i haven't had much experience with French people, the only French person I've ever met was actually a pretty kind person. I'm aware this story very, very likely fabricated

all 41 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 170 points 2 years ago (1 child)
  • [–] 107 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    My experience being stationed in Germany with the US military, about 30 mins from the French border:

    A coworker of mine complained about his visit to Paris because every single French person he tried to speak to either ignored him, turned their nose up at him, or was just rude to him. He only spoke English and they all seemed offended when he tried to get their attention in English.

    My wife and I took several years of French in high school, and whereas neither of us could hold a proper conversation, we knew enough to ask directions, order from a menu, or request help.

    Every time we started off a conversation in French, the French people would immediately switch to English and help us out. They were very kind to us.

    We learned that if you make an effort to speak their language, most French people are very helpful. But if you just assume they'll speak English, they're likely to be offended and won't help you out.


    One time in Berlin, my wife tried to speak German to a guy at a tourist shop and he immediately switched into French. Apparently, my wife has a heavy French accent to her German. She was able to finish the conversation in French.

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 50 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    We learned that if you make an effort to speak their language, most French people are very helpful. But if you just assume they’ll speak English, they’re likely to be offended and won’t help you out.

    You're not the first person I've heard this from. It seems to be a pretty universal experience, particularly in Paris.

    Personally, as someone who took French in school, when I went to France I wanted the opportunity to practise it. And I found the French to be very friendly with it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 33 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    when I went to France I wanted the opportunity to practise it.

    My wife's biggest frustration in France was that she wanted to practice her French, but everyone picked up on her American accent and immediately switched to English. She rarely got more than a sentence out.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Honestly, I make an effort to learn some basic phrases in the language of any country I visit, in no small part to simply not get put in the same category as those who don't bother.

    That and some of the more fun holiday memories I've got over the years started by me fumbling through the local language—as you say, most people are magnitudes more friendly if you don't give the impression you think everyone should speak your language

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    I don't get why people care about that, i mean sure if a foreign visitor shows up speaking actually good swedish i'd be pretty impressed but otherwise it kinda just feels a bit pretentious and cringy.

    It's not like speaking english means you're from an english-speaking country, and assuming that feels really anglocentric, ironically.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Kindness is not how I would describe my experience in Paris.

    I went to Paris once, but ze waiter ignored my attempts at speaking French when I tried ordering something to drink. And when he deemed me worthy of a little bit of his attention, he insulted me (the French friend I was with was appalled by what the waiter said about me). We left without getting anything to drink there. Instead opted for a bottle of water from a supermarket.

    They say we Dutch are rude, but we pale in comparison to French waiters.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 42 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    How could 501 people downvote such a brilliant work of fiction?

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 30 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I think that's showing a total score of 501, and that the screenshot-taker downvoted. So at least 502 people upvoted it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 34 points 2 years ago

    Some people might say that you shouldn't judge a people based on the actions of one person but what about the time that I was twelve years old and the entire past, present, and future population of Italy kicked down my door and stole my lunch money?? How do you account for that? You cannot!

  • source
  • [+] 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
    [–] 25 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Just because one French guy was mean to you doesn't mean all French people are bad lol. There are dickheads in every country.

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    There was a foreign exchange girl from France. She was brutal. She said whatever was on her mind. She wouldn't even blink as she said in broken English that you werent worth the air you are breathing.

    So yeah, this story checks out.

    God I wanted her to step on me.

    Wait what?

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    This made me sad :(

    (More people should use redlib instead of having a reddit account)

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    10-second pitch: Redlib is a private front-end like Invidious but for Reddit. Browse the coldest takes of r/unpopularopinion without being tracked.

    🚀 Fast: written in Rust for blazing-fast speeds and memory safety
    ☁️ Light: no JavaScript, no ads, no tracking, no bloat
    🕵 Private: all requests are proxied through the server, including media
    🔒 Secure: strong Content Security Policy prevents browser requests to Reddit
    
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    The diesel nozzle is thicker than the gas one, it wouldn't have gone in.

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It doesn't have to be. I managed to fill my car up with diesel accidentally once... the nozzle was the same size, just a different color (which I didn't notice until much too late).

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Le gars ne sait même pas prendre de l'essence lui-même. C'est pas juste qu'il n'a pas l'habitude, il est allé demander de l'aide à un inconnu. Il ne vérifie pas si le carburant est le bon et après il suppose que le Français l'a fait exprès parce qu'il le voit rigoler. Excusez-moi mais il est risible en faites. C'est tout.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Wife's cousin was a concert harpist living a while in Paris. Every time she would practice THE HARP, during normal daylight hours, the older woman would howl and bang the ceiling (cousins floor) and was extremely awful to her in every way possible. Because... Harp.

    Fucking wacky

  • source
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    Bien joué, mon frère !

  • source
  • [–] -3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Wrong “gas”? Most Americans don’t know what gas is. They really have no clue that gas stands for gasoline and it’s a different petroleum product that diesel. The other day I saw someone arguing with another person for saying “Oxygen is a gas”. The American kept saying, “No, oxygen is what we breathe. Gas is what we fill in our car.”

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments