As a French, I feel like one particular issue must be explained and it is rarely so. Several people in this video mentioned customer service, and that's probably one of the main causes of the stereotype, because depending on your home culture the experience can be pretty disturbing. One thing people need to understand is that, in France, we have put Equality as a core value of our social contract. It's written on the walls of our city halls and schools along with Liberty and Fraternity. Equality does not mean that we are all equals in terms of our biological or psychological nature. It means that we are supposed to be equally treated in regards to society. Since the great Revolution, it is deeply rooted in our culture and minds. One straight consequence is that you can't expect someone to bend over or be overly submissive just because you are a customer. "Customer is king" is an anglo-saxon motto. Over here the kings have been removed in a way that was supposed to be a clear message to every other king wannabe. So if you are a customer and are interacting with a vendor, you are NOT the king. You are two equal citizens starting a commercial relashionship on equal terms. This is why there are important social codes that must be respected, like saying "bonjour" or "s'il vous plaît", or "merci". If you get that, you'll be treated with the respect due to a fellow citizen who is entitled to receive a reasonable service in exchange for the money they give. This is also probably the reason why there are laws on how a commercial contract must be defined. For example, the "service included" rule, preventing the tipping system in restaurants is to protect the workers from having to prostitute themselves to get their wage. On the opposite side, living for about 2 years in the US, I've always been disturbed by the overly friendly and flirty behavior of waitresses in restaurants. It felt so uncomfortable, so fake. You can feel that the person does not want to be your friend, she just wants to get a good tip. So she plays fake games, she plays a role. I don't understand how people can be pleased with receiving this kind of lie as a treatment. If they want a girlfriend, that's not how it'll happen, so what? Still, I understand the point and I respect waitresses. I just wish they could act more normal and natural. I believe it would be better for their own well being and self esteem.
So true ! I felt the same in the US when I lived there for a year. It felt so fake that it made me feel uncomfortable as I didn’t know what to expect and how I should interact with them and what to expect or not from the relationship.
Ah, so language skills are the secret to a kind heart? Guess I missed that lesson. But thanks for the tip-I’ll remember it next time I need to judge someone’s character by their vocabulary. FYI I am the same guy, for 4 years and proudly don't speak FRENCH. Have a nice day bud..
@@behadhrandomchannel So you've been in France for 4 years and you still PROUDLY don't speak French... I have to thank you for proving me so obviously right. To me it is obvious that the attitude that goes with such a state of mind (where the effort and self-questioning is absent) has a good chance of projecting a rude reaction in anyone.
@@tonyreyes8315 I see now-so my language skills are single-handedly responsible for other people’s rudeness. Fascinating insight! Who knew empathy came with a language prerequisite? Thanks for the lesson, Tony; it's truly eye-opening to learn that respect and kindness are apparently lost in translation.
@@behadhrandomchannel You cannot seriously teach lessons in respect, empathy and rudeness when you declare that you are proud of not speaking the language of a country in which you have lived for 4 years. You nevertheless have the freedom to pretend not to understand my point, but you're not fooling anyone.
@@behadhrandomchannelSorry but yes at least learning some basic I had a relationship with a Philippino guy and after 3 years in France he was just able to say 4 words in French... COME ON In 10 months with me he was able to understand a lot and say small sentences... If you live in a country you have to learn the language it's normal
Crazy how most of the comments are "they seems rude unless we speak a bit of french". Hey guys, this is the language of the inhabitants of this country. France is not a Disney park where people are employees and are all supposed to speak english. I can't imagine how "kind" would be the people of the US if I only speak french to them.
What I understood from the blond lady is that she had a lot of misconceptions until she was able to fully understand the people in front of her. And a lot of people in the video assumed things instead of trying to really understand the situation. Typical.
As a french, I know that we are not particurlarly good at speaking foreign languages (well, compared to other european countries at least....). It is changing but older generations might be not at ease speaking english. And it might be because a century ago, french was more or less on a par with english in international relations : english was the unofficial trade language, and french the unofficial diplomatic language. Many foreigners coming to France learned French or natively spoke french, no need to learn english, then. Not the case anymore, and some (rare) fellow citizens may (IMHO) still resent that and perhaps behave more arrogantly, specifically to english speaking people ("who do they think they are ! coming here like in conquered territory !"). I'm not among them, for three main reasons. First, I talked to UK lady who was absolutely horrified at how international english (a.k.a. Globish) butchered english as it was spoken in it's home country. Glad it didn't happen to french (and we have the French Academy to defend it ! ;-))... Second, English has a simpler grammar, and richer vocabulary (see why in the third reason). It was a more logical candidate to becoming the international language. Third, because : Is English just badly pronounced French ? Check the video with this title and you'll get it ;-)
@@Firyenjdr How people who weren't even born a century ago could resent something they haven't even lived? Do you know anyone who is like "well I am not going to speak English because once upon a time centuries ago French was the main diplomatic language". Really? When French was the lingua franca among the elites of the Western world ONLY, a minority of French people spoke French. There have never been more French speakers would it be in France or anywhere than now. So why would they be resentful? I can't believe a French guy fuels that childish story.
🇺🇸 people likes to judge characters of people from other nations( like French being cowards French are arrogant French are rude) but end of it all they are the people most people from the different nations dislike the most😂🤣. Reality is 🇺🇸 people are the most arrogant( they think they are the beast land of freedom all bullshit) most ignorant( look at their social media politics etc) most modern day willing slaves etc etc. They are in no position to judge. May be mostly I think they envy French free spirit willingness to fight for their rights French people being way more cultured and refined than them🇫🇷🇫🇷👏💙🇪🇺
@@puccaland I hope you are right and that this mindset is now totally extinct to the point we will soon doubt it ever existed. I took some precautions ("IMHO", "some rare fellow") to point out that it is just a possible explanation of a few rare cases. I remember relatives of my grandparents, raised in the 1930's, before WW2 and the decolonization, nostalgic of the past glory of the French Empire, that were like that. And they raised children. I wouldn't bet their mindset suddenly disappeared with their passing. So yes, It's waning with each generation, and I hope even faster than "the french are rude" prejudice. But are you sure everyone has moved to something else ?
More importantly especially in Paris you get what you give. Many foreigners are rude without being aware of it thus don't understand why they recieve a cold/rude reaction.
There are two things at play here ; 1) This whole topic is created by merely talking about it. French people are not more or less rude than anyone else, but they're the ones that it somehow became trendy to insult online, so they're the ones that are always gonna be scrutinized for everything they do. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. A French person going to Japan will never tell to themselves "Alright what are all the ways I can accuse people around me of being rude today ?", but a lot of foreigners coming to France will do exactly that. And when you're looking for such opportunities, you'll find them, because you create unconscious bias. You've decided beforehand that you were gonna have a negative impact on your own encounters, so whenever anything happens, let's say you hear a sigh, some pebble comes rolling your way, someone does anything that you can't quite explain, you're gonna assume "oh yeah that's it that's the French rudeness I've been looking for right there" instead of actually trying to read the room. 2) Americans for some reason seem to be really self-conscious about their French proficiency (even though the French don't mind at all for the most part) and they conflate their own inferiority complex with rudeness from people around them. A lot of the time when you listen to these "French are rude" people, they won't describe you a situation where anyone did anything bad or impolite. They'll describe a situation when they felt bad about themselves. "I couldn't speak French because they switched to English". "They didn't understand me in French so I had to repeat". Yeah... but that's not rudeness though. That's you being self-deprecating. What are they supposed to do if they didn't understand the first time ? Just walk by and ignore you ? That's more polite than asking you to repeat ? People switch to english because they're polite to you and want to be accomodating, or maybe they switch to english because they enjoy opportunities to speak it as much as you'd enjoy an opportunity to have conversation in French. They're not your lackeys and they're not mind-readers, don't expect people to act exactly like you'd want. If you'd like to keep the conversation going in French, just ask them that politely instead of crying online and they'll be happy to oblige. Should they assume you're rude because you're speaking French when they wanted to speak English ? They shouldn't, and they won't. So don't do it either. It's impolite to insult people, and telling people they're rude when they didn't do anything wrong is the very definition of being rude. If you feel like your French isn't good enough to be understood in the streets or in shops, don't just insult people around you for unwillingly reminding it to you, just get better. It is extremely rude and egotistical to talk shit behind French people's backs merely because they couldn't understand you, there's nothing they could've done about it. They tried their best, they had no idea what you were trying to say. It's not their fault. It's not anyone's fault really, foreigners will always have miscommunication. But if you really need to blame someone for your shortcomings, blame yourself, not others. If anything is rude in France, it's the foreigners waltzing around thinking they're some type of hot-shot royalty looking for rude peasants to insult.
