US and french differences

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US and french differences

« on: May 01, 2007, 06:52:28 PM »

This was taken from an american lawyer's blog on myspace and i found it pretty interesting

There is a famous course of study, developed at Yale University, which teaches French through the immersion method. It's called French in Action, and it teaches by following a story about a French girl and an American guy who is spending time in Paris. Each episode is broadcast on TV -- kinda like a soap opera!

There is a text book, in French of course, except for Lesson 1, Introduction. This lesson explains The Story, tells the author's views of How to Learn French, and has a section on Language and Culture.

In this blog, I reprint this last section:

Language and Culture

What you will learn in French in Action reflects life in France now. Even though the course is based on a story, what you will hear and see in the various situations that are presented is the real thing: you will encounter living French that has not been simplified or expurgated, the same French you might hear spoken among members of a family, among friends, on the street, on the radio, and on television.

You will see and hear real French men and women. In French in Action you will see France: its people, their customs, quirks, clothes, food, cities, homes. And you will see it as the French see it. Who knows, you may even experience a certain amount of culture shock! You may find some things strange, some people odd, and some situations bizarre. You may even be startled by the contrasts between the world you inhabit and the world of the French. Just remember, the French might be equally startled by you!

One contrast you may notice is that French behavior is different from American behavior in the area of relationships between men and women. Male-female relationships are of perennial interest in all cultures. French culture being no exception. In every society, relationships between the sexes are governed by expectations that are culturally conditioned. These expectations are taken for granted by the members of society, but an outsider unfamiliar with the society's cultural framework may not share its expectations, and may find the behavior in some way peculiar or questionable.

The relationships between people that you will see portrayed in French in Action reflect cultural assumptions and notions that are specifically French. But because these assumptions are not identical to American expectation in some areas, the behavior they underlie may seem unfamiliar, even inappropriate. Let us take one example from lesson 11, Jean-Pierre, the loser, tries to pick up our heroine, Mireille. In most cultures, including French culture, the pick-up artist is considered a social pest, and indeed Jean-Pierre is portrayed throughout French in Action in a negative light, rejected and rebuffed at every turn as a pathetic heel. He tried to strike up a conversation with Mireille, and he ends up striking out. The put-down comes from Mireille herself, who gets rid of him in a way that make little sense in terms of American cultural assumptions but that is absolutely appropriate in the French cultural system: she totally ignores him. And it works.

Why does Mireille ignore Jean-Pierre's intrusion instead of getting up and telling him off? Aren't Jean-Pierre's actions an outrageous example of aggressive male behavior -- of sexual harassment? And isn't Mireille's silence a harmful example of female passivity? While observers can disagree about how much of a threat Jean-Pierre actually is to Mireille in this episode, it is important to understand that her response to him is appropriate and effective in the terms of her own culture. This is true in large part because silence has a very different social function in France than in the United States. Sociologists who study the two cultures point out that Americans use speech to maintain strangers at arm's length (making small talk about the weather, for instance), whereas in the French cultural system the act of speaking to a stranger suggests the exact opposite: that the speaker wants to create a connection. This is particularly true when the situation involves physical attraction; from the point of view of French culture, a verbal acknowledgment of the other person's presence, even in anger, only sets up a relationship and encourages further communication. As a result, Mireille's silence, which to American eyes can seem passive, even acquiescent, is in terms of her culture the very best way to keep Jean-Pierre at bay.

One thing to keep in mind, then, as you explore French in Action is that the situations and relationships it portrays take place in the context of a specific culture, and that projecting American expectations and sensibilities on that context can result in unnecessary misunderstanding. Although it is natural to want to form an opinion of the French from an American point of view, it is also important to perceive them as much as possible from their own point of view. We are different from the French, and the French are different from us, and that variance challenges us to extend our capacity for cultural understanding and communication. So vive la difference!


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Dr. Blutarsky

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