Have you ever heard rumor of the French being rude, or unfriendly? It's a common misconception on many Americans' part. The French culture is not the same as American.

       When we meet someone new, a complete stranger, usually the first thing we do is smile. We smile to show our openness to meeting this new person, and because this is what's considered friendly and polite. We also often tend to smile at strangers even when they've offended us, when we don't quite understand what they're trying to say, or other reasons that don't really warrant a friendly expression.

       The French are nearly the opposite. They don't smile at random people when they walk down the street, they don't smile in a conversation unless they really think that something is funny, or exciting. If an American were to go to France and grin at every new person they met, like we usually do here, the people would probably think you were a bit odd, and not return your smile. It's not considered in any way rude or unusual, it's just a part of the French culture that happens to be different from us.

       I find it interesting that something as small as a difference in facial expression between two countries can give the people in each such an odd conception of each other!

We had a big french test today and one of the questions had us write a paragraph about an aunt or an uncle. There were eight different things we had to include. I'll put the literal translations in parentheses.

-Name: My aunt's name is Lois.        

             Elle s'appelle Lois. (She calls herself Lois)

-Age: She is 50 years old.

          Elle a cinquante ans. (She has 50 years)

-Nationality: She is American.

                     Elle est américaine. (She is American)

-Profession: She is a doctor.

                    Elle est medicin. (She is doctor)

-Married/Not Married: She is married

                                    Elle est mariée. (She is married)

-2 Physical Traits: She is short and brunette.
                              Elle est petite et brune. (She is short and brunette)

-2 Good Traits: She is nice and fair
                          Elle et sympa et juste. (She is nice and fair)

-1 Bad Trait: She is boring.
                      Elle est ennuyeuse. (She is boring)


**P.S. I don't actually think my aunt is boring.

French Sayings vs. English Sayings

Remember the popular phrase, "You cannot teach an old dog new tricks"? The French say something quite similar: "On n'apprend pas aux vieux singes à faire des grimaces.", which translates to, "You cannot teach old monkeys to make faces. :D

Here are a few more:

"Ah, la vache!" The french use this as we would use Oh my goodness. The literal translation though, is "Oh, the cow!"

When we lose our patience, we say "That's the last straw!!", then go punch something. The french say, "C'est la fin des haricots". It means that's the end of the beans...


LOL!