As a french person, I really don't understand why it's rude if people switch to english when they understand that the other is not french. It's seems the polite thing to do, to make the conversation easier for everyone ? And yes, always say bonjour or hello, it's really basic politness (I did actually think it was the case in other countries too) , so if you don't say it, there's a chance people will be rude, because you were the first being rude.
I think that the polite way would be to ask the person if she want to speak in english or in french. Doing it without asking would be arrangant as you assume what's best for them without even asking. Also you are sending the message "your french is too poor, let's talk english".
I suppose it can send off the vibe of "I do'nt really wanna waste time with your approximative french, so let's switch to english so we can get rid of that conversation as soon as possible".
@@ParlonsAstronomie Choosing to be offended instead of recognizing the gesture of switching to English with the intention of making the person more comfortable could be seen as arrogant actually. The person could also tell they'd rather stick to French, right? To each their own^^
as a french I can give you an advice. Always start with a bonjour,hello or what ever way to say hello politely. never Ask something to someone without first saying hello/bonjour. it's very rude . and when i say every one i mean EVERYONE and Uber driver, a cashier, asking a direction.....what ever. Always. the only case i can think of where WE don't say hello => youtube commentary
Hi. Nice video. The one recuring theme of the video is about the service industry workers being rude to customers. I've been living in Paris for nearly thirty years, and worked in that industry. I can tell you that people do not have the same level of politeness. It varies greatly by nationality and educational background. I worked just outside of Paris in an amusement park. We'd be visited by families, students, young adults of every nationality. My point is that the only few that didn't make the effort of saying hello, even in their language or english, were almost always the most demanding and rude customers, whether they were foreign or french. It becomes second nature to developp an instinct about who you will have a bad interaction with. After 2 weeks on the job you stop caring about making the customer feel good if they are being rude. You have too many in a day to do your best for someone that is being an ass.
I was in Paris recently, first time for nearly 40 years. I found everybody so friendly, and so willing to speak English, bar staff, shop staff, waiters, all so nice. Very different from 40 tears ago…
@@Rawedreamer its now pretty common, at least in big cities, for the French younger generations to speak english pretty well, at least for small talks ans basic conversations (regardless the accent, still often challenging for us). I also guess that the French, especially in Paris, eventually decided to overcome their poor reputation after being repeatedly said they were rude.
When I was vacationing in Paris, an American or Canadian couple came straight up to me and asked for directions. Didn’t say hello, didn’t ask me if I could speak English… I thought they were extremely rude and was very tempted to say I couldn’t understand them, but I wasn’t raised that way and gave them directions. They didn’t even say thank you.
Paris is the 6th most densely populated big city in the world. So, for example, in the video almost no one knows a city that dense, except maybe Indians (Mumbay is just a little more dense than Paris). So, Paris is basically a very stressful city. Promiscuity, noises, overloaded transport, etc. And, on top of that, it is very « over » crowded (workers coming from the outskirts, and tourists). So, there are a lot of stressed people in Paris, and that can turn into unfriendly people. Also, since it is dense, there is a greater probability of coming across someone rude. It's statistical... :)
This! Also, because it is very crowded, some people tend to phase out when they're out and about, instead of paying attention to other people. That's when the "bonjour" or "excusez-moi" become very important, to get their attention before you ask something, because they might not have noticed you, or heard you, or tuned their hearing to your accent/language, if you start asking questions before catching their eye.
just basic exemples as i am in touristic town: tourists/foreigners "in english": hey! where's the lake? (or where s the old town, castle or else) hmm okkayyy, no hello orsorry or can i ask u a question or sorry to bother u ....... and also assumed i could understand english as well (why not german or italian instead...) .......well, i had to say i had to tone down my french attitude a LOT to answer......i pointed the direction without a word and kept looking at them...... no thx u or whatever.... no basic etiquette rule.....make the french attitude rise to the sky...
Kim nailed it! French people are very afraid of being embarrassed and if you slow them down they will start geting frustrated with you. but many would love to speak english fluently, if they know they can't they won't really try and they are so afraid of making mistakes...that's due to the french education. But things are changing....a lot of french have travelled abroad, and are a bit more open.
I have lived in rural France and am fluent despite having what is often described as an English accent, my first reaction to any comment or someone who speaks English in reply 'suis pas anglais, on es en France' . The French tend to be more direct as opposed to rude, cultural perception of rudeness is very varied. That varies greatly depending on the region also and how they perceive foreign people.
Salut, malheureusement un pli a été pris d'avoir trop de "clients" étrangers dans les centres de R&D français et je te prie de croire qu'il savent cravacher pour obtenir des études bien customisées à leur goût et empocher les bénéfices..
A little Story : A girl who study in "Le Marais" go to the school and meet 10 strangers by days. Each strangers ask her for the road, the monument, etc. After few weeks, she runs and don t answer at anybody. She is not a guide. This Story is true. There are 47 millions of tourists in Paris by year for 2 millions of inhabitants. They are no manifestation like in Barcelona (13 millions of tourists). Some people said : That s Parisian and not French. I was living in Province during half my life. If you send 1 million of tourists my small city, the people will becoming crazy and agressive.
English but I have lived in France 30+ years in the Paris region. Of course I speak French, not perfectly particularily in the beginning. The French are polite. More so than in Britain or America and certainly more so than Germany where I have also lived. In my village everyone I pass in the road will say Bonjour Monsieur whether they know me or not and I reply with Bonjour Monsieur/Madame. Even at a supermarket checkout you start with a Bonjour and pause for reply. You do not just blurt out "Do you speak English" a till girl at a checkout has had a minimal education. Does a checkout girl in Ohio even speak English? Actually probably no, she speaks American and not Harvard American. Paris can be a special case. Some times of the year 50% of the people there are Foreign tourists, not French. Paris is stressful, as said by one of the ladies on transport people are trying to get to work or get home crushed like sardines without tourists blocking the escalators because they don't stand on the right or shouting at each other in American or Russian on the train.
Most people who call the French rude are, in my opinion, just plain ignorant. I have seen people, hundreds of times, speak English without any attempt to speak French or behave with typical French politeness. If I were French I would just turn my back on them and walk away. I have a meme which I cannot show here unfortunately. It says 'I'm not rude, you're just an a**hole'
Also, I think it's only fair to add that we parisian live with tourist every day of the year. There are tourists everywhere, especially when you live in the center. And sometimes, well you know, that can get on some people's nerves, and that's only fair. Because a french person will take about 10 seconds to make a choice that they already know about, whereas tourists can block streets, can block queue at the store and so on because they are indecisive. So i think that must be taken into consideration.
