Hey bloggerssss
As i'm from Belgium, I already knew a bit from before how French people would be, so it wasn't a big shock for me when I met French persons. However, I expected the South of France (Montpellier, ...) to be a bit different: my expectations were: hotter weather in February, March and about the people, that they would play petanque everyday (but apparantly, this isn't so popular here).
However, with or without stereotypes, I still really like it here. Maybe French people (especially South-France) have a more stereotypically view about Belgians. They really think we are loosy drivers that we eat Moules every day and that we are all stupid (due to the Wallon accent who sounds stupid in French). Well, we eat fries everyday and some of us are stupid (indeed). Look at this example:
Stupid Belgian Woman
Hehe, that's funny :P But not all of us are like that, so be aware of that!
Groetjes! (Bye bye in Dutch)
Michiel
lundi 18 mars 2013
dimanche 17 mars 2013
Stereotypes!!!??
Ki manière? (A way of saying hello in Mauritian Kreol)
My first year and experience in Toulouse allowed to know some french manners and what to expect. I wasn't surprised by the "Montpellierains" themselves but more by the fact that in the city, you have more french coming from several other parts of France and migrate here for weather and especially sun, Nabil, also known as late man is one of them,coming from Nancy, he wanted to escape the snow and its endless winter.
The most surprising thing was the huge amount of Erasmus students in the town and the fact that courses was going to be shared with some of them. This helped me to discover new cultures and ,for some of them, break stereotypes, for example germans, I've been told they are very cold, very strict and prefer stringency to creativity. Definitely that's untrue, most of them are good examples, good ambassadors.
I'd like to finish by dealing with the European stereotype, my grandfather told me before I came here: "you'll see that europeans are very friendly at first sight but won't invite you home very easily". I must recognise that he was partly right, people can be very friendly with you and you can share very good moments and experiences with them but it doesn't mean the friendship will go further, I may think it's due to the lifestyle which is totally different from my past lifestyle, here you meet and cross a lot of people each day.
And finally, from my point of view, what is the most important, whatever the culture, is the set of common values shared with people surrounding you, it's this set that can lead to creation of true relationships.
Thank you for reading,
Thomas
My first year and experience in Toulouse allowed to know some french manners and what to expect. I wasn't surprised by the "Montpellierains" themselves but more by the fact that in the city, you have more french coming from several other parts of France and migrate here for weather and especially sun, Nabil, also known as late man is one of them,coming from Nancy, he wanted to escape the snow and its endless winter.
The most surprising thing was the huge amount of Erasmus students in the town and the fact that courses was going to be shared with some of them. This helped me to discover new cultures and ,for some of them, break stereotypes, for example germans, I've been told they are very cold, very strict and prefer stringency to creativity. Definitely that's untrue, most of them are good examples, good ambassadors.
I'd like to finish by dealing with the European stereotype, my grandfather told me before I came here: "you'll see that europeans are very friendly at first sight but won't invite you home very easily". I must recognise that he was partly right, people can be very friendly with you and you can share very good moments and experiences with them but it doesn't mean the friendship will go further, I may think it's due to the lifestyle which is totally different from my past lifestyle, here you meet and cross a lot of people each day.
And finally, from my point of view, what is the most important, whatever the culture, is the set of common values shared with people surrounding you, it's this set that can lead to creation of true relationships.
Thank you for reading,
Thomas
Salutations à tous!
Rainy sunday as a perfect moment to update my blog! I'll start with the most important thing, I finally moved into a new apartment! Apartment is located in city center, next to the Place de Jean Joures. My roomies are Petra and Natalia. Our apartment is eight times bigger than our rooms in dorm (i'm analysing how big is our ex room, not apartment). Advice for all the students in Montpellier: try to find an apartment, it's possible to live in apartment for the same or similar rent as in student residences. If you or one of your roomies is a french speaker, it will make things much easier. I had to move out from Triolet earlier than i moved into a new apartment, so I lived with three Irish lads in the meantime. Otherwise I would be homeless. During the last week two really diverting things happened. Students from Montpellier organised Harlem Shake on last saturday at Place de la Comedie. Unfortunalely, I couldn't participate it. Secondly, famous comedian and performer Remi Gaillard announced he's looking for people who want to act as an extra actors in his new movie. As I'm his big fan, I applied for it. I also booked a flight to Marrakech in April with Michael and Jack. I'm really excited about visiting Morocco!
