@@jazmine9570 I've heard many Americans refer to their coworkers as "friends" though...

@@mgparis But they don't know what a real friend is... I can call my friends at 03:00 AM, they will pick-up the phone and won't start by insulting me: they'll ask (with anxiety) what happened to me... Because I wouldn't call them at this time without a critical reason to do so. I was also called during night: once because a friend crashed his car on a cement block while coming back home with his wife, the second because a (female) friend was locked at home, about to be raped by a guy we both knew who was trying to break her door. In both cases, they KNEW that I'll be there, and even faster than the emergency services - for the little story, we pushed the car out of the road and I took them back to emergencies for a check-up, and the rapist apprentice guy was picked up on the pavement by emergencies - 30 minutes after I met him - for a concussion and several injuries while I was explaining to a skeptical police officer that "he simply had fallen down the stairs"... For a French, you can loan money to a friend - even big amounts. You can leave your children, even a toddler, at your friend's home for a night, a day, a week, whatever. You know their medical issues. You know their income. You often have the spare key of their house/car. You tell them hard things sometimes when they behave badly. You tell them even intimate problems when you're seeking for advice - or just a shoulder. You will take a day off (or more!) to help them move instead of be available only ONE day of ONE week-end. And so on... Most of us trust friends WAY more than our close family, even parents and siblings, because we CHOSE our friends while our family has been IMPOSED on us. I even have a copy of all critical papers of one of them - he don't trust having these copies in his house, he's more confident in mine - so in case of problem, I can give him back a copy of his ID card, social security registration, passport, bank informations, marriage certificate, birth certificate, and for him, his wife and all his kids... I can easily put him in abysmal debts or in jail, because I can do identity theft without ANY problem, but of course, and with good reasons for, he trust me to not misuse these. The same friend had lent me, at one time, the equivalent of SIX MONTHS of HIS income because I was in a difficult situation... I often put my wallet in my female friend's purse when I was with her in town - like I would do with my own wife. She even often knew my credit card's PIN number. I had all her kids in my arms few HOURS after their birth - even before the kids grandparents themselves. It's more than trust: it's the fact you consider your friends as trustfully as yourself - and sometimes even more: I remember one of them asking me to keep his checkbook and credit card because he was under buying fever at this time... Think about it twice: do you think these Americans trust enough their own family to do the same? Or their colleagues? Probably not - or they are EXTREMELY naives. So these colleagues are not friends, not like a French understand this term - we use the word "copain/copine" or "pote" ("buddy", "pal") to distinguish friendly relatives which are NOT "real" friends... French uses the terms "inconnu/étranger" ("unknown"), "connaissance" ("acquaintance"), "collègue" ("colleague"), "copain/pote" ("buddy"), "ami" ("friend"). The last one is a very difficult step to reach, we're used to say that you can count your "real" friends on a single hand. I have two (three with one's wife), and I already have more friends than most people.

@@mac_lak Généralement le vrais copain , il n'y en a que 1 et nous sommes copains depuis plus de 35 ans . mon épouse et sa vraie copine se connaissent depuis 43 ans

@@ybreton6593 C'est pour ça que je n'utilise pas le terme "copain" mais bien "ami", pour ce genre de relation "à vie". Pour ma part, j'en ai deux, et je sais que je suis bien plus "riche" que beaucoup à ce niveau... Beaucoup n'en ont pas un seul.

@@mac_lak C'est certain

The French sounds so much like the Germans.

I've heard this one before

@Amalia Lopez-Pappademos it sounds ironic. Just saying...

I knew another one: "We, the French, are not arrogant. We are just the best in the world!"

it cracks me up 😂 So true!

Same!

I think that's a great way to be - when I worked in an office and also when I was younger, I worked in a fashion store and in both places the other employees were asking me about my personal life, all kinds of stuff and I found it really intrusive. I liked them as colleagues, but had no wish to become friends.

