What does my husband think of Oui In France? French drivers? My fave words? Answering your QUESTIONS
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- Опубликовано: 8 июн 2024
- Salut, tout le monde. Here's Part 2 of my Q&A!
WATCH PART 1 HERE: • How'd I meet my French...
Thank you so much for submitting questions! I chose to answer the the ones that I felt confident answering as well as those that would appeal and be helpful to the greatest number of viewers. Stay tuned for Part 2!
Blog posts:
Why the French switch to English and how to get them to stop: www.ouiinfrance.com/why-frenc...
How to get natives to correct your mistakes: www.ouiinfrance.com/how-to-ge...
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0:31 Do you find French drivers different from US drivers?
1:50 How well do the French observe line etiquette?
3:54 Is it true that French people/Parisians eat dinner later at night than Americans usual do at 6 or 7pm?
5:35 What does your husband think about you blogging about France/his culture?
8:54 What must-haves did you bring from the US?
10:09 What goodies/shopping do you bring back to France after visiting home? What American foods/ snacks do you miss the most? Why?
11:30 Any tips on packing/moving clothes from US given the small closets in France?
13:02 I'm a teacher. What differences do you notice w/schools and students?
16:28 What level of French were you before moving to France? Did you learn French language on your own? Any tips?
18:40 Do French people correct you when you say a word or phrase incorrectly or just let it go because they can tell you're an American?
21:45 Are there any French accents you have difficulty understanding?
23:43 Favorite French word?
Do you like what I do? Support this channel by treating me to a virtual coffee. Merci!: ko-fi.com/ouiinfrance
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Salut! I'm Diane, the American behind the living abroad lifestyle blog Oui In France. My channel's focus is "Everyday French life and beyond," so let me know what you want to see! I make videos on French culture topics, food, travel, language, and give you my thoughts about what it's like as a foreigner in the Loire Valley. Thanks for being here and if you enjoy this sort of thing, please share with friends and subscribe!
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Photo credits:
Packing cubes: Shutterstock.com/sasimoto
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Shutterstock.com/mikeledray
Meal on table: Shutterstock.com/Nikita Khrebtov
Pharmacy: Shutterstock.com/MikeDotta
Supermarket checkout: Shutterstock.com/frantic00
Paris parking: Shutterstock.com/bellena
Strasbourg parking: Shutterstock.com/Hadrian
Athleta: Shutterstock.com/Andriy Blokhin
Salut, thanks so much for your questions! Check out Part 1 here where I talk about how I met my husband and why I ended up in France, favorite parts of life abroad, and more: WATCH PART 1 HERE: ruclips.net/video/LBcCpha1WHs/видео.html
your husband sounds so supportive and lovely!
Tom's English is so good. I love hearing his (French) perspective. It truly is an avenue for growth for all sides.
Diane, my ancestors came from Bordeaux and I have records that show families and relatives back to the 1500's. My ancestors were Protestants or French Huguenots who left France due to persecution and came to South Carolina or the Charleston area. I live near Charlotte Metro on the North Carolina-South Carolina State Lines. I took two years of French in High School. The first year was listening to French Speakers and writing down what they said. Also a high concentration on perfect grammar. The second year, no one was allowed to speak English once you entered the Languages Building which helped greatly and the teachers and students were good natured enough to correct you if you spoke incorrectly and you had to put a quarter into a box which paid for us to eat a French meal on Friday of each week. I still read French newspapers and internet postings. I also took a semester of French in college, I became friends with the Professor and we spoke French to each other since she knew I could converse correctly, it helped her to speak with someone who was proficient in French. My wife and I sponsored a friend, a French lady from Normandy who came over to work for companies who were offshoring in the French speaking islands of that time and she and I spoke French constantly. She said she was grateful and it made her feel at home. She was assertive and observed me and told me that I acted more like a French person than an American and gave me a long list of my habits, eating, etc as to why that was her opinion. Do French towns have city halls that keep records of families that for instance in my case; I have records of my ancestors back the the early 1500's and before. Would I be able to compare my information with the city hall or library records of Bordeaux to possibly find families that would still live there. From the information, I have, my ancestors were wealthy and bought huge farms here in America. One of the large farms they bought is less than 10 miles from where I live in the Charlotte North Carolina Metro area. I really appreciate listening to you on RUclips and the way you compare Modern French Living to Modern American Living. I have friends all over Europe and family in England that I speak to quite often. Would I have a problem comparing the information I have to the records in Bordeaux and possibly finding families that I may be related to near Bordeaux. Jacqueline, our French friend, indicated that in some towns, (she was from Normandy) the towns were destroyed in the wars and I may have an issue if I did travel to Bordeaux. What is your opinion of what I am asking. I remember my older family member speaking French when they did not want the children to understand what they were saying. Then after high school, I was too busy planning college to eavesdrop on what they were saying to each other. LoL Thank you for the work, time and effort you put into your RUclips postings. I so much enjoyed listening to Tom and could hear the heavily French accent but I understood his every word even though I live in the American South which is full of American accents. I consider France the beginning of our families even though they left. Thanks again.