As a french I would sums it up as : -Paris is a very stressfull place, so people are more likely to be rude there. And as the most foreigner-french interactions happens in Paris, so here comes the bad reputation. However, as a french I was surprised that parisian weren't as rude as I espected when I visited Paris for the first time. -French people will be rude to you if you don't follow french politeness, which is quite unfair for foreigners that don't know the rules. I didn't get the "always say the bonjour first" rule as a kid and it took me several rude interaction as an adult to get it. -French work to live instead of living to work, they're not going to bow to customers, which can be seen as unpolite. -French expect foreigners to do the effort to fit in (learning the langage and customs), if you don't immediatly show that you are doing it they will assume that you are doing no effort and be upset. Fortunatly there is a lots of french that understand the difficulty of living in a foreign country and will be nice to foreigners. -In customer services, french feels insecure when they are in the situation where they ignore the solution. usually they will say that it is impossible just to not say I don't know. -French are very proud of their culture, langage and food so they can be pedentic.
I am Canadian living in France for 34 years and lived in Paris for 25 years. Do not forget, Paris is a very large metropole and like any big city there is alot of stress. I have encountered rude people as well as very nice people. There are arrogant people everywhere. I am trilingual italian, english and french and communicate easily. You cannot judge an entire country based on a few imbeciles. I have had more problems when l visited the United States than in the 34 years l have been in France.
As Parisian i dare say that the stress in a crowded little town (Paris is a small town of 10 km) could make some People unfair, espacially in rush hours or public transports. It occurs that the old parisian politness teached my grand-grand-father have desappeard à lot though we still are able to if we feel the reprocity. It is a feeling. And we are not rude, we are direct with à very formal politness coming from the 18th century; and we like this sense of respect to each others. So do as 18th british and you will be OK with us. Kisses from Paris, district of high-Belleville-Jourdain (Yesss we make "la bise")
Salut. Faites attention au french bashing. Vous êtes un témoin averti et pourrez observer que les parisiens sont victimes de sarcasmes un tout petit peu exagérés. Voyez mon commentaire juste ci-dessus.
a few tips if you travel to france: -always start an interaction with "bonjour" doing otherwise is disrespectful and will not get you any smiles (the other politeness words are a nice +) even if your accent is horrible, starting with bonjour then switching to english imediately works fine. -forget "the customer is king" waiting staff/customer service are not your dog/slave, i worked retail my manager told me to waste time or tell off rude customers -french have a very direct style of communication and will not sugarcoat much
Every argument in this video has the flavour of truth but the fundamentals are : Paris isn't France and services aren't people so if you go in a country only to spend money to get goods and services, it doesn't mean you meet people you only consume and you must understand that culturaly speaking, what you call "professionalisme" french almost see it as "slavery" we don't like fake smiles and king customers. So first if you want to give an advice about frenchies come and meet frenchies.
I'm tired of the "Paris is not France". In this case the rest of France can seem rude because a lot of the supposed rudeness of France comes from cultural differences. And foe foreigners visiting France, just try not assuming that everyone will speak to you in english, especially in shops and restaurant. Try a "bonjour" and even a "do you speak english" (and don't listen to the answer because a lot of people will say no but can speak a little bit) and it will transform your experience
Je crois surtout que les français sont moins hypocrites que le reste du monde ca évite les malentendus ! EN particulier avec les gens irrespectueux ! Ca nous empêche pas d'etre aimables avec les gens ,faut juste qu'ils nous respectent et soient polis c'est traditionnel chez nous
I noticed that it is more the Americans (USA) that complain about our supposed rudeness (not in this video particularly, on a lot of TH-cam videos and comment sections). It's seems that Americans are probably those that really doesn't give a shit to learn the minimum of culture of the country they are visiting before coming in (I read few times that they are surprised that Spaniard in Spain speaks Spanish!!!). The first time I went to India I've learned the bases of culture and politeness like any other Frenchs and Europeans I met there because we are aware that our culture is not the culture of the entier world, when Americans forget that not everybody speaks English and knows THEIR rules of politeness. For instance, saying "thank you" in India to somebody that helping you it's not a rule because for them it is a natural thing to helping each other, and if you are helping now you could be the person in need the next time. So, as a French, it could create a trouble if I don't know this rule before because for me it's very very rude. Please Americans when you are coming in France, use those simple rules : "Bonjour" before any interaction, "S'il vous plait" before any demand, "merci" after any service, "au revoir" when you leave. Four words and your social interactions in France will be nice. And don't wait bow from the waiters (more in Paris touristic areas where they are the worst), they don't wait for your tips because they've got a salary, so if they think you are rude (because you don't say them the mandatory "Bonjour" and "S'il vous plait"), the service will be like a revenge, terrible! They are more sensitive on those points than anybody else! (BTW, I like a lot the Americans, but most of you need to learn that the world doesn't spin around you.) Love from a rude French.
@@TheMovementHub My message was not clear, sorry, it wasn't for the Americans who are living in France but for the tourists. I'm agree that those who live there are France lovers and so they learn the language and the costumes.
well i'm french but i don't think " rude" is the best word paris is like ANY very big city they are too much "busy" to be kind not because they want to be rude but because they just have to do what they have to do so they will " close" the conversation! there is too that not much " olders" french peoples speak anyting other than french so when someone is trying to speak with them in another language deep inside they are " ashamed" to not speak it ( mostly english) and don't want peoples to see they are poor ( or very poor) english speaker! there is too when they " feel" the other " stranger" is " rude" so they want this " rude person" to " just leave them so they can be rude FOR making that person leave! So if you visite french it's better to either make french friend online before comming or "dodge" paris and mostly speak with younger peoples ( not kid but "youngs" adults their english have more chance to be better! After not all " olders" peoples are bad in english i'm in my 40s and speak english pretty well ( with the french accent) but most of the time we will simply answer and leave one exemple in my town there is one of the oldest synaguoge of france ( jew church) i met some day ago 2 americans ( from new york) and when i asked them if they was searching something they said " the synaguogue" but that sounded so much like " senegual" so i didn't knew then they said " the jews church" so i understood and bring them to that place! but when they said " synaguogue" that sounded like " senegual" i asked them if it was a shop ( because i didn't knew)! so to be more clear " youngs adults" have more chances to speak english, paris is too speed so they rarely have the time! that's the 2 points!
Lol a synagogue being misinterpreted for a "shop", you could hardly find something worse to say in this specific case I hope they didn't leave France with the impression that you were rude (the classic "he's faking not understanding our perfect French !") AND antisemitic 🤣 But yes, many foreigners apparently don't get how "bad" their accents in French can be. Maybe it's a French specific thing but it's very hard to understand sometimes even when it's only "slightly" off. And it becomes worse when they try, in French, to use other words to explain. Like if they said in French "Eglise Juive" but also with a difficult accent. Makes me even more confused. And then you can really read online that French people actually do understand them, but *decide* to fake not understanding just to be rude because they hate everyone ! Like, who does that ???
