Réflexions sur la culture et les différentes cultures, Reflexion on Culture and on the different cultures (Mixture of French and English)

Hi,

I'm not surprised by this. They have another culture. However, these americans make a mistake.
Tennis is not a thing for girls, but a gentleman's sport. Something aristocratic. Like golf.
And you know that soccer is probably even more violent than rugby, even if players are not so strong...

Hi Remy,

> They have another culture. However, these americans make a mistake.
I cannot see any mistake: they are different, that's all. They don't need to copy Europeans.
> ... gentleman... aristocratic...
Americans don't care about these "values".
Tennis is my world, my "playground" for about 50 years... I don't agree with "thing for girls" but I don't agree either with "gentleman" or "aristocratic".
Last night I stayed in front of my screen till 1:30am watching the Fed Cup in Missouri.

> soccer is probably even more violent than rugby, even if players are not so strong...
I totally agree with violence in the stand and nothing interesting on the field.

Hi Gerard,

Tennis has been my sport for some years; at the origin, more than one century ago, it was a sport of the high society; the ancestor was even le "jeu de paume" played under Louis XIV, as you probably know. Fortunately, this marvelous sport has been democratized. If you want to respect the mind of this sport, you must behave like a gentleman. Roger Federer earns much money because he is a genious, but also thanks to the fantastic image he conveys.

Some mates of mine tried to reach a high level at soccer, when they were young; the result is that, not only they didn't manage because they were good at sport, but not strong enough, but mainly they have today great health problems. Soccer is dangerous for bones and joints...

Hi Remy,

I agree with you about the source of "tennez". "Gentleman" this way is okay but I don't want tennis to be a simple game where people just push the ball for nether-ending rallies so that the other player can catch it easily.
An anecdote... Melissa, an American teacher of mine was a promising young Californian player at national level; she played with the best stars of American tennis or had known others when they were 7 (one who was at the time Agassi's coach). I was very proud that Guy Forget refused the point given to him by the empire in a very important match against Willander at Roland Garros because he was sure the opponent's ball was good (but judged out).
Melissa, on the opposite, was very angry as -she said- players must not discuss the decisions of the umpire.

Knees and ankles often suffer a lot from tennis practice.

Hi everyone,

The French look strange to an American eye as we're always kissing one another... and, of course, they don't know how to behave: they dread being kissed

Do you know what an American hug is? Did you practise this? Are hugs as frequent in the US than kisses in France? Is a hug like the French "accolade (En Embrace)"?

In a meeting in Ermont, we spoke about this months ago and all of the attendants who experienced hugs (including me) said it was way closer and much more contact that our ordinary kiss.

What do you think? Do you know?
Thanks for your words on the subject.

Hello  Gérard, hello everyone,

Yes I imagine hugs are closer and imply more contact than a simple kiss.
They seem more sincere and hearty but I am not sure when I see politicians meeting in a foreign country and doing it as a formal duty.
I think the more people you kiss, the less sincere it is.
I like to kiss a special person as a welcome sign when I have not seen him/ her for a long time and enjoy seeing him/her again. But I hate having to kiss a whole group of people I don't know well, just because they belong to the same group as me. The old fashion of shaking hands suits me better. It implies looking at the person in the eyes and smiling heartily, even adding a few words of kindness if you feel like it. Which you cannot do if you are busy with your lips stuck to the other's cheek. And what if you are one of those who kiss 2 cheeks or even 4 ?

Hi Ghislaine,

Thanks for your words.

To me, hugs are closer than kisses (many kisses are just knocks with the cheeks; hugs are more sincere). I hugged American girls whom I would not have kissed if they had been French.

Hi Gérard hi Guilaine, hi everyone
All this rings a bell for me. I remember the conversation I had with one of my Nepalese friends who was so delighted to go back to his home country for a holiday and see  his mother again (He used to Skype her every day and loved her so much). I wanted to be nice and I told him "Give a kiss to your Mom for me, will you" "I have never kissed my mother in all my life" He answered. 

Hi again !
In fact  I think that it is very important to create "open conviviality spaces " everywhere in the world for people to meet and talk. The way they kiss, hug or shake hands is not so important. What is important is to be happy to see one another, laugh with one another or share ideas. Any way I agree that a hug expresses a lot of affection.  

hi everyone
interesting subject, i found some links, in regard with different contexts , management and even dating where kissing is not the rule, so why would we decide, French, that it should the rule ?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f6c31ca-21cc-11e3-9b55-00144feab7de.html#axzz2ziMszMPh

http://www.spottedbylocals.com/blog/europe-greeting-culture-to-kiss-hug-or-shake-hands/

http://www.examiner.com/article/do-you-kiss-hug-shake-hands-or-wave-goodbye-to-your-internet-date

On this last link, it's about what you say when you greet somebody, because the word that come with the gesture of kissing, hugging... is as important... I happen to be kissed by someone who then doesn't tell me anything nice during the rest of the meeting, so why kissing, shaking hands is enough sometimes, no need to overact !

http://pocketcultures.com/2010/07/14/kiss-hug-or-shake-hands/

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your links Jean-Pierre, I didn't read them all but it's funny and interesting.