Another great content. Perhaps it’s just your style but I notice a sweet difference between your vlogs and the vloggers in Paris. Your content and your delivery seem more sincere while many Paris vlogs tend to emphasize glitzy or hipsters. I just enjoy your channel. Thank you.
I appreciate that!
Thank you Dianne. I visit France every year most recently February. Is there any chance you would do an episode about what it’s like to have a small gathering of friends sitting outside, enjoying wine, food and good conversation? My friends Albert and Pauline live in Vence now but I met them in Annapolis where we’d do that often. Their house or mine. So many myths about only serving expensive wines etc. But “regular” French people enjoy inexpensive vin du pay pored from a nice carafe, baguettes on the table to break and perhaps salade niçoise. Guest arrive on time and never empty handed but perhaps a small host/hostess gift. Id like to to hear your thoughts on this. perhaps by an episode. Merci Dianne. Josef, your biggest fan in Cape May.
YESSSS!!! I literally came to the comments just to say that. I really appreciate it, it feels less like a "show/performance" and it comes across as a lot more authentic. Didn't realise that I wasn't following! Now I am :D
@STENNELER Jérémy It's true! I keep forgetting that she's American hehe
I grew up on a farm and we always had dinner around 8-9... It wasn't until college, when I went to a friends house for thanksgiving week that I discovered that the rest of the country was eating dinner at 6-6:30!! It is bizzare to me to this very day!
Diane, I'm very impressed with Tom's command of the English language! Though he has a significant French accent, his grammar and vocabulary are perfect and I had no trouble at all understanding him. And your French also seems really excellent. I'm a dual national France/USA, with fluency in both languages, though English is my native tongue. I'm enjoying your videos, having recently discovered your channel.
Thank you and welcome!
in general, your content is very good for non-native english speakers to learn good spoken english - very fluent, fast but definitely discernable, wide vocabulary of individual words and expressions
In french countryside, we eat around 7 or 7.30 pm, averagely truly before than Parisians... it's cultural and historic too. I explain, I am grandson of a farmer. When i was child, i was working in the farm, especially during summer vacations. They were different schedules than in cities. We were working from 6 am to 10 pm or even 11 pm. It was harder work than the average one in cities. We were taking a very slight breakfast at 5.45 or 6 am, then we had a true paus with a true "break" for food at around 10 am... Lunch was around 1 pm, then you had a first dinner at 5.30 pm or 6 pm, then at 9, 10 or 11 pm, we had "souper". Souper was the end of work day dinner and after that, you were going to bed for the next working day. The difference between countryside and big industrial cities were truly visible in France since the end of the 19th century. In big cities, the breakfast was/is better than in countryside and is taken around 6.30 am to 7.30 am, then lunch was at 12am-2pm, depends on the end of the work, whatever, lunch mostly always last during a long time. Then you work the afternoon and in cities they eat late. It means that in countryside we used to have more food breaktime than in cities.
Your channel makes me emotional. I'm moving to France this year to be with my husband!!
How adorable Diane, when you played Tom's message I felt so overwhelmed with emotion when he explains how proud he is of you... I love watching your video's so much and I really appreciate all the time and effort you have put into your channel... Congratulations on your success, I wish you both an amazing prosperous journey ahead and look forward to watching your channel growing!
What a lovely and supportive husband that you have. I would love to see a vlog of where you live, the local bakeries, restaurants - what you cook and eat in a day, etc.
Thanks for watching, Sophia! You caught my bakery series, right? That was local.
Oui In France oh yes.....in fact I’ve watched them quite a few times. French pastries and breads are my absolute weakness.
Toms English is excellent! My husband is German, we speak English every day and his English isn’t near as good even after 30 years!