French or Parisian two different approaches for foreigners who come to live here. Real Parisians practically do not exist today. I am a Parisian born in 1956 in the suburbs but grew up in the city district of Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est. At that time, working-class Paris still existed. Starting in the 90s, things have changed. Gentrification has been happening quietly, boboatisation (bourgeois-bohemians) and sales prices have increased. Since Brexit, the business district of La Défense has developed. The difference between the regions and Paris has always been two different worlds. Otherwise, if you come here you have to be patient to be accepted but, after this city is pleasant, transport is not too bad. Paris and suburbs 7 103 801 résidents. Welcome among us.
yes but the english changed the meaning and now there is no french translation for rude. Rude seems to be a mix of impolite, unhelpful and unfriendly. the french don't have a word for that
Quel élan ! Vous êtes sûr de devoir généraliser à tous les parisiens à partir d'un nombre réduit d'expériences ? Perso c'est surtout sur Internet que j'entends des français dire des vilaines choses sur "les parisiens". Il y a un effet d'entraînement qu'il faut bien voir, c'est l'effet de boule de neige du french bashing. Si je m'en tiens réellement à mes connaissances qui m'ont exprimé un avis authentique sur nos compatriotes de Paris, la tendance n'est nullement en leur défaveur. Beaucoup de français tombent ici dans le piège de l'incitation au rabaissement des parisiens, par simple suggestion. Ensuite nos détracteurs masqués sont bien armés pour dire que les français ne s'aiment même pas entre eux ! Personnellement je suis allé d'innombrables fois à Paris et n'ai strictement rien à redire sur le compte des parisiens. Certains témoignages sont sérieux et en notre défaveur et alors ... est-ce pire qu'ailleurs ? Non, c'est mieux. Nous avons beaucoup de chance d'être français.
I’ve been insulted once while walking out of work for absolutely nothing. It was just rude idiots either venting anger or having fun doing it on the first person they met. There’s assholes everywhere.
I would change the title of this...Are Parisiens rude? It's a completely different world when you get about 50 miles away from Paris. Yes, French not living in Paris find Parisiens sometimes to be rude and arrogant .
The actual title of this video should be "Do the Parisians deserve...". France is much more than just Paris out of 67 million inhabitants, 55 milions don't live in Paris or the Parisian Region. Paris is like all large cities worldwide, the overly urban life brings stress, long and tiresome commuting, crowded places and transportation, higher crime rates. In addition Paris is packed with millions of, sometimes annoying, tourists. That naturally reflects on the people's attitude. This being said, everywhere in France being polite takes you a long way. Don't forget that any social interaction, whether it's ordering a coffee, asking for directions, entering a shop or the doctor's waiting room... should start with "bonjour". "Au revoir, s'il-vous-plait, merci" also are basics of proper behavior. And in France, like anywhere else in the world, there are nice people and rude people. That's simply human nature.
03:48 : UNTRUE !! Vendors and customer service in general are disgusting in France, regardless of your skin colour! As soon as you speak French, the sales assistant plays the false sympathy card to negotiate or gain ground if he has something to gain, but basically he despises you. Or maybe he is just fed up with foreigners, hates his job ans doesn't want to put any effort in it or doesn't feel comfortable speaking the language or adapting to others ! Stop playing the victim by telling everyone is racist, I'm so done with this false argument. GROW UP !! Be a psychologist and put yourself in the other person's shoes, people are just people : this has to do with culture, period. The same person in another country with a different culture would act the opposite. Oups, sorry I'm being rude and racist because I speak my french mind !
Même si vous avancez des arguments pertinents, notamment sur l'inconfort potentiel à traiter avec des étrangers, vous dérapez quelque peu et devenez même agressif dans la seconde partie de votre discours, ce qui est regrettable. Ne nous voilons pas la face, le racisme en France existe toujours. Il est peut-être amplifié par les réseaux sociaux et les médias, mais il demeure bien réel. Vous rejetez totalement l'expérience de cet homme en raison de votre aversion pour cet argument ou, du moins, pour ce ressenti.
@@roshi8955 "déraper" est un jugement de valeur qui n'engage que vous - et les gens qui pensent "bien", ce qui est dommageable. Vous ne voyez aucun problème à rejeter en bloc et sans nuances mon expérience qui façonne (forcément) mon avis. Je n'ai pas de compte à vous rendre, je ne suis pas davantage thérapeute, et vous êtes mal avisé de me faire la morale : qui vous dit que je ne suis pas moi-même issu de l'immigration ?! Même conseil que pour cette chère victime de racisme imaginaire : mettez-vus à la place de l'autre avant de (mal) le juger.
Ah, I see! So, everyone’s either just misunderstood or having a bad day-every day? Guess I’ll start carrying a psychology degree along with my groceries to help with all those cultural quirks. Thanks for the insight, though; I’ll remember it next time I meet the 50% who haven’t yet ‘grown up’ in the kindness department! Oops, my Indian just came out, Namaste..!!
@@behadhrandomchannel Carrying a psychology degree alongside : a great initiative coming from an Indian man ! An Indian woman would have done it naturally, as you can see it in the video, but not a man... So, coming from an Indian man, I think it's great that you're not the rule but the exception and that you're claiming it out loud ! And the humility that comes with it, honestly I think you're quite right to claim what you think because for a man that's very unusual, congrats ;-)
@@meldoborel Thank you for such high praise-I'm truly flattered! It’s good to know that breaking stereotypes can be appreciated, even if it’s unexpected. I guess that’s the beauty of individuality; we all have something unique to bring to the table. Here’s hoping kindness and open-mindedness catch on universally-one small step at a time!
or the people who know the rule "always say Bonjour first before anything else". That's one major rule of politeness in France. If you forgot to say hello then you are rude first and most people will be rude in return.
@@astree214 I think there really is a prejudice against France. Like, if an American visited Japan, they would know it's a foreign culture with very different standards for politeness, social rules, etc., and they would assume they did something wrong if they received bad treatment, or it's just different ways of doing things if they don't get the smile they expected or something. But in France, maybe we are too "similar looking", white western europeans or something, but many people seem to assume we must be made from the same mold, so when we act different, it can only be because we are rude, right ?
As a French, I feel like one particular issue must be explained and it is rarely so. Several people in this video mentioned customer service, and that's probably one of the main causes of the stereotype, because depending on your home culture the experience can be pretty disturbing.
One thing people need to understand is that, in France, we have put Equality as a core value of our social contract. It's written on the walls of our city halls and schools along with Liberty and Fraternity. Equality does not mean that we are all equals in terms of our biological or psychological nature. It means that we are supposed to be equally treated in regards to society. Since the great Revolution, it is deeply rooted in our culture and minds. One straight consequence is that you can't expect someone to bend over or be overly submissive just because you are a customer. "Customer is king" is an anglo-saxon motto. Over here the kings have been removed in a way that was supposed to be a clear message to every other king wannabe.
So if you are a customer and are interacting with a vendor, you are NOT the king. You are two equal citizens starting a commercial relashionship on equal terms. This is why there are important social codes that must be respected, like saying "bonjour" or "s'il vous plaît", or "merci". If you get that, you'll be treated with the respect due to a fellow citizen who is entitled to receive a reasonable service in exchange for the money they give. This is also probably the reason why there are laws on how a commercial contract must be defined. For example, the "service included" rule, preventing the tipping system in restaurants is to protect the workers from having to prostitute themselves to get their wage.
On the opposite side, living for about 2 years in the US, I've always been disturbed by the overly friendly and flirty behavior of waitresses in restaurants. It felt so uncomfortable, so fake. You can feel that the person does not want to be your friend, she just wants to get a good tip. So she plays fake games, she plays a role. I don't understand how people can be pleased with receiving this kind of lie as a treatment. If they want a girlfriend, that's not how it'll happen, so what?
Still, I understand the point and I respect waitresses. I just wish they could act more normal and natural. I believe it would be better for their own well being and self esteem.
Thank you for your explanation. And I very much enjoy the concept of equality that you described about France.
This is an articulate and deep comment. Nothing to add.
t'as tout dit
j'adore les baptou comme toi, les femmes françaises kiffent les arabes
So true ! I felt the same in the US when I lived there for a year. It felt so fake that it made me feel uncomfortable as I didn’t know what to expect and how I should interact with them and what to expect or not from the relationship.
