Living in France : Communicating with the French

So you haven’t quite mastered the French language yet? Don’t be afraid to take the plunge and join in the verbal jousting. Despite what one reads in many books, it simply isn’t true that the French will frown if you “massacre” their language.

On the contrary, they will greatly appreciate your efforts to communicate in their mother tongue and you’ll quickly find that using the little French you have will go a long way to building rapport.

Some insights into the French communication style:

(1) The French are verbally expressive. They relish debate and often engage in lively—even heated—discussions over dinner or in business meetings. People from less confrontational cultures should not mistake this love of debate for hostility.

(2) French people don’t spell things out. Instead, they expect the listener to fill in the gaps drawing on shared contextual information. Messages are often implicit rather than explicit.

(3) Simultaneous communication is favoured in France; most of the time it is “okay” to interrupt someone who is speaking to you.

(4) Good verbal skills are prized by the French who will strive to present their point of view with icy Cartesian logic, elegant phrasing and verbal flourishes. This is one reason Gallic business people prefer to negotiate in their native tongue: their verbal pyrotechnics are lost when expressed in another language.

(5) The French strive to be precise in their communications, constantly looking for “le mot juste” (the right word).

(6) Both verbal and written communications are peppered with polite turns of phrases and are fairly formal, except between family and friends.

(7) As a rule, French people are not afraid to criticize a point of view or to say ‘no’. In the workplace, however, especially in larger companies and organizations, employees will be hesitant to confront their boss if they think he or she is in the wrong.

(8) France is what is known as a high-context culture (I’ll post more on this later). Put simply, this means that building long-term relationships is important. Face-to-face meetings are therefore preferred to telephone conversations or written exchanges.

Intercultural Business Coaching with IB hub

Living in Paris : MESSAGE Mothers Bring and Buy sale

Bargains Galore at MESSAGE's Spring Bring & Buy Sale

Find new and gently-used baby and children's clothes, toys, books, games, equipment, maternity wear and more -- at bargain prices. Many items were purchased abroad (e.g., UK and US) and may be difficult to find in France.

Saturday, May 12, 2007
10 AM - 2 PM

Courtyard Marriott Hotel,
58, Blvd. Victor Hugo
Neuilly-sur-Seine

Metro: Les Sablons/Anatole France

Entrance fee: 2 Euros per family for members;
4 Euros per family for non-members
First 3 hours of hotel parking are free!

Organized by MESSAGE Mother Support Group
www.messageparis.org

Living in France : 'On' or 'nous'

On va au cinéma ?In spoken French, we often use “On” instead of “Nous”. For instance, we are going to say “On va au cinéma” instead of “Nous allons au cinéma”. It makes things more colloquial.

The young will mainly use “On” when the older generation will use “Vous”. In a professional context, you can use either “Nous” or “On” depending on whom you are talking to: “On” with your colleagues, if you wish to show closeness and “Nous” if you wish to sound more formal and polite.

From Isabelle : Intransit's French Language Tutor
www.french-in-paris.com
06 65 24 64 74

Living in Paris: City of Love?

All over the world, Paris has the reputation to be "the city of love", yet over 50% (50-68% depending on the surveys!) of the people living in Paris are single, this is true particularly for people between 20-35 years but it touches all categories.

It is true that Paris is never as beautiful as when you're in love but being single here is really difficult. How come?

People here can tend to be somewhat suspicious of anyone who approaches them openly. It is true that it in a city such as Paris this happens regularly and just asking someone for the time is no longer always well received.

Understandably ladies in a city may be wary when they don’t react to a harmless approach in the street and that, of course, doesn’t help in the most humble of approaches.

Today's busy lifestyles for those who want everything in a partner (must be good looking, financially sound, intelligent, a good dresser, funny, serious…are there even people like that? ;) do not make the simplest contacts easier outside of the workplace.

Many Parisians therefore turn towards “organised dating”, and after-office events and speed-dating are becoming more and more common and readily accepted among the singles. Every evening and weekend, events such as receptions, tours and visits for singles are organised in Paris and the number of members on the dating web sites increases daily.

This situation is well reflected by the fact that over 800 000 Parisians are subscribed on Europe’s biggest dating site…and that’s just one of many.
http://www.chicandkiss.com
http://www.soireesdannie.com
http://www.netinthecity.com
http://www.parisdating.fr
http://www.cpournous.com
http://www.meetic.fr

You are not alone in being alone

Living in Paris: Elegant Women

Here is a small communtiy site for international women in Paris. Some interesting news, articles and links.

www.pariswoman.com

Living in Paris: Paris - A great place to live ...if you're wealthy!!

A recent report from Price Water House puts Paris as City No 1 for quality of life, but ranks it lowest for cost of living and economic initiative.

Read the full article here PWC Article (in French)