So nice of you to mention that, I will let him know. He's even more natural and much quicker than he was in my recording (was nervous). Tom learned English on his own (and perfected over the years, after meeting me) and is very motivated and it inspires me.
I always enjoy your vlogs but today I especially loved your husband’s recording, so sweet and supportive.
Line Etiquette Story. My very first day during my first trip to France. My host parents took me to le Château de Versailles. The line was very long (at least 50m but I think it was even longer). My initial thought is that it was going to take a while to enter. Nope! My host parents bee-lined to the front of the line with me in tow. The people that we cut in front of were not happy and were making a TSSS! sound. I thought someone was going to grab me as we slid by everyone. I was very uncomfortable.
Yes, I would have been uncomfortable too. Line cutters are the worst!
Your husband did so well. I loved listening to his lovely French accent and he expressed himself so well in a language that is not his native tongue.
Yes, yes, yes, pls. the French driving vlog! Merci Diane for another interesting, informative, & fun vlog. Still LOVING the backyard, so lovely! Woof to Dagny!
Very nice video, your husband sounds sweet and has admiration for you. 🥐
Hi, French citizen here. On dinner time, I have to say that not only it is a cultural thing; but also even if we wanted to eat at 6pm I don't think a lot of people could. Most people finish work at the earliest at 6pm. I remember finishing middle school around 5 ish and high school around 6pm. Kids usually have after school activities first and then eat dinner. I remember heading to my tennis class from 6 to 8 and then going home to get dinner. Even when I lived in the US, I had two types of co-workers: those who would grab a quick dinner at their desk around 6ish pm and those who like me would wait til we finished work around 7 to go have dinner at home or out. I remember my freshman year of uni in New Jersey, my first day, I went to the cafeteria around 8pm to get dinner and most hot dishes would have been packed up by the employees, and I had to make myself a quick sandwich. I had to move my timetable so I could go to the cafeteria at "regular american hours". I find that dinner time varies a lot depending on the countries, I've lived in the UK, in Spain and in many countries in Asia and dinner time can vary from 6pm to 10pm. ^^
Yes, please do driving tips.
Hello, I'm french and we also have difficulties understanding people from rural Quebec. Even not rural Quebec sometimes. So congrats, you must be near to absolute french mastery :D
Very far from mastery but it's true that some Canadian accents are difficult!!
Just came across your channel and subscribed. I'm in Orlando and l have a love for France but I've never been there. I'm really enjoying your insights and your husband sounds terrific. Seems like a super guy! Glad I found you!!! Have a great day! 🙏❤ 🇫🇷
Line etiquette : most people will respect it when clearly organized. Some people will try to cut the line, and when they are lucky (people being cut doesn’t dare making a remark) they can get away with it, under disaproval of other people waiting in line. When queuing is not organised (when exiting a room or waking up stairs in groups) then it is everyone for themselves. Queuing in supermarkets : when someone has only one or two items, they sometimes ask if they can cut the line if the person has a lot of stuff, and it is usually ok. When a « new » register opens, then consider it as being delt new cards!
I drove from Brive to Montauban one time on the A20, an equivalent to a US interstate. I crossed the valleys of the Dordogne and Lot Rivers, and what I found was that every time the autoroute went uphill, it would go from 2 to 3 lanes. Everytime. Here in the US it would be now and then. Very nice.
Found your channel recently and I’m really loving it! This one was my favorite so far, very interesting. Thank you.
Loved hearing from Tom!
I've almost watched all of your videos! Love them!
Love these Q and A's :)
Thank you Dianne. Invaluable tips & advice. You are so kind to put out these vlogs to help others. God Bless you.
I am French and believe me I found line etiquette screws infuriating too ! Only badly raised people don’t respect the rules... when I have a doubt about the sense of a particularly weird or long queue outside or inside of shops or buildings, I always ask for the right place to go and wait for my turn...
Quelle experience de t’avoir! Merci beaucoup, Diane! Jo Anne
Just sitting here with a big smile on my face watching this.
I'd love to see posted school lunch menus
Maybe it is regional, but I don't know anyone who eats dinner at 7 or 8 pm. I would say that most eat between 5 and 6, depending on their work schedule. We eat earlier because of our schedules.
so enjoy your videos. thank you
About schools - yeah, my nieces did a lot of high-level rote learning. In one ear/out the other (like a lot of education everywhere, I imagine). Did this make them smarter or more intellectual? Nope.