If you lived 4 years in Paris and you don't speak french... You are the problem.
Ah, so language skills are the secret to a kind heart? Guess I missed that lesson. But thanks for the tip-I’ll remember it next time I need to judge someone’s character by their vocabulary. FYI I am the same guy, for 4 years and proudly don't speak FRENCH. Have a nice day bud..
@@behadhrandomchannel So you've been in France for 4 years and you still PROUDLY don't speak French... I have to thank you for proving me so obviously right. To me it is obvious that the attitude that goes with such a state of mind (where the effort and self-questioning is absent) has a good chance of projecting a rude reaction in anyone.
@@tonyreyes8315 I see now-so my language skills are single-handedly responsible for other people’s rudeness. Fascinating insight! Who knew empathy came with a language prerequisite? Thanks for the lesson, Tony; it's truly eye-opening to learn that respect and kindness are apparently lost in translation.
@@behadhrandomchannel You cannot seriously teach lessons in respect, empathy and rudeness when you declare that you are proud of not speaking the language of a country in which you have lived for 4 years. You nevertheless have the freedom to pretend not to understand my point, but you're not fooling anyone.
@@behadhrandomchannelSorry but yes at least learning some basic
I had a relationship with a Philippino guy and after 3 years in France he was just able to say 4 words in French... COME ON
In 10 months with me he was able to understand a lot and say small sentences...
If you live in a country you have to learn the language it's normal
Crazy how most of the comments are "they seems rude unless we speak a bit of french". Hey guys, this is the language of the inhabitants of this country. France is not a Disney park where people are employees and are all supposed to speak english.
I can't imagine how "kind" would be the people of the US if I only speak french to them.
What I understood from the blond lady is that she had a lot of misconceptions until she was able to fully understand the people in front of her. And a lot of people in the video assumed things instead of trying to really understand the situation. Typical.
As a french, I know that we are not particurlarly good at speaking foreign languages (well, compared to other european countries at least....). It is changing but older generations might be not at ease speaking english. And it might be because a century ago, french was more or less on a par with english in international relations : english was the unofficial trade language, and french the unofficial diplomatic language. Many foreigners coming to France learned French or natively spoke french, no need to learn english, then. Not the case anymore, and some (rare) fellow citizens may (IMHO) still resent that and perhaps behave more arrogantly, specifically to english speaking people ("who do they think they are ! coming here like in conquered territory !").
I'm not among them, for three main reasons.
First, I talked to UK lady who was absolutely horrified at how international english (a.k.a. Globish) butchered english as it was spoken in it's home country. Glad it didn't happen to french (and we have the French Academy to defend it ! ;-))...
Second, English has a simpler grammar, and richer vocabulary (see why in the third reason). It was a more logical candidate to becoming the international language.
Third, because : Is English just badly pronounced French ? Check the video with this title and you'll get it ;-)
@@Firyenjdr How people who weren't even born a century ago could resent something they haven't even lived? Do you know anyone who is like "well I am not going to speak English because once upon a time centuries ago French was the main diplomatic language". Really? When French was the lingua franca among the elites of the Western world ONLY, a minority of French people spoke French. There have never been more French speakers would it be in France or anywhere than now. So why would they be resentful? I can't believe a French guy fuels that childish story.
🇺🇸 people likes to judge characters of people from other nations( like French being cowards French are arrogant French are rude) but end of it all they are the people most people from the different nations dislike the most😂🤣. Reality is 🇺🇸 people are the most arrogant( they think they are the beast land of freedom all bullshit) most ignorant( look at their social media politics etc) most modern day willing slaves etc etc. They are in no position to judge. May be mostly I think they envy French free spirit willingness to fight for their rights French people being way more cultured and refined than them🇫🇷🇫🇷👏💙🇪🇺
@@puccaland I hope you are right and that this mindset is now totally extinct to the point we will soon doubt it ever existed. I took some precautions ("IMHO", "some rare fellow") to point out that it is just a possible explanation of a few rare cases. I remember relatives of my grandparents, raised in the 1930's, before WW2 and the decolonization, nostalgic of the past glory of the French Empire, that were like that. And they raised children. I wouldn't bet their mindset suddenly disappeared with their passing. So yes, It's waning with each generation, and I hope even faster than "the french are rude" prejudice. But are you sure everyone has moved to something else ?
a good analogy for me is : in france there no back alley , what you see is what you get .
is not rude , they just don't fake it .
More importantly especially in Paris you get what you give. Many foreigners are rude without being aware of it thus don't understand why they recieve a cold/rude reaction.
Sorry to say that but French people love hiding their hypocrisy by fake honesty
@@MadaraUchiha-xb7dp You aren't making any sense, either something is honest or it isn't. There is no such thing as fake honesty.
@@puccaland Oh really?🤣🤣
There are two things at play here ;
1) This whole topic is created by merely talking about it. French people are not more or less rude than anyone else, but they're the ones that it somehow became trendy to insult online, so they're the ones that are always gonna be scrutinized for everything they do. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. A French person going to Japan will never tell to themselves "Alright what are all the ways I can accuse people around me of being rude today ?", but a lot of foreigners coming to France will do exactly that. And when you're looking for such opportunities, you'll find them, because you create unconscious bias. You've decided beforehand that you were gonna have a negative impact on your own encounters, so whenever anything happens, let's say you hear a sigh, some pebble comes rolling your way, someone does anything that you can't quite explain, you're gonna assume "oh yeah that's it that's the French rudeness I've been looking for right there" instead of actually trying to read the room.
2) Americans for some reason seem to be really self-conscious about their French proficiency (even though the French don't mind at all for the most part) and they conflate their own inferiority complex with rudeness from people around them. A lot of the time when you listen to these "French are rude" people, they won't describe you a situation where anyone did anything bad or impolite. They'll describe a situation when they felt bad about themselves. "I couldn't speak French because they switched to English". "They didn't understand me in French so I had to repeat". Yeah... but that's not rudeness though. That's you being self-deprecating. What are they supposed to do if they didn't understand the first time ? Just walk by and ignore you ? That's more polite than asking you to repeat ? People switch to english because they're polite to you and want to be accomodating, or maybe they switch to english because they enjoy opportunities to speak it as much as you'd enjoy an opportunity to have conversation in French. They're not your lackeys and they're not mind-readers, don't expect people to act exactly like you'd want. If you'd like to keep the conversation going in French, just ask them that politely instead of crying online and they'll be happy to oblige. Should they assume you're rude because you're speaking French when they wanted to speak English ? They shouldn't, and they won't. So don't do it either. It's impolite to insult people, and telling people they're rude when they didn't do anything wrong is the very definition of being rude. If you feel like your French isn't good enough to be understood in the streets or in shops, don't just insult people around you for unwillingly reminding it to you, just get better. It is extremely rude and egotistical to talk shit behind French people's backs merely because they couldn't understand you, there's nothing they could've done about it. They tried their best, they had no idea what you were trying to say. It's not their fault. It's not anyone's fault really, foreigners will always have miscommunication. But if you really need to blame someone for your shortcomings, blame yourself, not others. If anything is rude in France, it's the foreigners waltzing around thinking they're some type of hot-shot royalty looking for rude peasants to insult.
that's a god-tier comment. I almost want to save it and use it for the next time people are gatuitously bashing the french "rudeness" 😅👍
I find this analysis quite insightful. By the way for some American just acting naturally means being "rude"
As a french person, I really don't understand why it's rude if people switch to english when they understand that the other is not french. It's seems the polite thing to do, to make the conversation easier for everyone ?
