The French are just the opposite if you take the time to understand them...

• I too was very concerned about my lack of French upon my first (and hopefully one of many) trips to France. To combat the fear of being hated and feeling like I was going to be perceived as a total clod, I read a good book on French culture called Culture Shock: France that explained the broadest points of the French thought process, history, politics, etc. What Americans take to be "rude" is often just a reaction to not knowing the culture and how the French see and react to situations. I can honestly say that I found (in Paris) most everyone to be both polite IF you were polite, and in one case bent over backwards for me, staying working for an hour past their time with a smile (impossible to believe right)? Too many people (particularly Americans) don't take the time to learn anything about the culture they are visiting, forgetting they are a guest there and need to be on their best behavior and don't try to learn from their hosts. If you act rude in a culture that values civilized behavior as the French do, you will get a sharp rebuke. That is not rudeness, it is the civilized way, and it is the French way! Get to know them and you can't help but fall in love with the culture, trust me.

  Jeff Taylor 02 Oct 2007, 02:34 - Report

French people are rude?