One thing I really noticed was the difference in mentality of French parents vs. North American ones re: pre-school. It seems to me that in France, parents look at crèches and don't have anxiety or guilt about it. The kids get out of the house, they play with other kids, get rudimentary learning underway and the parents get a break to work or shop or do nothing. In North America, there seems to be this social undertow that sending the kids off to pre-school almost needs to have an outward show of parents lamenting the wrench from their children from their arms as some visual representation of the guilt of letting them go. Then they get frustrated being a stay-at-homer and end up filling their days catering to their kids' activity needs.
I had a French friend who did the usual French thing for preschool here in Canada and some of her other parent-friends couldn't believe how blasé she was and that (gasp!) she sent them off to pre-school AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A JOB (apparently the only reason why you're allowed to send kids off in North America).
I'm French and a teacher so I can explain a bit about preschool. Kindergarten here (called "maternelle") is a very serious thing, it's actually one of the best systems for early education in the world. The teachers who work in maternelle have the same diploma than other teachers, and there is an actual curriculum for each of the three school years in maternelle.
Besides, sending your kid off to maternelle is not only well accepted, it's actually compulsory now (the law was passed a year or so ago).
I teach English in middle school, and I've had experience teaching French in an American middle school, so I have experienced all of the many differences between the two school systems.
I'd say one of the best thing France could take away from American school is the sense of community. There is school sport here but nothing is organized to make it important (no spectators, no team names, no mascots...). I'd really love to try and import some of that in the school I work at, but culture is very difficult to change (even though France, and French teens, are VERY "americanized").
Re: French drivers - parking in Paris is something to be seen. Those _parallel_ parked cars are packed like car carrier ship cargo. (BTW, parking backwards is the _only_ proper way to parallel park.)
As for aggressiveness, come to Paris during RATF strike. Reminds one of Naples.
Enjoyed hearing Tom - good perspective and as one of your male follwers I fully get where he comes from.
I thought I spoke french decently when I was living there, until a couple from Haiti moved in next door. Could not understand a word and was getting frustrated. Until a friend admitted they could not understand the haitian accent either.
It's like an Indian from India speaking english , or an australien, it can be difficult for a foreigner to understand .
I'm French Parisian, I'm not sure I could do it either. It's not you, it's just an unfortunate combo. That's why I always have a piece of paper and a pen with me... "Just write it" and we go from there. 😉
More likely, they were speaking Haitian créole, not French with a Haitian accent. Where I live in the U.S. there are lots of Haitiens, and when I hear them talking to each other I will not understand a word...until an entire French phrase comes out. Here in southeast Florida I can even listen to a Haitian creole radio station.
Love your videos , very interesting.
Glad you like them!
Great videos. Merci
Over the years I have noticed that a subtle way the French correct mistakes is to repeat what you just said without explicitly correcting you. For instance, if I say, "J'ai prendu ma vélo ce matin et j'ai venu chez toi." they might casually say, "Ah bon, tu as pris ton vélo et tu es venu chez moi, c'était à quelle heure déjà?" Or more simply, if I get the gender wrong, they will work the same noun with the proper gender into what they say soon after you flub up. Finally, I have noticed that French speakers often repeat back to you what you just said even if you said it correctly. "Putain, j'ai chaud. Tiens, tu as (t'as) chaud, moi aussi." Maybe without the "putain."
Unrelated to this, another common question French people will ask you first thing in the morning is "Vous avez bien dormi?" "T'as bien dormi?" In my experience Americans seldom, if ever, ask this question of each other.
Totally agree with you about the French school system.
We had 1 person cut the line while in France, but otherwise the French people respected a formed line. They actually thought we were nuts when we allowed them to go first while we were still trying to decide what to get at boulangeries 😊
French guy here who agree totally about lines in supermarkets: Totally unfair how people at the end cut the line on a new cashier !
But, as a general trend, a lot of french people are "Resquilleurs" (queue jumper) and many are even proud to be !!
This upsets and even shamed me a lot, especially toward friends of other countries.
En effet pour les queues dans les magasins, j’ai adoré aller aux états-unis et voir que les gens sont très respectueux des autres, et laissent passer ceux qui étaient là en premier.. ce qui n’est pas du tout le cas en France et que je trouve si incorrect. Ici le plus rapide à courir à la caisse libre sera le premier servi😔
Thanks for sharing that message from your husband. I see why you married him and personally sounds like the kind of guys I hang with.