And yes, always say bonjour or hello, it's really basic politness (I did actually think it was the case in other countries too) , so if you don't say it, there's a chance people will be rude, because you were the first being rude.
I think that the polite way would be to ask the person if she want to speak in english or in french.
Doing it without asking would be arrangant as you assume what's best for them without even asking. Also you are sending the message "your french is too poor, let's talk english".
I suppose it can send off the vibe of "I do'nt really wanna waste time with your approximative french, so let's switch to english so we can get rid of that conversation as soon as possible".
Thanks for the responses !
Same, if a foreigner struggles way too much speaking French, I'd rather speak English to them to help
@@ParlonsAstronomie Choosing to be offended instead of recognizing the gesture of switching to English with the intention of making the person more comfortable could be seen as arrogant actually. The person could also tell they'd rather stick to French, right? To each their own^^
as a french I can give you an advice. Always start with a bonjour,hello or what ever way to say hello politely. never Ask something to someone without first saying hello/bonjour. it's very rude . and when i say every one i mean EVERYONE and Uber driver, a cashier, asking a direction.....what ever. Always.
the only case i can think of where WE don't say hello => youtube commentary
Hi. Nice video. The one recuring theme of the video is about the service industry workers being rude to customers. I've been living in Paris for nearly thirty years, and worked in that industry. I can tell you that people do not have the same level of politeness. It varies greatly by nationality and educational background. I worked just outside of Paris in an amusement park. We'd be visited by families, students, young adults of every nationality. My point is that the only few that didn't make the effort of saying hello, even in their language or english, were almost always the most demanding and rude customers, whether they were foreign or french. It becomes second nature to developp an instinct about who you will have a bad interaction with. After 2 weeks on the job you stop caring about making the customer feel good if they are being rude. You have too many in a day to do your best for someone that is being an ass.
I was in Paris recently, first time for nearly 40 years. I found everybody so friendly, and so willing to speak English, bar staff, shop staff, waiters, all so nice. Very different from 40 tears ago…
@@Rawedreamer its now pretty common, at least in big cities, for the French younger generations to speak english pretty well, at least for small talks ans basic conversations (regardless the accent, still often challenging for us). I also guess that the French, especially in Paris, eventually decided to overcome their poor reputation after being repeatedly said they were rude.
Et vous en quarante ans, vous vous êtes mis à apprendre le français ?
@@YvBernard je crois que tu n’as pas bien lu ce qu’il a écrit.
Well for me it's easy. It's just that we don't have the same definition of being polite and rude as well.
When people speak about France, they speak actually about Paris only
Oui, c'est assez usant même si on y est habitué.
When I was vacationing in Paris, an American or Canadian couple came straight up to me and asked for directions. Didn’t say hello, didn’t ask me if I could speak English… I thought they were extremely rude and was very tempted to say I couldn’t understand them, but I wasn’t raised that way and gave them directions. They didn’t even say thank you.
Paris is the 6th most densely populated big city in the world. So, for example, in the video almost no one knows a city that dense, except maybe Indians (Mumbay is just a little more dense than Paris).
So, Paris is basically a very stressful city. Promiscuity, noises, overloaded transport, etc.
And, on top of that, it is very « over » crowded (workers coming from the outskirts, and tourists).
So, there are a lot of stressed people in Paris, and that can turn into unfriendly people.
Also, since it is dense, there is a greater probability of coming across someone rude. It's statistical... :)
This!
Also, because it is very crowded, some people tend to phase out when they're out and about, instead of paying attention to other people. That's when the "bonjour" or "excusez-moi" become very important, to get their attention before you ask something, because they might not have noticed you, or heard you, or tuned their hearing to your accent/language, if you start asking questions before catching their eye.
Frenchs arent rude, they are open and frank, less hypocrite
Some countries just use to sugarcoat everything
just basic exemples as i am in touristic town: tourists/foreigners "in english": hey! where's the lake? (or where s the old town, castle or else) hmm okkayyy, no hello orsorry or can i ask u a question or sorry to bother u ....... and also assumed i could understand english as well (why not german or italian instead...) .......well, i had to say i had to tone down my french attitude a LOT to answer......i pointed the direction without a word and kept looking at them...... no thx u or whatever.... no basic etiquette rule.....make the french attitude rise to the sky...
From a french perspective, the last person to give her opinion was quite on point.
+1
Kim nailed it! French people are very afraid of being embarrassed and if you slow them down they will start geting frustrated with you. but many would love to speak english fluently, if they know they can't they won't really try and they are so afraid of making mistakes...that's due to the french education. But things are changing....a lot of french have travelled abroad, and are a bit more open.
the very last person nailed it to capture where the "rudeness" stereotype comes from.
I have lived in rural France and am fluent despite having what is often described as an English accent, my first reaction to any comment or someone who speaks English in reply 'suis pas anglais, on es en France' . The French tend to be more direct as opposed to rude, cultural perception of rudeness is very varied. That varies greatly depending on the region also and how they perceive foreign people.
Les gens qui disent que les français travaille pas sont assez debiles et ne sont pas allé dans une entreprise.
Salut, malheureusement un pli a été pris d'avoir trop de "clients" étrangers dans les centres de R&D français et je te prie de croire qu'il savent cravacher pour obtenir des études bien customisées à leur goût et empocher les bénéfices..
A little Story :
A girl who study in "Le Marais" go to the school and meet 10 strangers by days. Each strangers ask her for the road, the monument, etc.
After few weeks, she runs and don t answer at anybody. She is not a guide.
This Story is true.
There are 47 millions of tourists in Paris by year for 2 millions of inhabitants. They are no manifestation like in Barcelona (13 millions of tourists).
Some people said : That s Parisian and not French. I was living in Province during half my life. If you send 1 million of tourists my small city, the people will becoming crazy and agressive.
English but I have lived in France 30+ years in the Paris region. Of course I speak French, not perfectly particularily in the beginning. The French are polite. More so than in Britain or America and certainly more so than Germany where I have also lived. In my village everyone I pass in the road will say Bonjour Monsieur whether they know me or not and I reply with Bonjour Monsieur/Madame. Even at a supermarket checkout you start with a Bonjour and pause for reply. You do not just blurt out "Do you speak English" a till girl at a checkout has had a minimal education. Does a checkout girl in Ohio even speak English? Actually probably no, she speaks American and not Harvard American. Paris can be a special case. Some times of the year 50% of the people there are Foreign tourists, not French. Paris is stressful, as said by one of the ladies on transport people are trying to get to work or get home crushed like sardines without tourists blocking the escalators because they don't stand on the right or shouting at each other in American or Russian on the train.
Most people who call the French rude are, in my opinion, just plain ignorant.
I have seen people, hundreds of times, speak English without any attempt to speak French or behave with typical French politeness.
If I were French I would just turn my back on them and walk away.
I have a meme which I cannot show here unfortunately. It says 'I'm not rude, you're just an a**hole'
Also, I think it's only fair to add that we parisian live with tourist every day of the year. There are tourists everywhere, especially when you live in the center. And sometimes, well you know, that can get on some people's nerves, and that's only fair. Because a french person will take about 10 seconds to make a choice that they already know about, whereas tourists can block streets, can block queue at the store and so on because they are indecisive. So i think that must be taken into consideration.
Great video, as a French I fully agree with the testimonies
Thank you 😊
As a french I would sums it up as :
-Paris is a very stressfull place, so people are more likely to be rude there. And as the most foreigner-french interactions happens in Paris, so here comes the bad reputation. However, as a french I was surprised that parisian weren't as rude as I espected when I visited Paris for the first time.
