assume you've studied some French. You'll hear a lot of words that weren't in your vocabulary lessons. At least some of them will be "Verlan." Here's a little discussion of it on the net: http://french.about.com/library/vocab/bl-verlan.htm

Hope that helps.

sweetmommy

I was raised in France and loved it. Do not go expecting the same things we have in the U.S. Ice & a/c are rare & the french don't care for them. Try to, at least, learn to say "please" (sil vous plait) & "thank you" (merci) and make an effort to speak their language. Nothing worse than Americans who expect everyone to speak english! Most do speak some english but wait until they volunteer to speak it first.
Parisians are rather like New Yorkers, a little abrubt & in a hurry but most will be happy to help you if you ask.
Go with an open mind and remember that you are not in America!

Regina

I totally agree with SweetMommy. I've lived in Paris for 2 and a half months and I find the French people quite nice. Some of them are exceptionally rude but most of them are really helpful to tourists.

It's true that speaking or trying to speak another's language shows respect for the culture. People in every country prefer it when tourists make an effort to speak the local language, even if all you can say in it is "hello" and "please".

La vraie maty

hello my friend,
i think i'm not gonna get the 10 points here because our friend Rilifane said it all.. it's all you need to know about France. Congrats Rilifane.I've couldn't have done better.

112

I love Paris. The Arch de Triumph area is best for shopping and people watching. I walked 6 miles and saw all of Paris. Its very expensive and if you are american and use the ATM you will be charged a currency fee so bring cash with you to exchange. People speak english in the center of Paris but not so much outside. Sexy men are walking all over the place. But its a lot harder then living in the US and the US dollar will take you nowhere so plan to budget wisely. Once being out there you will be so much more appreciative of the US. Its true but the experience in France was amazing!

French Ingrid

I'm french and i live near paris.

All you'll see in France is realy different, cause thats not the same origines, the east of france was german, in the north they have belgian origines, in normandy they have viking origines and in britany they are celt (i am), in south-west basque and catalan are as an independant people.

In north ppl can look like cold the first time you meet them but when they accept you that is for life, in south that is very different, people is nice and very prood not to be french but to be mediterranian. In the earth of france, all is very different too, views, people, accents but they are very lovely.

The places I prefere are Britany (at 30 miles from England, you can take a ferry From Roscoff to England or Ireland for only 1 hour) and Dordogne, in middle-west, near Bordeaux.
In this region there are a lot of english villages (british live here and create english schools, shops...)

I hope that can help you, you can contact me if you need.
Ciao

~ Floridian``

Go to Italy...they are much friendlier and out going! The French can be cold and nasty.

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