Interesting information. TFS
Thanks for watching!
Salut! Great post! I think a driving lesson would be great. My husband did not pass the test in California (he blamed the tester), but he said the test in France was MUCH tougher. I had to drive in France over Christmas and the only thing I remember was "when you come up to an intersection with no stops, the person on the right has the right-away." I heard this is only in very rural areas, but it seemed to be the same in Forbach and Strasbourg.
You have right-away in town too 😉
In France, rules are national (Federal) not local / regional (per state/province). If the rule says for an intersection without sign, the car on the right has the way. It's true everywhere in France: Paris, Marseilles, Noumea (New Caledonia, yes they are still French), Papetee (Tahiti, same), Cayenne (like the pepper, F-Guyana)... Everywhere.
Favourite french word..? Candy floss.....Barbe à papa.! Fathers beard.....🤣🤩🤣🤩🤣
A walking tour guide in France mentioned not being able to get cranberries. I just happened to have a snack pack with dried cranberries with me. And, we both enjoyed them even more when they were shared
I agree about the education. :( I'm a math professor here in the U.S., and I've visited both high school and university classrooms in France. Yes, the French definitely have a higher standard (in particular for argumentation), and I wish we had that. But the trade-off is definitely the freedom and the "human" side. I've seen what I would absolutely qualify as abuse in French classrooms, like teachers making fun of students, discussing their failing grades in front of the whole class, deliberately misunderstanding their questions to the point of extreme frustration and shutdown on the part of the student. It was honestly shocking. Now, not all French teachers are like that for sure - I've seen nice ones too. But even the nice ones seem very rigid in their thinking: things must be done a certain way, the faster the better. I literally observed one professor say "Don't think, just do." As he solved a problem a super long-winded way that he could have solved a lot more easily if he had stepped back and taken the time to analyze it. There isn't room for free thought and creativity, at least not in what I observed. I also think it's a shame that students are so locked in once they choose an educational path. I have college students here in the U.S. in their 30s and 40s who've decided after years of being, say, a history teacher, that they want to switch to math. That would be pretty tough in France, if not impossible.
Don't get me wrong, I ❤️France. So many things to love about it. But this particular aspect I find rather depressing. :(
Hi Rachel, thanks for sharing your experience. School should enrich kids' lives, not make them worse or give them something else to stress about. Those years are so important. ;-( I'm sad to hear what I observed in elementary school continues into high school and university classrooms. When I did TAPIF, I guess the kids were happy to see me because it was something different but also because I did fun, creative lessons that got kids up out of their seats and let them be creative in a way they probably weren't used to.
Very true about people not being as able to change career paths in France. I've heard of reconversion professionelle and know a handful of people who pursued training in a different field but it's way less common in France, as you said. Like in the US, if you show you have competencies that translate to another field but aren't the exact skill because you've never done the exact job, you have a chance, especially if you interview well and have strong references, etc. In France, I feel like it's much more rigid like if you haven't done the exact job you're applying for, you'll be looked over even if you're more than capable, and that can prevent people from trying and then ultimately moving up teh career ladder. And that confidence (or lack thereof) starts when you're a 10-year-old and getting laughed at by your teacher. I'm sure there are tons of fabulous teachers in France so this isn't a hit at the teachers. Just a system that is very different and one I don't think I would have thrived in at all! Thx again for your thoughtful comment.
@@OuiInFrance Thank you for the response. I've heard about the rigidity of applying for positions that don't necessarily match your specific training. I imagine that can be really frustrating, or maybe just depressing if you feel like you're locked into a career you hate.
From what I understand, there are movements that are trying to change the rigidity of the system, for example www.innovation-en-education.fr/. That is focused mainly on K-12 I think, so I imagine it will take a while for it to extend to university level.
Will check out the site. Seems promising! Thanks for that.
I think companies -- especially younger ones that have founders with international experience and see the value of people with diverse work histories -- are more open-minded in terms of resume rigidity but it's still more difficult here to get a job you've never done IMHO. The one guy I know was a full-time exercise instructor/gym employee (diploma for that) and decided to do a career change to pursue construction and home improvement stuff. So it happens but that's the only person I know of personally...