-French people will be rude to you if you don't follow french politeness, which is quite unfair for foreigners that don't know the rules. I didn't get the "always say the bonjour first" rule as a kid and it took me several rude interaction as an adult to get it.
-French work to live instead of living to work, they're not going to bow to customers, which can be seen as unpolite.
-French expect foreigners to do the effort to fit in (learning the langage and customs), if you don't immediatly show that you are doing it they will assume that you are doing no effort and be upset. Fortunatly there is a lots of french that understand the difficulty of living in a foreign country and will be nice to foreigners.
-In customer services, french feels insecure when they are in the situation where they ignore the solution. usually they will say that it is impossible just to not say I don't know.
-French are very proud of their culture, langage and food so they can be pedentic.
I am Canadian living in France for 34 years and lived in Paris for 25 years. Do not forget, Paris is a very large metropole and like any big city there is alot of stress. I have encountered rude people as well as very nice people. There are arrogant people everywhere. I am trilingual italian, english and french and communicate easily. You cannot judge an entire country based on a few imbeciles. I have had more problems when l visited the United States than in the 34 years l have been in France.
As Parisian i dare say that the stress in a crowded little town (Paris is a small town of 10 km) could make some People unfair, espacially in rush hours or public transports. It occurs that the old parisian politness teached my grand-grand-father have desappeard à lot though we still are able to if we feel the reprocity. It is a feeling. And we are not rude, we are direct with à very formal politness coming from the 18th century; and we like this sense of respect to each others. So do as 18th british and you will be OK with us.
Kisses from Paris, district of high-Belleville-Jourdain
(Yesss we make "la bise")
Salut. Faites attention au french bashing. Vous êtes un témoin averti et pourrez observer que les parisiens sont victimes de sarcasmes un tout petit peu exagérés. Voyez mon commentaire juste ci-dessus.
a few tips if you travel to france:
-always start an interaction with "bonjour" doing otherwise is disrespectful and will not get you any smiles (the other politeness words are a nice +) even if your accent is horrible, starting with bonjour then switching to english imediately works fine.
-forget "the customer is king" waiting staff/customer service are not your dog/slave, i worked retail my manager told me to waste time or tell off rude customers
-french have a very direct style of communication and will not sugarcoat much
Every argument in this video has the flavour of truth but the fundamentals are : Paris isn't France and services aren't people so if you go in a country only to spend money to get goods and services, it doesn't mean you meet people you only consume and you must understand that culturaly speaking, what you call "professionalisme" french almost see it as "slavery" we don't like fake smiles and king customers.
So first if you want to give an advice about frenchies come and meet frenchies.
Paris is not that different from the rest of France. It is more stressful. And in Paris mots inhabitants are from the rest of France.
@@languerouge5385 Oh yes it is
France is not Paris. Paris is not France.
I'm tired of the "Paris is not France".
In this case the rest of France can seem rude because a lot of the supposed rudeness of France comes from cultural differences.
And foe foreigners visiting France, just try not assuming that everyone will speak to you in english, especially in shops and restaurant.
Try a "bonjour" and even a "do you speak english" (and don't listen to the answer because a lot of people will say no but can speak a little bit) and it will transform your experience
THE french stereotype being busted is not what I was expecting
I don't think it is.
Je crois surtout que les français sont moins hypocrites que le reste du monde ca évite les malentendus ! EN particulier avec les gens irrespectueux ! Ca nous empêche pas d'etre aimables avec les gens ,faut juste qu'ils nous respectent et soient polis c'est traditionnel chez nous
I noticed that it is more the Americans (USA) that complain about our supposed rudeness (not in this video particularly, on a lot of TH-cam videos and comment sections). It's seems that Americans are probably those that really doesn't give a shit to learn the minimum of culture of the country they are visiting before coming in (I read few times that they are surprised that Spaniard in Spain speaks Spanish!!!).
The first time I went to India I've learned the bases of culture and politeness like any other Frenchs and Europeans I met there because we are aware that our culture is not the culture of the entier world, when Americans forget that not everybody speaks English and knows THEIR rules of politeness.
For instance, saying "thank you" in India to somebody that helping you it's not a rule because for them it is a natural thing to helping each other, and if you are helping now you could be the person in need the next time. So, as a French, it could create a trouble if I don't know this rule before because for me it's very very rude.
Please Americans when you are coming in France, use those simple rules : "Bonjour" before any interaction, "S'il vous plait" before any demand, "merci" after any service, "au revoir" when you leave. Four words and your social interactions in France will be nice. And don't wait bow from the waiters (more in Paris touristic areas where they are the worst), they don't wait for your tips because they've got a salary, so if they think you are rude (because you don't say them the mandatory "Bonjour" and "S'il vous plait"), the service will be like a revenge, terrible! They are more sensitive on those points than anybody else!
(BTW, I like a lot the Americans, but most of you need to learn that the world doesn't spin around you.) Love from a rude French.
Interestingly, all Americans I interviewed are fluent in French
@@TheMovementHub My message was not clear, sorry, it wasn't for the Americans who are living in France but for the tourists. I'm agree that those who live there are France lovers and so they learn the language and the costumes.
well i'm french but i don't think " rude" is the best word paris is like ANY very big city they are too much "busy" to be kind not because they want to be rude but because they just have to do what they have to do so they will " close" the conversation! there is too that not much " olders" french peoples speak anyting other than french so when someone is trying to speak with them in another language deep inside they are " ashamed" to not speak it ( mostly english) and don't want peoples to see they are poor ( or very poor) english speaker! there is too when they " feel" the other " stranger" is " rude" so they want this " rude person" to " just leave them so they can be rude FOR making that person leave!
So if you visite french it's better to either make french friend online before comming or "dodge" paris and mostly speak with younger peoples ( not kid but "youngs" adults their english have more chance to be better!
After not all " olders" peoples are bad in english i'm in my 40s and speak english pretty well ( with the french accent) but most of the time we will simply answer and leave one exemple in my town there is one of the oldest synaguoge of france ( jew church) i met some day ago 2 americans ( from new york) and when i asked them if they was searching something they said " the synaguogue" but that sounded so much like " senegual" so i didn't knew then they said " the jews church" so i understood and bring them to that place! but when they said " synaguogue" that sounded like " senegual" i asked them if it was a shop ( because i didn't knew)! so to be more clear " youngs adults" have more chances to speak english, paris is too speed so they rarely have the time! that's the 2 points!
Lol a synagogue being misinterpreted for a "shop", you could hardly find something worse to say in this specific case
I hope they didn't leave France with the impression that you were rude (the classic "he's faking not understanding our perfect French !") AND antisemitic 🤣
But yes, many foreigners apparently don't get how "bad" their accents in French can be. Maybe it's a French specific thing but it's very hard to understand sometimes even when it's only "slightly" off. And it becomes worse when they try, in French, to use other words to explain. Like if they said in French "Eglise Juive" but also with a difficult accent. Makes me even more confused. And then you can really read online that French people actually do understand them, but *decide* to fake not understanding just to be rude because they hate everyone ! Like, who does that ???
French or Parisian two different approaches for foreigners who come to live here. Real Parisians practically do not exist today. I am a Parisian born in 1956 in the suburbs but grew up in the city district of Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est. At that time, working-class Paris still existed. Starting in the 90s, things have changed. Gentrification has been happening quietly, boboatisation (bourgeois-bohemians) and sales prices have increased. Since Brexit, the business district of La Défense has developed. The difference between the regions and Paris has always been two different worlds. Otherwise, if you come here you have to be patient to be accepted but, after this city is pleasant, transport is not too bad. Paris and suburbs 7 103 801 résidents. Welcome among us.