That's all for the moment, enjoy your beers, happy St.Patrick's day!
Stereotypes
Hey,
So, just like the rest of you guys, I heard many stereotypes about France and the French people before I came to Montpellier. I heard all sorts of things from the French being arrogant, that they love to eat frog's legs and snails and that they don't wash themselves enough and smell bad. Since my arrival in Montpellier, it has been obvious to me that these stereotypes are untrue.
However, some of what I heard about the French before I came did turn out to be true. The French people love coffee and cigarettes. Almost everybody in our licence classes here smokes a cigarette and drinks a coffee during the class breaks. As well as that I heard that the French are very fashionable, and in comparison to in Ireland, this is very true. The people dress so much better here than back home.
So that's some of the things I noticed since coming to Montpellier, obviously you can't always believe what you hear...gotta see for yourself!!!
Happy Paddy's Day Everybody !! :)
So, just like the rest of you guys, I heard many stereotypes about France and the French people before I came to Montpellier. I heard all sorts of things from the French being arrogant, that they love to eat frog's legs and snails and that they don't wash themselves enough and smell bad. Since my arrival in Montpellier, it has been obvious to me that these stereotypes are untrue.
However, some of what I heard about the French before I came did turn out to be true. The French people love coffee and cigarettes. Almost everybody in our licence classes here smokes a cigarette and drinks a coffee during the class breaks. As well as that I heard that the French are very fashionable, and in comparison to in Ireland, this is very true. The people dress so much better here than back home.
So that's some of the things I noticed since coming to Montpellier, obviously you can't always believe what you hear...gotta see for yourself!!!
Happy Paddy's Day Everybody !! :)
German stereotyopes about French
Of course there are the stereotypes about French people that are true, for example that they eat baguette and cheese and drink wine. Just like the majority of Germans likes sausages and drinks beer.
As for the saying the French people are arrogant: It is funny because until I came to Montpellier I have always defended the French when someone said they were arrogant, because in Besancon and Paris I had only made good experiences. As soon as I said only Excuse moi in French they were super friendly and even tried to speak English with me. Montpellier changed this experience as I met many unfriendly people, who even when I was making an effort to speak French spoke as fast as they possibly could to make sure I don't understand anything. I don't want to generalize that, I've also met so many very helpful friendly people here :) I think it is just something you will find in France more often than in other countries.
The weather also kind of caught me off guard... I really thought there is no such thing as cold days in the south of France...
As for the saying the French people are arrogant: It is funny because until I came to Montpellier I have always defended the French when someone said they were arrogant, because in Besancon and Paris I had only made good experiences. As soon as I said only Excuse moi in French they were super friendly and even tried to speak English with me. Montpellier changed this experience as I met many unfriendly people, who even when I was making an effort to speak French spoke as fast as they possibly could to make sure I don't understand anything. I don't want to generalize that, I've also met so many very helpful friendly people here :) I think it is just something you will find in France more often than in other countries.
The weather also kind of caught me off guard... I really thought there is no such thing as cold days in the south of France...
About Montpellier
Hi everyone !
I came in Montpellier for my last year of high school, almost 10 years ago. Originally I'm from a small town in the south west of France (south of Bordeaux), and everything I had heard about Montpellier before coming appeared to be actually true.
Montpellier is a student city, and every one is going out every day of the week ! There is always a party thrown somewhere, or someone that will influence you into going out with them , even on sunday or monday night !!
Also, I don't know if you noticed, but every single day, if you hang out in the city center, you feel like no one is at work and everyone is shopping... The city center, Polygone for instance, is always crowded, and I am always wondering why people aren't at work !
Also, people from the south east of France are always late ! I had always been punctual, but now as I live here, I am always 15 minutes late...
