Le dacquois Diglot Groupie France Joined 5647 days ago 54 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, German
| Message 25 of 37 25 June 2009 at 10:04am | IP Logged |
anytram wrote:
I'm not sure if it isn't just a Parisian thing, but you don't know service, especially in bars and cafés - |
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Hehe, no, it's not just a Parisian thing. Don't worry, you'll get used to it, just like me :D
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vientito Senior Member Canada Joined 6338 days ago 212 posts - 281 votes
| Message 26 of 37 05 July 2009 at 2:07pm | IP Logged |
une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps, comme on dit.
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Le dacquois Diglot Groupie France Joined 5647 days ago 54 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, German
| Message 27 of 37 08 July 2009 at 8:17am | IP Logged |
Or you could say there's no smoke without fire.
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Rhoda Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5600 days ago 166 posts - 196 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Latin, Swahili, Ancient Greek, German
| Message 28 of 37 27 July 2009 at 5:59pm | IP Logged |
I've been to France several times (mostly in the south, not yet Paris) and have not encountered any rudeness or snobbery. Some shopkeepers will switch to English if they realize you are American (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they mean to be helpful, not insulting haha). In general though, the people with whom I spoke French (in bakeries, at flea markets, asking for directions, etc.) would reply in French. If they saw my family in the background though, speaking very loud English, they might switch over :)
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Anekantavada Newbie United States Joined 5734 days ago 11 posts - 18 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, French
| Message 29 of 37 28 July 2009 at 11:35pm | IP Logged |
Most of the stories of 'Francophone snobbery' seem to involve Parisians, who, likely as not, are simply tired of dealing with tourists. My Québécois friends are very generous and supportive of my efforts to communicate with my (mostly passive) knowledge of French, despite my poor accent and inadequate speaking/writing abilities.
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Albin Tetraglot Newbie Sweden Joined 5941 days ago 13 posts - 14 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German, French
| Message 30 of 37 04 August 2009 at 12:40am | IP Logged |
I find the French somewhat insecure about speaking English. Mastering the language means to have power and for French nationals who often like to tell jokes or to win an argument they'll lose an advantage towards the others if they'd give up le français. On the other hand, otherwise the English speakers have this enormous advantage which is so beneficial to them.
I've been at a great number of meetings and conferences where either French or English was the dominant langugage and where many knew both of them. To my experience, those who mastered the at that time dominant language would be able to push through more things; they were simply recieved with more respect as their ideas sounded more convincing.
And then we've got category no. 3: us who speak insignificant languages like Swedish. We can only try being the second best and seldome we'll be able to express ourselves in the language in which we feel most confident. At the same time, in this effort to be second best, we'll so often be treated as if say English actually were the language we feel most comfortable in speaking. Well it isn't, it is just that is usually better for us than say French!
But I do have some respect to the French in that they seem to protect their dignity, that they aren't submissive to English language imperialism like us northerners, as someone said in a different thread.
To sum up: I think that self-confidence and the power of language in social situations should not be underestimated. Perhaps the best solution to this inequality would be that everyone had to speak a second language. That would put everyone at the same level. And wouldn't it then be for the best if we agreed on Esperanto as the lingua franca, at least in larger international meetings?
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^veganboy^ Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5919 days ago 51 posts - 51 votes
| Message 31 of 37 26 September 2009 at 2:10am | IP Logged |
wow Albin, I've just talked to a friend about what you are saying. I agree with you 100%.
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administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map
| Message 32 of 37 26 September 2009 at 6:50am | IP Logged |
Guys, if you ever doubt the cultural impoliteness of Parisians, I think I have the ultimate proof. The local newspaper for Paris is called "Le Parisien", and they run many TV commercials all making fun of the negative perceptions of Parisians and of their legendary rudeness. Have a gander on youtube.
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