I asked Krystyna (Australian) and she told me Aussies were no kissers.
She told me that if she had not seen her sister for long, they would shake hands   but her brother would kiss her.
The daily greeting is just "hello".
She told me Aussies didn't kiss except drunk men
Australian hugs are not as close as American ones.
They call American hugs "Bear hugs".
What we do in France (between friends or in a family) is not a kiss but a "peck"; a kiss is longer and warmer.

Hi there.

Rachel's English·338 videos
-> How to Pronounce STAFF vs. STUFF -- American English

Hi there.

Rachel's English·338 videos
-> How to Pronounce T and D between Consonants -- American English

yes those videos are very good. I have tried "greetings" and also noticed the American hugs (Not kissing)

Hi Muriel, hi everyone,

Thanks for the video.

MurielB a écrit:yes those videos are very good. I have tried "greetings" and also noticed the American hugs (Not kissing)

I should put this in "True English"  rather than here because it's not specifically American but as you are speaking about "kisses".
In English, there are several words (like in French) - I tried to set them in the order of increaasing intimacy:
- peck
- smooch / kissie
- kiss
- tongy or tonguy (I don't know well)... possibly Aussie teenagers' language
- French kiss

Gérard a écrit:I should put this in "True English"

there it is now...

Hi Muriel,

> I should put this in "True English"
If I write this in the first words of my post and don't do it, it means I don't want to

Hi everyone,

American traditional Coffee is not exactly espresso...

> On average, American coffee drinkers consume 3.5 cups a day
Another post speaks about lots of coffee drinken by Americans but we cannot compare American and Italian.

American coffee is served in a mug ie the quantity of liquid is 4 to 5fold the quantity of an Italian one. At the same time, American coffee is lighter (hardly stronger than dirty water). It usually is an insulated mug and they keep it for an hour.


I don't know how it came. True that at work, we had a coffee machine that provided the beverage in plastic cups and we could choose between short or long.
Now I'm used to drinking American coffee in a big mug.
My daughter in law loves true Italian coffee and drinks coffee from her special professional device advertised by George C. I now realize that when she comes home, I serve her coffee in a mug... I now understand why she doesn't accept my coffee any longer  

gerardM a écrit:Hi Muriel,

> I should put this in "True English"
If I write this in the first words of my post and don't do it, it means I don't want to

Hi Gérard
do you want me to delete it from "True English" ?

No Muriel, thanks.

Hi there.

This is just to show you a typical angry American girlie; you're not obliged to use the swearwords

Cathy -
Fracking bullshit! AC don't work again. 80 degrees in the house and of course, they won't send someone out until tomorrow. Just fucking wonderful. After the guy 'fixed' the AC last week, the weather got colder, and I needed heat a night or two.... well guess what, it didn't work. Now AC is dead again. I am not a happy camper right now.

In fact Cathy is a Quebecker but often more American than Americans!

AC is power, electricity; it stands for "alternating current".
> I am not a happy campe
Am expression which just means "I'm not happy!"

... and a comment:

Jessica - Grrrr....I am seething with you woman. Kick their back quarters and get them in line!

Hi everyone,

Not very funny...

The traditional obituary in the States:
- specialized web site


- Facebook (yes!)


Corrine is a friend of mine! She teaches me many things re American culture.
A few months ago, Corrine posted to thank firemen who had saved her husband (realy "saved" - I don't remember the number of minutes of artificaial respiration)... too sad!

Hi Gérard, everyone
I don't know neither Corrine nor her family but I deeply sumpathise with all her family and friends : 66 is very young.

Thanks Muriel,

I wrote about Corrine thanking the firemen a few months ago; I forgot to say her husband had a stroke then.

Corrine uses Facebook to post her thankings as well as personal information.



As we can see, Americans use Facebook even though Corrine is an expert in computer security.

I'm always amazed by American words in such cases (main text as well as responses): I'm unable to find so kind words and post them publically.
What's amazing as well is the number of people responding; I'm able to distinguish between Americans and Europeans according to the words used.