The last thing that is a cliché but is true, is of course, about the weather... I am so used to sun 300 days a year, that I can't picture myself moving to a city where it's raining most of the time, or where it's cold... I feel so sad and wake up in a bad mood where it's below 10 degrees (celsius) cold, or where it's raining for like 3 days in a row ! I love Paris and London but winter there is 6 months a year, whereas here you feel like it's spring all the time !
That's it, everything I heard before coming here is true !
Happy sunday, see you all tomorrow :)
Elise.
I came in Montpellier for my last year of high school, almost 10 years ago. Originally I'm from a small town in the south west of France (south of Bordeaux), and everything I had heard about Montpellier before coming appeared to be actually true.
Montpellier is a student city, and every one is going out every day of the week ! There is always a party thrown somewhere, or someone that will influence you into going out with them , even on sunday or monday night !!
Also, I don't know if you noticed, but every single day, if you hang out in the city center, you feel like no one is at work and everyone is shopping... The city center, Polygone for instance, is always crowded, and I am always wondering why people aren't at work !
Also, people from the south east of France are always late ! I had always been punctual, but now as I live here, I am always 15 minutes late...
The last thing that is a cliché but is true, is of course, about the weather... I am so used to sun 300 days a year, that I can't picture myself moving to a city where it's raining most of the time, or where it's cold... I feel so sad and wake up in a bad mood where it's below 10 degrees (celsius) cold, or where it's raining for like 3 days in a row ! I love Paris and London but winter there is 6 months a year, whereas here you feel like it's spring all the time !
That's it, everything I heard before coming here is true !
Happy sunday, see you all tomorrow :)
Elise.
samedi 16 mars 2013
Stereotypes from a Spanish guy
Hi guys,
As a Spanish, I have to say we do have a few stereotypes about French people. Honestly, we have never get on really wel with each other!... It's been like that for years. Mainly, Spanish people say French just want to speak their language, that they don't talk to you in another language or, even more, if you don't speak proper French.
I don't really have a reason for the origin of these stereotypes, but I would venture to say that is been created by Spanish people who don't speak French (or English) and visited France but kept speaking Spanish, expecting French people to understand them. French people would get angry and this would be the image Spanish people kept. Yes, we can be that idiot here.
In my opinon, this sterotype is half true: maybe elderly (and not that elderly) people can be a little bit rude with a person who doesn't speak French but I think it doesn't apply to students (more open-minded), immigrants and, more important, second or third-generation immigrants (sons or daughters of immigrant people already settled in France). I have had experiences with the last ones and I found them incredibly kind.
There is also the stereotype of chovinism, but I don't think neither it is a stereotype (I do think it's true) nor it is bad. It can lead to problems (the main of these problems can be the lack of knowledge from other cultures and languages), of course, but we all are proud of our country, I guess. I cannot criticise them for that.
To end up, I would like to recommend you all a film, related to the racism topic we saw and to the webpage adress the teacher sent us: Hotel Rwanda. It amazed me and upset me at the same time...
Sorry about the long post,
Luis
As a Spanish, I have to say we do have a few stereotypes about French people. Honestly, we have never get on really wel with each other!... It's been like that for years. Mainly, Spanish people say French just want to speak their language, that they don't talk to you in another language or, even more, if you don't speak proper French.
I don't really have a reason for the origin of these stereotypes, but I would venture to say that is been created by Spanish people who don't speak French (or English) and visited France but kept speaking Spanish, expecting French people to understand them. French people would get angry and this would be the image Spanish people kept. Yes, we can be that idiot here.
In my opinon, this sterotype is half true: maybe elderly (and not that elderly) people can be a little bit rude with a person who doesn't speak French but I think it doesn't apply to students (more open-minded), immigrants and, more important, second or third-generation immigrants (sons or daughters of immigrant people already settled in France). I have had experiences with the last ones and I found them incredibly kind.
There is also the stereotype of chovinism, but I don't think neither it is a stereotype (I do think it's true) nor it is bad. It can lead to problems (the main of these problems can be the lack of knowledge from other cultures and languages), of course, but we all are proud of our country, I guess. I cannot criticise them for that.
To end up, I would like to recommend you all a film, related to the racism topic we saw and to the webpage adress the teacher sent us: Hotel Rwanda. It amazed me and upset me at the same time...
Sorry about the long post,
Luis
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