Tu peux avoir des amis qui sont des collègues à l'origine. Après le monde du travail peut être si conflictuel facilement et la confiance étant limitée envers l'autre, je pense que beaucoup ne prennent pas de risques. Perso, je peux être comme un livre ouvert... mais je sais que certaines personnes peuvent profiter de cette façon d'être.

This is a good thing

Ça il faut reconnaitre qu'ils ont du mal à le comprendre. Eux s'appellent tous par leurs prénoms comme s'ils se connaissaient depuis toujours mais ce n'est qu'une façade, c'est tout à fait superficiel

The city makes poeple nervous, stressed etc... we live in flat building like in a big box. It,s not natural or human . I live in such building and i m fed up . i remember living in the french countryside and more happy

si nous croyons dans l'humanité , mais nous n'avon aucune confiance envers les anglo-saxons je dis bien en générale . car j'avais un grand amis , qui était chef pilote au port de New-York . nous les avons reçu chez nous en France et vis-versa , avant de partir vers d'autres horizons , il a demandé pour que l'on se voit mon épouse et moi étions là pour l'accompagner dans sa dernière demeure .

I agree the whole time I’m thinking it would be the same in NYC or any other large American city. I live in Ct about 2 hrs away from NYC and the honor system is used all the time with little issues

There is downsides however. The most common one is a very pessimistic approach of EVERYTHING, and sincerely, not everyone can handle it. My wife is Indian, and it was extremely depressing for her during the first years in France... It took her near FIVE years to be used to that and I was extremely anxious for her first postpartum depression, but hopefully, once out of this baby blues, she was handling it way better. But if you can handle it, you'll see the upsides, in particular enjoying a LOT more your personal life, at home, with your spouse and kids. Typical French people feel well at home and don't need to get out constantly - one big exception are Paris inhabitants, who will tell you that nothing compares to Paris and that it's the only "good" town in France, while being out of their 20 m² appartment constantly, and out of the town EVERY week-end and vacation... Paradoxical behavior... At the same time, in Toulouse, I spent ALL my vacations at home, where I enjoy being with my wife and my kids, and it's always a real, painful chore to travel anywhere for even few days. We simply feel well at home, in a peaceful and comfortable environment. I prefer to put 1000€ in my house rather than on a plane ticket or a hotel bill.

French people are more direct. We don't like hypocrisy 😉

@@henriradolanirina9157 Mdrrr -Ça va ? -Ça va et toi ? La réponse qu'on donne tout le temps même quand ce n'est pas vrai. Nous sommes hypocrites dans les 5 premières secondes de la conversation

@@DontGAFkid Un réflexe d'auto-defense 😂😂😂😉

@@henriradolanirina9157 C'est vrai 😂

This french guy could be me, and this is so sad I want to cry.

@@NotEvenFrench well, it goes both ways. I learned German in 6 months mainly because people were telling me what did I say wrong and how to do it correctly. After more than 6 years in Canada, my English still is not as good as my German, because no one corrects my mistakes.

@@MsRumex That's interesting. As an anglophone Canadian I think the English language isn't closely tied to people's national identity. Perhaps we feel less protective of it compared to other places and languages. There's a bit of a mentality that what matters is both parties understanding what's being said, unless the person welcomes correction. Maybe it reflects general ideas about criticism here, too?

@@MsRumex As a Canadian, I can totally understand why. It would be considered super impolite for me to point out your mistakes. Even if we were close friends and you asked me to, I would find it difficult to overcome my cultural conditioning (although I'm slowly getting better at helping my Japanese husband).

Friendly speaker but a lot of generalizations. She is more negative than the « French people» she is describing as « negative ». I am American... and I admit humbly I don’t find any traits of characters she is criticizing among my French friends... maybe, she should move back to New Zealand, a country so much friendly.... and where she fits so well.... you don’t critique a culture when you live in a country which is hosting you.. she should apologize.

@@martineguerret-robertson3532 Agree with you Martine You react like French people ty. ..."you don't critique a culture when you live in a country which is hosting you... she should apologize"... 👍💛 This is understood in all countries !

