Now here is a commonplace. I believe I have heard this a million times.
The French are terrible, they won't ever speak to you in English or any other language and if you address them in English, they'll be very unpolite and unfriendly.
I have been thinking about this a lot, and I thought I'd share with you the fruit of my thinking. Trying to un-common the commonplace.
Any French person who's studied as far as the baccalaureate has had at least 7[1] years of classes in a foreign language and possibly 2 to 5 years in another. Now make that studied until they were 15 (not as far as high school), that's still 3 years in a language. The statistics are amazing. In 2006 [2], 99% of French students in the secondary education are learning a language,
The French educational system introduces the first foreign language (première langue vivante) at the beginning of the secondary cycle (classe de sixième - around 11/12 years old). The first language learned is English 92%, followed by German, 7.5%. A second language is then introduced two years later (classe de quatrième - 13/14 years old). Spanish mostly (70%), then German (14%).
So how come the French won't ever speak to you in another language?
Well here is my theory.
French is a language which, if you don't speak it properly, is difficult to understand. Structure being so important and all. So French speakers are afraid, when they don't master a foreign language, that they won't be understood. That's the first reason, I think.
Then comes the "proud" factor. The French educational system, while not being the worst, is definitely not the best when it comes to languages. French students are usually really good at grammar, but can't say a word, because they are rarely taught in a conversational way. And the French are convinced that they are really bad at languages (a stereotype that sticks). So when you go to a French person in the street and ask, in English:
Hi, do you speak English?
You're bound to get the answer:
Non.
And that's it. So try this. Next time you're wandering French streets and are lost, find someone and tell them, in the worst French you can master:
Bonjour, je suis désolé(e) je ne parle pas français, est-ce que vous parlez anglais ? (Hi, I'm sorry, I don't speak French, do you speak English?)
I bet you that the French will then answer, in a broken, accent-ridden, but totally bearable English
Yes, a little bit.
The thing is, if you put yourself at the level of knowledge the French think they're at when it comes to speaking a foreign language (ie. me no speak), you're showing them that you are as bad as they (think they) are in a foreign language. Doing this, you break the barrier and show them that you are willing to admit that you're the one who does not speak their language in the first place and that if they speak to you in English, however wrong their grammar or accent is, they won't be utterly ridiculous.
It's all about putting yourself on the same level, to avoid any kind of hierarchy that would hinder the communication channel.
Notes
[1] [edit 22 May 2009], it's 7, not 8, as was written here previously
[2] See the file: Etude des langues vivantes dans le second degré
17 reactions
1 From guillaume - 04/10/2008, 16:08
I don't know if it's specific to French people, but I've noticed that speaking in another language is really a matter of self-confidence. Most people just dare not speak because they think they're not good enough, even if they would be able to speak quite well in the language.
2 From digitalfemme - 04/10/2008, 16:35
I completely agree with you. It was like that with the Spanish Speaking people in South Texas. I was a new nurse from Canada and having taken on a nursing contract in a predominantly Spanish Speaking area - it was exactly as you described. Especially as a nurse I found that communication always started off in the right foot if you placed yourself on the same level as your patient, (physical level and use of vocab). Very good article D!
3 From wittylama - 04/10/2008, 16:56
I've always found that "je suis australien" or (plutôt) "be me suis pas un rosbif" works well too! :-)
But it is interesting that the discussion is always about why the French are reluctant to speak a language they know - and not why the Anglos (like me) are reluctant to learn languages in the first place. You're right - even attempting to speak something in the local tongue us always the best start.
I've found, contrary to what you say, that feench are quite acommodating of others speaking it badly - it's the Germans who are picky when one tries and fails :-p
More generally, the biggest impact in the high quality of foreign language skills in Scandinavia comes IMO from the fact that their tv is subtitled, not dubbed.
4 From serenity - 04/10/2008, 16:57
Bravo Delphine! but how did you say that in French? :-D
5 From Alexandre - 04/10/2008, 20:44
Quite insightful!
