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| Body
language |
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How can you tell an American
from a Frenchman ?
- Make him count 1,2,3,4,... : the American will start
with the little finger and end with the thumb, the Frenchman
just the opposite.
- Make him walk
: the American will move
his arms and take a lot of space, the Frenchman will be much
stiffer
- Make him hug : the
American will look as if he was afraid of bad breath, stay as
far as possible and give big hits on the back of the other person
; the Frenchman , like the Spanish with his abrazo, will
actually TOUCH the body of the other person and act as if he
was enjoying it
- Put him in an elevator
: the American will talk (the French will try to avoid any eye
contact)
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- Make him (and particularly,
make her) laugh and hear and see the difference in the
level of noise and in muscular activity...
- Make him say "everything is OK"
: he will form a circle joining thumb and index (in French, this
gesture means : "zero")
- Enjoy a meal with him : he will put his bread on
his plate (the French put it on the table) ans his hands on his
thighs (the French put them on the table)
- For more about body language,
visit a comprehensive
website. and an intercultural
website.
- More to come
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| DID YOU KNOW THAT ....? The French touch
each other a lot ! According to a study quoted by Le Figaro
Madame (May 3, 2003) a study on heterosexual couples seated at
a terrace established the number of contacts at 110 per half-hour
as compared to 2 for Americans ! Look how President Sarkozy behaves,
always touching the shoulder, the nexk, the arm of the people
he is talking to... |
The French and their
body language : some example
- Why the French seem rude even when
they're not ? Far be
it from me to defend the French who seem to be quite good both
at ticking off the Entire World and at defending themselves.
I do however submit two possible reasons the French appear rude
even when they are not : body language and intonation. French
body language is very expressive. There's some physical gesture
for almost any emotion and when the emotion is exasperation or
anger, it shows even when there are no words. French intonation,
to a non-French speaking person, makes the French sound angry
even when two Frenchmen are only discussing the World Cup or
the latest Social Security reform or the taste of Paris tap water.
Solution : Learn French Body Language. Learn French !
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 Are you crazy ? credits |
Laurence Wylie was professor of French Civilization
at Harvard and the author of the classical "Village
in the Vaucluse". He studied French body-language and
this is an example of it. Here are a few quotes from an interview
he gave to a magazine (L'Express 1/8/1977) : |
- The French are more controlled
(than Americans) : their chest remains straight, their pelvis
horizontal, their shoulders do not move and their arms are close
to their body ... there is something stiff and tense in the French
way of moving (read an
explanation about it by a French psycho-analyst)
- This is why French clothes are
too narrow, too tight for us : being very controlled with their
bodies, the French need verbal expression as an outlet (maybe
this is why they are often considered rude)
- Americans need more space to
move
- Your obsession with rationality
leads you to give a major importance to your head : the most
characteristic French gestures are associated with the head :
mouth, eyes, nose, etc... (for instance, the French say "My
eye" and point their finger to their eye, when Americans
say "My foot")
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Harriet Welty Rochefort
writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates
The Maddening Mysteries of the French",
St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American
in Paris", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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