"No sweet food in the morning..." What a joke ! :D

Sweet porridge is an option and is often more nutritiously dense

What about "sweet cereals" ?

NON ARRÊTE !!! T'as oublié faut pas avouer des torts !!!!

@@noefillon1749 Mais est-il vraiment un vrai français, ou juste un troll venu faire du french bashing ?

@@palupalu5647 faire des critiques c'est as du french bashing quand on voit les vidéos de rosie c'est évident qu'elle fait ses critiques sans mauvaises intentions.

@@noefillon1749 😂

@@anelkia27 c'était du 2d degré hein de la part de @Palu Palu

How then do teams, stay productively motivated, and positive, how does moral hold up????, it's crazy to me that they operate that way.

@@donny-crypto7615 they don't. I think it's a culture shock from someone who is not used to. as a french I see a lot of positive comments too and not so fatalist people,... rather realistic. hey ! we have ambitions too, maybe we just put the standards too high ^^

nope

French here too, and agree 100% (I had to move abroad to realize it!)

@@chantreazur7921 Have you ever lived abroad?

@@Christine-te4mr I lived for free years in Haïti.

I don't agree with everything she says, but some of it is true. I especially agree with management when she speaks about the fact that it's always negative and I do think it's toxic. But at the same time I don't think our way of being critic is a bad thing in some stage. I work abroad since 6 years (Ireland to be exact), and I realised that in the workplace people tend to be positive and say yes to almost everything whereas we would tend to be very critic but only for the sake of making the conversation going, or make sure what needs to be achieved is good from thr begining rather than just put it under the rug and come back later and day "oh yeah this is wrong". This happens a lot in my workplace and I do always think I'm the only one who makes critics sometimes. However that doesn't mean we can't accept it. But I think it changes according to the people. I'm an expat and I think that maybe makes me more open minded and accept more easily critics but also because I make them.

How arrogant are they that they think can dictate to other people what to eat...m

@@shaungordon9737 si nous parlions de l'arrogance des américains .dont la France et d'autre pays européens en font les frais

Outrageous to eat a soup for breakfast, I totally agree!

@@johnchap8719 I will agree... although, do bear in mind that until late 19th century (at least in Europe), soup was what country folks and town factory workers had for breakfast. Coffee was more like middle and upper class!

@@marie-claudeguegan3219 are you saying that this poor woman have the same habits than 19th century people in Europe? 😱

great balanced opinion. As a German, of course, I see a lot with different eyes. What I see again and again in France is the lack of interest in people who try to speak the national language. The Spaniards are very different and you often get to know people just by chatting with them in Spanish (with many errors).

@@irenemontero4678 I absolutely see what you mean! I've seen many French people correct foreigners in an almost compulsive way. I guess for most of them, it's not coming from the wrong place but they definitely need to quit that perfectionist mentality. Seriously, I'm French myself and I think this quest for perfection is getting old!

Yup, intermittent fasting is great and so is lowering carbs. I'm honestly shocked that french and Italians consider cake a good breakfast.

nous ne sommes que des êtres humains et il est normal de faire des erreurs ; qui n'a jamais fait d'erreurs dans sa vie ? personne !

As someone from the American culture I don't feel there is anything wrong with being a dreamer and having a positive outlook on life. Dreaming can give us the drive to push for something better for ourselves and family instead of conatantly living in the negative with no hope for the future. That is not to say that your dreams don't have to be acompanied with action and hard work, because you can dream all you want but never have it come to fruition if you don't take action to make it happen. I would absoultely be considered a dreamer by the French, heck, I am considered a dreamer from American standards as well, but I have acomplished so many things and have begun to make a name for myself because I have dared to dream and be positive. ... I believe I am off topic now, but the point is, good for you daring to be positive and having hope for the future. Better yet, good for you passing that on to your children. Stay strong!