Not sure much could be linked to the structure of the French language but French language ideology does put emphasis on normative/prescriptive language, making it harder for French-speakers to switch to the usage-based language ideology of English-speakers. Getting English-speakers to understand this distinction is, IMHO, an excellent way to improve communication between the two groups.
6 From Tom Rakewell - 05/10/2008, 09:30
This is sound advice for every country, really. Italians and Spaniards hate it too when you ask for something directly in English. I once read a funny warning in a Madrid restaurant: "We don't speak English, but we promise we won't laugh at your Spanish".
A week ago a couple of American tourists approached me at a bus station in Paris. Without saying "hello" or "excuse me", they told me: "do you speak any English at all?" Well that's probably the worst introduction ever!
7 From Ex Parrot - 25/11/2008, 00:07
Interesting thoughts.
However, as a professional translator and interpreter (among other things,) I have noticed that even the absolutely best translators - or just people who are fluent in different languages (from different linguistic groups) - have to perform a visibly straining "shift" of mind when switching to French.
Also, I have noticed that literary translations FROM French tend to be less smooth - more awkward - than translations from most other European languages into another European language; or if they are smooth, their authors will usually readily admit that the translation from French required more effort than translating from other European language.
The reason is the syntax - which, naturally, betrays the structure of thought. And, amazingly enough, that structure IS considerably different to the structure of most other European languages I am familiar with. To put it very simply: the "logic" underlying the French language seems to be considerably different from the "logic" of other European languages. (Think about it: who on earth would define 90 as "four times twenty and ten"? ;:)
I wish I had the time and the space to consider the possible anthropological and/or historical reasons for that - but I don't. ;:)
Somebody else, perhaps? ::)
8 From Scrongneugneu - 28/11/2008, 03:07
Ça me rappelle l'époque où je perdais (?) mon temps comme réceptionniste de nuit (le vrai titre était veilleur de nuit, mais bon, quand on prend des réservations téléphoniques provenant des States à une heure du mat', on fait de la réception...) dans un hôtel de luxe à proximité immédiate d'Avignon.
La clientèle était à 40 % américaine, en moyenne, et j'avais trouvé un excellent truc lorsque le client ou l'interlocuteur, qu'il soit devant moi ou au bout du fil, me demandait : « Do you speak English? ». Je répondais invariablement : « Yes, a few words, but you'll have to speak very slowly, because it's not my mother tongue. » On le croira si on veut, mais cela marchait « parfaitement », et je parvenais souvent à des échanges fructueux (même lorsque je tombais sur un client qui avait une envie subite de sandwiches à trois heures du matin, ce en quoi je m'efforçais de lui donner satisfaction, dans la mesure de mes moyens).
9 From eman - 17/02/2009, 13:15
This is a very interesting thread.
I have studied French in Geneva and found that this language is VERY dependent on vowels. Vowels are weak letters. Even those born with vocal difficulties, they can produce the O, i, A much easier than the R, G, V, etc. Vowel letters are primitive.
This makes their pronunciation of foreign language sound funny and embarrassing.
10 From minu546 - 16/03/2009, 10:53
And English speakers can't do a pure 'o' without some 'w' sound attached with it.
11 From Fiere d'être français - 22/04/2009, 17:04
Les français apprennent d'autres langues. Moi je dirais que vous les américains vous ne parlez que l'anglais! Vous pensez toujours être au centre du monde!
Nous on est fier d'être français et on n'est pas plus impoli Les français n'ont pas non plus une bonne image des américains, et y'a de quoi : vous n'avez pas de culture et vous vous croyez les + forts!
Bye les gros
12 From notafish - 23/04/2009, 17:11
@Fiere d'être français - Ah ben voyons. Vous avez peut-être raté au fil de votre lecture le fait que je (auteur de ce blog) suis française ? Je suis fière de l'être, sauf quand des français comme vous viennent insulter les américains (ou qui que ce soit d'autre, d'ailleurs) sur mon blog. Vos clichés à l'emporte-pièce (pas de culture, centre du monde) dénotent un manque certain de discernement, voire une impolitesse qui invalide vos propos par défaut. A bon entendeur...