The guy who comes from the Reunion 4:08 is not a foreigner, he’s French, just not from Paris 🤷♀️
People in Paris switch to English, if a tourist wants to speak French with them? Wow, now I realize that I haven’t been to Paris for a very long time…
Simply say "Je préfèrerais parler en français". The use of the conditional tense here means that it might not happen.
We invented the word rude.
yes but the english changed the meaning and now there is no french translation for rude. Rude seems to be a mix of impolite, unhelpful and unfriendly. the french don't have a word for that
@@cmolodiets the expression "parler avec rudesse" or "parler rudement" somehow conveys this meaning though.
If you think we're rude, spend one week in Spain. You'll love French people after that.
Why does the American woman at the end only talk about "a-holes" --- as if only the men could be rude?
Gotta be honest, in my opinion it depends on your sex. I have heard negative storys mostly from men living in france.
France, especially Paris, is no longer french; you have to go to the remote cities like nevers, clermont ferrand... to find authentic french people.
Remember that Paris is NOT France. And Parisians are NOT "the French". Oh no ! The fact is that French people simply don't like the parisians !
Quel élan ! Vous êtes sûr de devoir généraliser à tous les parisiens à partir d'un nombre réduit d'expériences ? Perso c'est surtout sur Internet que j'entends des français dire des vilaines choses sur "les parisiens". Il y a un effet d'entraînement qu'il faut bien voir, c'est l'effet de boule de neige du french bashing. Si je m'en tiens réellement à mes connaissances qui m'ont exprimé un avis authentique sur nos compatriotes de Paris, la tendance n'est nullement en leur défaveur. Beaucoup de français tombent ici dans le piège de l'incitation au rabaissement des parisiens, par simple suggestion. Ensuite nos détracteurs masqués sont bien armés pour dire que les français ne s'aiment même pas entre eux ! Personnellement je suis allé d'innombrables fois à Paris et n'ai strictement rien à redire sur le compte des parisiens. Certains témoignages sont sérieux et en notre défaveur et alors ... est-ce pire qu'ailleurs ? Non, c'est mieux. Nous avons beaucoup de chance d'être français.
Maybe we made a 100 years war to NOT speak english...
They certainly dont owe you anything
That guy is not 24. 😂
maybe he is but if i had to guess i'd say more mid 30's early 40
These silly generalizations should never be taken seriously.
I was just walking around in Paris and got the middle finger for doing absolutely nothing haha.
Happened to me in London as a French person 😭
You got the middle finger ? You are lying ! I have never seen that in Paris in 20 years except between young children to play
@@lepokebloc4198 me too . Worst I was spitted at because I spoke french with my girlfriend in the street.
@@lepokebloc4198fair haha, people in London aren’t great either 😅
I’ve been insulted once while walking out of work for absolutely nothing. It was just rude idiots either venting anger or having fun doing it on the first person they met. There’s assholes everywhere.
De qui parlez-vous ? Des Français en général ou des Parisiens en particulier ?
I would change the title of this...Are Parisiens rude? It's a completely different world when you get about 50 miles away from Paris. Yes, French not living in Paris find Parisiens sometimes to be rude and arrogant .
The actual title of this video should be "Do the Parisians deserve...". France is much more than just Paris out of 67 million inhabitants, 55 milions don't live in Paris or the Parisian Region. Paris is like all large cities worldwide, the overly urban life brings stress, long and tiresome commuting, crowded places and transportation, higher crime rates. In addition Paris is packed with millions of, sometimes annoying, tourists. That naturally reflects on the people's attitude.
This being said, everywhere in France being polite takes you a long way. Don't forget that any social interaction, whether it's ordering a coffee, asking for directions, entering a shop or the doctor's waiting room... should start with "bonjour". "Au revoir, s'il-vous-plait, merci" also are basics of proper behavior.
And in France, like anywhere else in the world, there are nice people and rude people. That's simply human nature.
Most french people find parisians rude 😂
8:15 dont ever let this man go to Japan
he might just take his life
American perspective is the more relevant
France IS NOT Paris
03:48 : UNTRUE !! Vendors and customer service in general are disgusting in France, regardless of your skin colour! As soon as you speak French, the sales assistant plays the false sympathy card to negotiate or gain ground if he has something to gain, but basically he despises you. Or maybe he is just fed up with foreigners, hates his job ans doesn't want to put any effort in it or doesn't feel comfortable speaking the language or adapting to others ! Stop playing the victim by telling everyone is racist, I'm so done with this false argument. GROW UP !! Be a psychologist and put yourself in the other person's shoes, people are just people : this has to do with culture, period. The same person in another country with a different culture would act the opposite. Oups, sorry I'm being rude and racist because I speak my french mind !
Même si vous avancez des arguments pertinents, notamment sur l'inconfort potentiel à traiter avec des étrangers, vous dérapez quelque peu et devenez même agressif dans la seconde partie de votre discours, ce qui est regrettable. Ne nous voilons pas la face, le racisme en France existe toujours. Il est peut-être amplifié par les réseaux sociaux et les médias, mais il demeure bien réel. Vous rejetez totalement l'expérience de cet homme en raison de votre aversion pour cet argument ou, du moins, pour ce ressenti.
@@roshi8955 "déraper" est un jugement de valeur qui n'engage que vous - et les gens qui pensent "bien", ce qui est dommageable. Vous ne voyez aucun problème à rejeter en bloc et sans nuances mon expérience qui façonne (forcément) mon avis. Je n'ai pas de compte à vous rendre, je ne suis pas davantage thérapeute, et vous êtes mal avisé de me faire la morale : qui vous dit que je ne suis pas moi-même issu de l'immigration ?! Même conseil que pour cette chère victime de racisme imaginaire : mettez-vus à la place de l'autre avant de (mal) le juger.
Ah, I see! So, everyone’s either just misunderstood or having a bad day-every day? Guess I’ll start carrying a psychology degree along with my groceries to help with all those cultural quirks. Thanks for the insight, though; I’ll remember it next time I meet the 50% who haven’t yet ‘grown up’ in the kindness department! Oops, my Indian just came out, Namaste..!!
@@behadhrandomchannel Carrying a psychology degree alongside : a great initiative coming from an Indian man ! An Indian woman would have done it naturally, as you can see it in the video, but not a man... So, coming from an Indian man, I think it's great that you're not the rule but the exception and that you're claiming it out loud ! And the humility that comes with it, honestly I think you're quite right to claim what you think because for a man that's very unusual, congrats ;-)
@@meldoborel Thank you for such high praise-I'm truly flattered! It’s good to know that breaking stereotypes can be appreciated, even if it’s unexpected. I guess that’s the beauty of individuality; we all have something unique to bring to the table. Here’s hoping kindness and open-mindedness catch on universally-one small step at a time!
the people that think the french are not rude are those who got used to it
And those who think the french are rude are those arrogant tourists who never tried to understand the country they visit.
or the people who know the rule "always say Bonjour first before anything else". That's one major rule of politeness in France. If you forgot to say hello then you are rude first and most people will be rude in return.
@@astree214 Beautiful backhand. If I were playing Battleship I would say: "Touched and sunk".🤣
@@astree214 I think there really is a prejudice against France. Like, if an American visited Japan, they would know it's a foreign culture with very different standards for politeness, social rules, etc., and they would assume they did something wrong if they received bad treatment, or it's just different ways of doing things if they don't get the smile they expected or something.
But in France, maybe we are too "similar looking", white western europeans or something, but many people seem to assume we must be made from the same mold, so when we act different, it can only be because we are rude, right ?