As an English teacher sometimes I really struggle to say something positive to my students. It is very frustrating to me because I want to tell them something positive but sometimes it's hard to not be French you know 😊

What is that saying? "We are a product of our environment"... Some things simply can't be helped. However, awareness and a want to evoke change can often be something that propels us forward to making it happen, not only for ourselves but for the people we interact with. I attend fashion school in America and being critiqued is an essential part of learning and developing a new skill, but when the criticisms aren't backed up with positive reinforcement then the student can find it difficult to continue on to do better in the future. As somwone who is at the top of my class I am often asked to provide in depth critiques and peer reviews. A rule that I try to follow is to find at least one thing that is working well and comment on it leaving any sort of negative feedback out, but offering an idea for the person to think on instead. For example when I critique for my figure drawing class if someone has rendered a fleece, or something that should feel really soft and textured, with a flat color that winds up looking very flat and stiff, but the color is spot on, I would let them know that the coloring is great and challenge them to use multiple tools on the next try to really bring out the texture of the garment as well as the color. Then I find something that is in need of work and offer solutions that could be benificial to consider. Such as the balance and proportion of a fashion figure being incorrect. I would then help them to understand what they did wrong and how to correct the problem so that they can implement the solution in the next assignemnt. Anyway, just an idea of one way you might be able impliment what we call constructive criticism into your classroom so your students might feel more encouraged instead of berated. (clearly I am not in your classroom so I don't know anything in that regard, but if I didn't ever have positive feedback to help me cope with the things I need to fix I would have given up long ago)

@@reinana8441 it's true. I'm French too. I understand but this habit makes life so hard sometimes. I think that we (french people) need to relax. 😄

et c'est une bonne chose de ne jamais donner trop d'importances à ces histoires d'argent. L'intelligence et la beauté avant

There's pros and cons to both. But it explains why the Anglo world completely dominates today, and has outcompeted the French for the last 500 years.

@@shaungordon9737 yes, your are right : la loi du plus fort plutôt que l’humanisme

@@NotEvenFrench it took us years to figure it out but now we don't even notice it anymore 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ and we've even become less trusting... just the way it is!

Well this likely stems from the absolute loss that occurs when people don't pay their rents, newspaper and things I've heard people tell me are horrifying stories of people not paying their rents and taking 3 years to evict them, never recovering any money from that and putting their investment at a huge loss, so landlords are terrified of this happening and want the perfect tenant, I can't blame them.

But, wait a minute, why do you have to improve! You French do everything perfectly! :) Honestly, that attitude caused a breakup with my French boyfriend, who had many good qualities. I am perfectly willing to admit when I am wrong, but I was not ALWAYS wrong! He was not ALWAYS right! I grew weary of apologizing when he never would. I started to feel like I was abasing myself. I have to wonder, when French are married to each other, and both think they are always right - how does that work?

@@dm-gq5uj Maybe you broke up because you persisted in seeing 'cultural differences' in everything different between you and him. I've encountered people like this, who refused any individuality to their foreign partner and just reduced them to their culture.

@@Leopold_van_Aubel I try to see people as individuals. I thought it was just him - it wasn't until I saw this video that I learned it's a "French" trait. Of course, the French are not the only ones who think they are always right :)

I think its like that in a lot of places now

What are the points that apply to Belgium and those that don't ?

That's because if they don't want to say things in writing. Things in writing could be used as proof. Things said orally cannot be proved,, he/she can say you misunderstood. Remember: risk avoidance, don't risk being blamed.

I have worked for 15 years in an International bank in Chicago... most of the staff during my last years consisted of US citizens... there was a lot of hypocrisy going on, just to please the boss... people are people. I traveled twice in Russia with people from New Zealand... I was not very impressed by their so called cheerfulness.... and surprised by their lack of knowledge on « Russia », they didn’t prepare their trips... one of them was talking to me in the middle of the Kremlin about « his huge yacht » for which I could care less. Everything was perfect in New Zealand... however, it seems to me when you are in the Kremlin you listen to your guide... people are people... I admit the French are far away to be perfect but so are the people of other nationalities. Enjoy the moment, and talk about the positive sides of the people. If, you don’t like it just move on... forget the French people and talk about the beauty of Nature... France has so much to offer. Parisians do not represent the “French”.... like New Yorkers, Londoners, etc.... they are minorities in their own country. It seems the host of this video has not traveled much in France and is just obsessed with « Parisians »....