I'm french living abroad all my childhood until I turned 18 . And although french schools are higher standard mainly because of the choice of the teachers , I never liked school maybe because of what you said about making fun of a student in front of everyone and also because they don't accept that you do something another way you are taught , even with the same result. I also went to an american school in Libya so I can see the differences.
I'm french, studied only in states school and I never feel unfree. I never saw kind of abuse otherwise I would have report it. In fact I was afraid at all of the systeme maybe due to my education, family history. I'm 60, my 2 grand fathers were primary teachers and very open minded, my parents were also teachers and quiet respected and mostly loved by them pupils, but they were more strict with us, them kids, when they were our teacher ;) (never a pupils of my classe thought I was spoiled by them ! this way we had true frends ;) ). They knew Pickler, Freinet... I married a british with parents in teaching. One our girl is english reacher near Paris, she is quiet imaginative to find a way to catch the interrest of her pupils and made them work without feeling it's work ! Quarantaine time was hard, with very long day, to continue to teach on line and be there to reassure her over 16 years old pupils, and the were very demanding ! Some still are, even if it's summer holidays and they're be at University in less than a month ! Excuse my english, it was only my second foreign langage at school.
The French accent is the sexiest ever.
Literally died when I heard your northern French "sound" 🤣
Not just Northern France, old men in Northern France with their swirling sound😀 I think it's old men as much as the region. When I first came to Australia I found it hard to understand old men as they kind of whistle through their teeth when they talk. It's just really off putting.
Hiya could you make a video on difference in celebrations eg birthdays chriztmas Easter. Weddings etc how do the French do it.also special holidays to France.loving your content
In Perpignan they have the catalan accent, because before the 1700's, it was part of Catalonia, and until 1930, everyone spoke catalan, at least the normal people. SO, they have inherited the accent. The same applies to la Provence, where they used to speak provençal, a dialect of occitan language, so now they speak French with the influence of Provençal accent.
on line etiquette i think it depends on people, here south eastern TN many people will not cut in line but many have no problems cutting in line, but every now & then the associates who will open another line will tell the person who standing in line next then again an associate once addressed someone who came after me
Bonjoir Diane. I recommend the works of Robert Charlebois to you. I love his music! It's so much fun. Robert also acted in the comedy movie "French Immersion" (2011). You may like it very much If you can find this French Canadian movie. You may love it while having a glass of Muscadet and nice French cheeses/bread and dessert/chocolates too! (Nous, on mange du beur sur note pin nousse ote - meaning we eat butter on our bread us!) Beur = beurre, note = notre, nousse= nous, pin = pain and ote = autre! I see your point!
💝💝💝 Awesome!
Your Perpignan accent is perfect xD
My Dad always said "when packing take out half of your clothes and double your money; first part easy😂
Yes, a driving video.
Bonjour Diane! Your husband is good in English!
I would love to see what Tom looks like!
You mentioned that some French children don't have school on Wednesday afternoons. I wanted to add that children not attending school on Wednesday afternoons attend school on Saturday mornings.
I didn't have school on Wednesday afternoons or Saturday morning. This was 16-11 years ago.
Its also great the irish shop Penneys (Primark) is now in France and you cannot get any other clothes/homeware shop as cheap as them. My mam was in Penneys today and she bough several items, joggers, tshirts for a total of €20
The line thing and the new register opening- the same thing happens in Toronto -Unless the cashier announces that the next person in line should go first at the new cashier.
Very good channel, I live in Australia and most of the comparisons you do with the US is 100% the same with Australia, By the way I am French, from north.
Glad you enjoy my content!
Heh, I first discovered marshmallow fluff (in jars) in Paris (Monoprix, IIRC), of all places. Now I found a little store specialized in US imports in Zagreb, and that, along with beef jerky, is what I am getting there. I attack the 12 oz or so jar with a spoon and eating it in two sittings is a sign of great self-control. 🙂
I 30 years I have never seen anywhere where one eats dinner before 7pm in France, even with little kids. work often finishes at 6ish, school at 5pm. In UK or USA one can have dinner any time between 5pm and 9pm I'd say ((hough 9pm is VERY late)
I think line etiquette here is pretty good. Frequently, when I've been queuing with just a few articles I've been waved ahead by those with full "chariots."
This seems almost the norm in the South West.
@STENNELER Jérémy Yes, people here seem to be quite a decent bunch.
You've got lots of spectacles!