13 From Multilingual - 24/04/2009, 14:35
Coming from a country, today independent but that was once a British, then a French colony, I learnt both languages from age 5 at school, where all subjects are taught in English( except for French). Now a thirty-plus adult, I speak both English and French t the level of a native, with meticulous attention to form both when speaking and writing( something native French are incapable of nowadays). My native language is neither French nor English, but Creole( a sort of unstructured French). I also read, write and speak Hindi( also learnt from the age of 5).
The reason why most British, American, or French people struggle to speak a foreign language is simple. Language-learning should be done during the early years of life, not during adolescence, when it's too late. There exists a window of language development skills that become more and more difficult to crack in later years. Very few people (I'm talking exceptional capacities here) can successfully learn a new language if foreign languages are not introduced very early. After 5 or 6 years of age, it just becomes more and more difficult to grasp new language structures, forms, etc.
This is less an issue of lingustic chauvinism or laziness.
There, that's my take( based on my personal experience) on this debate.
On the question of how the French view Americans, one major influence is dubbed American movies. Everything is lost in translation, all dialogues are dumbed down for the French people.
14 From AndreasP - 23/09/2009, 22:17
I do not believe that the commonplace statement above is still true. True, the French used to deny to speak any language other than French, but last year I experienced quite the opposite, at least in Paris. I don't speak French too good, but I manage to ask and order pretty everything I want in French (hint: always order two of a kind, so you don't have to think about articles... un/une croissant? make it: deux croissants, and everyone is happy... :-) Now, in Paris, at touristy places and sometimes even in not quite so touristy places people will not wait for anyone not obviously French to try their French at all. In hotels, restaurants, but also in museums, department stores, bookshops, theatres, I have often been addressed in English from the very beginning. Example: enter the hotel, say "Bonjour", and they ask you something in English. That's kind of insulting (my French is not _that_ bad). From my observation, maybe the many 2nd/3rd generation immigrants are to "blame", who seem more at eas with speaking foreign languages and even want to show off the English they've learned, and who don't seem to have the old French attitude "if you mispronounce one sillable, I will not understand your whole sentence in what you believe is French, you foreign idiot", having all kinds of accents themselves. By the way, another observation of mine was that the good old Parisian rudeness on the streets and in shops etc. has pretty much gone away... Ils sont fous ces lutéciens!
Another regional aspect is also interesting: If you try to speak German in Strasbourg or Metz (outside a shop), people will look at you as if you just came from another planet. I'd never even dare to try this, but have seen it a lot there (of course this has not only to do with the language and centuries of difficult national relations, but also with the blandness and stupidness that tourist groups are known for internationally). If you say one or two obviously German-accented French words, they'll answer in fluent and friendly German... (also a generalization, but still astonishingly true at least for the older generation).
15 From flex - 01/03/2013, 06:11
Maybe the issue is not that much about whether they are rude or not.
But just imagine a frenchman walking around in the US being talking around to any person in sight in French and expecting people to understand what he is saying.
How would you feel about that? Rude isn't it?
Plus France is far from being a north american colony,so colonialist attitude would be far from being accepted in an independant country (as well as in a non-free country but it's harder to resiste).
North american people(British people are usually more aware of the world they live in) tend to believe that their language is the only international in the world,but technically Spanish,Russian,Arabic,French,and Portugese also have that status and so speakers of these languages can confortably live an international life without having to care too much about other languages (as sad as it is for other minor or "only" national languages in the world).
Eventually don't be a twat and try to get to know where you are going before expecting your language is spoken by the indigenous people and if not,be respectfull and learn enough of the national language just not to put shame on your country and maybe smoothen relations beteen the nations of the world.
16 From Just me - 25/03/2013, 16:24
I have had the opposite experience. When you address a French native speaker in French, they just don't like it. They pretend they can't understand what you are saying and when they speak they seem to do a real effort to speak fast and badly so you won't understand them.
17 From notafish - 03/04/2013, 09:55
@Just me You have a point. My take on this though, is that French people are afraid they won't understand "bad French". This said, there are rude people everywhere...