@@martineguerret-robertson3532 Absolutely, imagine if we French people did a video about how New Zealanders are, like this then like that, they would say oh well I’m ok with it but I’m sure they couldn’t stand it! Nobody’s perfect and French people never claimed they were. At least I can guarantee as you said that we aren’t in our vast majority hypocrites as very often saw abroad...

@julialeite63 Please don't take that too seriously - the statement in the video was just raising my eyebrows as there are definitely less controversial breakfast options. I personally eat bacon only as a small extra on Sundays. To conclude in German: Alles in Maßen :)

It's better than croissant or cake, which is just complete junk.

Seriously? Was the RATP employee a doctor?

Our "lu et approuvé" is literally the ancestor of the Captcha and proving you're not a robot online when you want to access website or sign up for something haha ^_^

I think we do that so that the person who signed 100% cant complain about "Oh but i didn't see this!" or "No, i don't agree with that" because you litterally wrote the opposite so basically i think its so cant go back by any mean

avant de signer un contrat ; on le lis ! et si on est d'accord ; on le signe . donc Lu et approuvé apposition de la signature . si on le conteste on signe pas . car après il n'y a plus de recours

i think that's also to prevent illiterate people from signing stuff without well... reading it. nowadays it's probably more to protect people who don't speak french. you can try to write something in a foreign language but that may trun out somewhat clunky.

@@ybreton6593 Du coup justement "lu et approuvé" ne sert pas à grand chose ...

C'est exactement ça, très bien résumé. On célèbre aussi des parcours de réussite mais pas les mêmes que les anglo-saxons.

Oui c'est même très mal vu. Le capitalisme et avoir comme seul but dans la vie de devenir riche n'est pas vu d'un très bon œil. Réussir à avoir une vie heureuse et épanouie dans la pauvreté est plus une réussite en France du moins dans la région où j'habite.

la première question qu'une femme française te pose c'est "Que fais-tu dans la vie ?" Elle veut dire : combien tu touches par mois. C'est du matérialisme, ça n'a rien avoir avec les valeurs. Les français ont tendance à parler des français des livres, des histoires issus de la littérature et non des français du quotidien. Comme ces français qui pour se valoriser, te disent : Nous les français avons inventé ceci , cela, etc" Or l'interlocuteur n'a rien inventé, il est peut être un raté de l'école, il n'a meme pas eu le BAC. Il parle des gens qui representent meme pas quelques milliers ( d'inventeurs), alors que 60 millions de français n'ont rien inventé.

@@Le.dictateur.africain je n'avais jamais vu ça comme ça. Moi je demande ça parce que je m'intéresse à la personne.

@@Le.dictateur.africain c'est tellement vrai

Thank you for sharing. Helps me understand.

They’re extra nice to foreigners.. TBH. Especially the ones who don’t speak French, but at least attempt to. They think it’s cute.

@Gérard Lafeuille ?

Thanks 😊

In the US the signature is evidence of both but it is not necessarily proof of either since both could be questioned by evidence to the contrary. As an American lawyer, writing a phrase like “read and approved” seems redundant and old fashioned to me and it seems to sound like that to Rosie too. We still have some archaic writing in law ourselves, but is seen as a sign of a lazy lawyer. A good lawyer will write documents that are free of unnecessary verbiage like this example. Hacks will decorate their language into oblivion and obfuscation.

As a Quebecois I'd say that's simply being a father. (lol)

The 2 most user-unfriendly sites I can think of off the top of my head aren't French: Zara and MAC Cosmetics :)