I love glasses ;-)
I think the French eat dinner at a later time because we have a full meal at noon, contrary to the Americans. 8 pm is the national average time (it's when the main evening news bulletins are broadcat on TV). Yet, a lot of people have dinner around 7 in Northern France whereas it's often later in the South because of the summer heat.
I know this is a very old video at this point (20 in Internet years), but two comments. First, my wife studied in France and has traveled there pretty extensively. As I have just started to try and pick up the language myself, we have been talking about French more than usual lately. Just this morning she mentioned the "g" thing in the south of France as well. My other comment has to do with the new-register-opening-up scenario in stores here in the U.S. In my experience living in many places here, when a new register opens up here it tends to be what I call a "polite free-for-all", with whomever gets there first at a polite walking speed gets to go first. I rarely see deference given to whomever is next up in the existing line.
Would like to see a vid about weird road signs.
In my experience, the French do correct mistakes, but they do it indirectly. They repeat back what you said with the correct way, as if they’re just reaffirming what you said. They don’t say “what you said is wrong”. They also complete your sentences, but people complete my sentences in English too, and English is my native language.
Sounds with "g", sounds like the French in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. (Born)
about the accents: even french people sometimes have a hard time understanding Québec french ... when Québécois people are on TV we have subtitles ... for real ! and yes , perpignan and the other south west side ( pays basque) some people have such a thick accent that we are lost on some words.
Not sure if it’s a regional thing or not but many Americans in the midwest eat supper at 5 PM. The restaurants used to be packed at that time where I live. In Fl, you had different shifts. The elderly eat at 4:30-5 PM for the early bird specials. Then, families with kids eat around 6 ish, followed by singles or adults without kids between 7-9 PM. Other states eat at different times. I ate supper at 4:30 - 5 PM years ago to avoid the huge crowds and screaming kids as I do not like waiting in line for 1-2 hours to eat a meal. Post Covid 19, restaurants are struggling to stay afloat because they cannot fill their restaurants to capacity any longer with social distancing. Now, many restaurants are only open in the evening and have shorter hours of operation. So I think, that is affecting what time people eat a meal. Just curious, are kids in France unruly in public? It’s a given that almost every time My husband and I sit down to eat in a restaurant, within 5 mins of sitting down...a kid will start screaming in a restaurant and throwing a tantrum with the parent doing nothing. Same is true in grocery stores, retail stores and places of worship. Is this a problem in France? Thanks Diane.
Yes, I grew up in Michigan and we at 5 PM, sometimes 5:30 PM. I don't know if I could wait until 8 PM!
And at Bob Evans, very popular restaurant, the "Early Bird" special does begin at 4:45 PM!!
I think in every countries you've different accents in the north, south , of the country. It's not propre to France.
In France after the dinner is thé Time to be relaxe. For this reason we eat later
iherb is great...ive done that too for things that id find in my ol' Fairway (uws). in my new country, they up the import tax, so its been a while since iherb :/ psh :)
French here , on entend bien que ton mari est français x) ça s'entend mais c'est pas grave car on a tous le même accent , also I like to see your videos , just to see how an American see us
I wish I could speak english like Tom...
Accents? Québec? Québec always seems to get the shitty end of the stick. My experience with French? Whether it be France or Québec, I have difficulty with nice folks who don't necessarily have a high level of education. And I can say the same thing for USA, Canadian and Australian English or Newfoundland English too. Whether it be nice folks in inner city or rural settings, education makes the difference.
A historical note about Québec French is that it evolved differently, geographically and culturally after the French revolution. Québec French is , to vulgarize, a variety of French that grew from military and agricultural settings isolated in North America for 350 years. It's vocabulary and cadence is simply different. Today it counts more than 29 million speakers. It's politically protected and invested in to have one the best school systems in North America.
It's not so difficult or different than English varieties from Australia to Scotland to many regions of Canada and the USA, and beyond.
Lack of line etiquette is not systematic, but WAY too common, sadly. Love your channel, BTW.
Thanks so much, so glad you enjoy my videos!
Hi Diane - Are you affected at all by America's appalling "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" (FATCA)? As I understand it, as an American living and working abroad as you are, you still have to file returns or have you renounced your American citizenship? I’ve read some harrowing accounts of Americans trying to open bank accounts when they move abroad to live. Does being married to a native French citizen make the whole process easier for you or not🖐😎
Ireland is the same with driving and queue system. However i find it ironic you say americans eat early as i went on several dates with american guys wanting to go for dinner at 9pm and i had to explain to them in europe we eat at around 5pm to 6pm and perhaps 7pm. I find it ironic you say the french eat late as i never had this issue living in france and we always had dinner early.
