I should try that! Now I'm curious and interested and curious again.
In my cross-cultural management class today, my prof (who, as a side note, is British, which I find amusing) was like, I am going to let you in on a secret. If you ask a French person for something straight out, they will ignore you. Or assist you begrudgingly. If you say the magic words, however, they will go out of their way to help you nicely. For example, if you want to open a bank account...
Scenario 1: you: Bonjour madame, je voudrais ouvrir un compte bancaire s'il vous plait. banker: angry and slow
Scenario 2: you: Bonjour madame, je m'excuse de vous deranger, mais j'ai un petit probleme. Je ne sais pas comment d'ouvrir un compte bancaire. banker: helpful and pleasant
Why, you ask? Apparently the key phrase not only seems slightly more polite, but establishes that you are, in fact, inferior to them, which makes them, in turn, more willing to help. Apparently France is a very hierarchical society. Who knew?
Well, as it happened, I went to open a bank account this afternoon. Worked like a charm! That's my new favourite phrase! If you are ever in France, all you need to know are the magic words: [i]Bonjour ______ (madame / monsieur). Je m'excuse de vous deranger, mais j'ai un petit probleme.[/i]
thAt is aLL the wISdOm i caN pass along today.
(Hopefully, this will only post one time, as opposed to 8 million...)
I have noticed too that when French people say things in English it sometimes sounds really rude until you translate it back into French word for word and it sounds polite in French......
Like "Give me that." versus "Donnez-le moi" type thing...
In my cross-cultural management class today, my prof (who, as a side note, is British, which I find amusing) was like, I am going to let you in on a secret. If you ask a French person for something straight out, they will ignore you. Or assist you begrudgingly. If you say the magic words, however, they will go out of their way to help you nicely. For example, if you want to open a bank account...
Scenario 1:
you: Bonjour madame, je voudrais ouvrir un compte bancaire s'il vous plait.
banker: angry and slow
Scenario 2:
you: Bonjour madame, je m'excuse de vous deranger, mais j'ai un petit probleme. Je ne sais pas comment d'ouvrir un compte bancaire.
banker: helpful and pleasant
Why, you ask? Apparently the key phrase not only seems slightly more polite, but establishes that you are, in fact, inferior to them, which makes them, in turn, more willing to help. Apparently France is a very hierarchical society. Who knew?
Well, as it happened, I went to open a bank account this afternoon. Worked like a charm! That's my new favourite phrase! If you are ever in France, all you need to know are the magic words:
[i]Bonjour ______ (madame / monsieur). Je m'excuse de vous deranger, mais j'ai un petit probleme.[/i]
thAt is aLL the wISdOm i caN pass along today.
(Hopefully, this will only post one time, as opposed to 8 million...)
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Like "Give me that." versus "Donnez-le moi" type thing...
Yesss....
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