I would like a video about driving in France. If I ever get to visit again I would like to rent a car.
I am from about an hour and a half North of NYC. In the grocery store if they open another cashier aisle, not only do the people behind me to first, but the cashier will ask them to come over. I guess it is easier than backing out of line with a grocery cart. I don't see people getting angry.. Thanks for your videos.
A difference in France I strongly favor: the minimum age for driver's license is 18. That is a much more reasonable age than states in U.S. where the minimum age is 16 (even lower for a learner's permit in some states). I have no doubt that many lives would be saved if the minimum age for driving was 18 nationwide in U.S.
I totally agree but there is another side to the legal age of driving in the US... The US is car dependent, so teenagers are literally locked at home until they can drive. Imagine being 17 and having to ask your parents every time you want to go somewhere. And they can't walk or bike, it's too dangerous and the roads are not made for it.
If you want more information on that I recommend the channel Not Just Bikes
Hi Diane, I am curious about how many people you meet are bi-lingual in your area of France?
Hmm...
Actually bilingual with native language French? For me bilingual is beyond fluent.
My husband and maybe one or two people over the years. I've met bilingual people from work (usually a spouse from an English-speaking country or lived abroad, but still requires major effort) but the everyday French people I meet aren't even conversational in English -- a couple of words max. I've asked people out of curiosity over the years but I don't have a huge sample size. Kind of like how most Americans won't know too much beyond bonjour and au revoir.
But that said it's completely possible people I meet in passing speak great English but because we speak French, there would be no reason for them to volunteer that knowledge unless the situation required it. Like casual interactions (people don't know where I'm from) so it would be weird for someone to say they are bilingual in English. Does that make sense? Like if I were in the USA and randomly told someone I was fluent in Russian out of nowhere. Just wouldn't factor in.
I think more and more French people are learning English, though. French people comment on my videos in English as well. But I just wanted to answer your question about truly bilingual people I've met in my area. Very, very few.
@@OuiInFrance Merci bien, Diane. I asked because my cousins in France let me know that many more British and Germans are retiring in Western and Southern France, and they meet them on occasion. I figured that more French natives would make the effort to speak with those retirees in their language. I know it happens with Real Estate agents and other services, but I figured it would be more widespread. Bonnes Fêtes to you and your family. From Sacramento, California.
"line etiquette" LOL
Quand je suis allé pour la première fois à New York, dans l'avion le stewart français avait dit deux blagues sur les américains :
-Comment souhaite t'on la bienvenue aux USA aux Français ? " Next !"
-Quel est l'activité préférée des new yorkais ? "Make a line"
En France il n'y a pas de "line etiquette", au mieux les gens respectent l'ordre de la file et n'essayent pas de passer devant, sauf si ils sont mal éduqués ou originaires d'afrique / moyen orient. Mais le reste n'y comptez pas, une nouvelle file qui s'ouvre et les compteurs sont remis à zéro, tu faisais la queue pour la première file, pas pour la deuxième.
French school is very relaxed for europe - in ireland we have single sex schools from 4 to 18 and a uniform
If you pass your test at 17 you'll find getting insurance in France _interesting,_ All their automated systems are based on >=18 and will throw an error for your licence date. DAMHIK
Line etiquette, ç'est quoi?
Hi, Is your husband is from the french west indies ?
His accent his very familiar to me.
Nice video. Keep going!!!
Nope, from Angers and has never even visited that area of the world. One day... ;-) Thx for watching!
I was about to say Tour... Close enough. Nice English though. We can still hear a bit of chunk but it's super impressive for someone that isn't living in an English speaking area. My congratulations! Chapeau bas !
Hello. Is it difficult to get a job in France?
Depends on a bunch of factors like what industry you work in, your experience, if you speak French, where you're located, etc.
What’s your experience in making local friends in France?
Everyone I've met who has become a friend was at my gym. That's where I had the best luck. I also met neighborhood folks in the park when out walking my dog before she passed away a couple of months ago. Best advice is to get involved in something you enjoy.
Diane, ccd, you a CatLick, bringing up old memories.
we ate at 5pm
In America someone will FOR SURE correct you!!
Particularly if you are a person of color.
France car manual, don't have auto car?
Thank you very much ☺️