Coucou !
On March the 8th, it’s “La Journée de la Femme”: International Women’s Day, and as this blog is called “Comme une Française”, I’ve decided to do something special!
Since we talk about us, women, all year long here, I’ve invited an authentic, pure Normandy-bred Frenchman: my friend Ludovic from Spontanez-vous and… we’re going to do a special “Comme un Français” episode.
Something “Pour les mecs”. Watch this episode with your partner! ????
Click to watch « Pour les hommes: 5 ways to live Comme un Français »:
Et toi ?
What differences do see between French men and other nationalities?
What do you want to apply in YOUR life?
The comment section is the best area to start discussions and ask questions!
A bientôt !
Géraldine
PS: Yes, it’s a new set! And a new HD camera! As you’ll see, with all theses changes to deal with, I completely forgot to take off my glasses.
From the war don’t Frenchmen hold a sadness in their souls about the Vichy retreat?
Merci!😘😘
So gracious,
So admirable.
Salut!! Merci for Thais Nice episode. I like so much your content nas our guest is ‘fantastique’ ????????. A bientot. ?
Just to correct some mistakes km writing. I’m sorry ?
*this nice episode?
*your content and our… ?
Très gentil et très élégant le video d’aujourd’hui ! J’ai adoré surtout le site de recettes le « marmiton » ! Merci Géraldine et Ludovic !
J’adore les videos avec vous et celui-ci avec Ludovic. J’ai l’impression très gratifiante que mon fils Nicolas absorbé plus de vivre en France du 2-7 que je pensais. Il a tellement de ce que Ludovic épouse suit (modifié, un peu à être en Californie, bien sûr).
Merci beaucoup! I would very much like to share this on my blog!
Je regarde l’épisode, bien tardivement! I enjoyed it so much. Difficult to generalize about men, or to say “Frenchmen are like this,” or “American men are like that.” One thing I have noticed is that I have always felt seen and appreciated by Frenchmen. When I was dating a French painter he came to visit me in NYC. We were shopping at Zabars and he noticed a beautiful girl and asked me, “Why are the men not LOOKING at her? What is wrong with them?” It was hard for me to explain the sense of private you have to sometimes maintain in a big US city. He also used to say, “Elles ne se mettent pas en valeur!” upon seeing women in public who looked a bit unkempt. I find Frenchmen to be very sweet indeed, and appreciate leur galanterie!
I enjoyed this short video which portrayed a glimpse into the culture of Frenchmen.
I’m an Italian by ancestry who lives in Manhattan. Based on this video, I found many similarities between my experience of my Italian culture and the cultural norms depicted in the video.
I am middle-aged but I still kiss my mother and father on the cheek. I hug with open embrace my male and female friends. I compliment women I meet with innocent but sincere statements, such as, “I love your earrings. What type are they?” I know how to cook, somewhat. When I was dating, I was always the one who prepared the first dinner at home. Growing up both my father and mother cooked the Sunday meal.
The one thing that I would have to say is different, is the male “pissing contest.” I fine this to be the case in most levels of Italian society, but not in the way it’s portrayed in such cliche enforcing shows, such as “Jersey Shore.” I find that this aspect of the male bonding strongly exists in the American culture, as well.
Bonjour Geradine,
J’aime bien cette vidéo.
Et si on parlait d’Afrique précisément au Nigeria. Ici, on ne fait pas la bise; par contre, on serre la main. Bien entendu, entre les paires ou encore un homme éduqué voire l’éthnique. Les Yorubas du Sud ouest du Nigeria, nous on ” dòbálè” se courbe le dos ou s’allonger traditionnellement.
Donner des compléments à une petite amie ou une femme d’autrui peut être mal traduit le mari. En effet , cela se fait très rarement même entre les élites…
Savoir préparer? Quelqu’un des hommes Yorubas…
Excellente fin de semaine à vous deux.
Vos efforts pour présenter la langue et la culture française aux autres nationalités sont vraiment louables; c’est super! Je suis européenne en France depuis, um…….pas mal de temps et mariée à un français depuis 30 ans. Ce qu’a présenté Ludo, le le vis tous les jours. Mon mari est vraiment un français dans tous les sens du terme. 😉 bises à tous les deux.
Bonjour Geraldine,
Merci pour les videos les lyceens adorent vos videos. Ils sont tres interessant et les sujets sont instructifs.
Je vous remercie. Another good video would be to talk about how French people use salutations in letters. This was interesting to learn while I was in France because of the formalities and the “proper” way to address when making a request to the mayors office or la prefecture.
Also would you be willing to skype my high school students?
Mes sentiments les plus distinguees.
Bonjour Alice,
Super!
For the Skype session: Yes! Send me an email so we can fix a date.
Je ne comprend pas ce que “le concours de celui qui pisse le plus loin” vient faire dans la vidéo, j’utilise vos vidéos pour m’entraîner à la compréhension oral de l’anglais ^-^, et la pour le coup je me suis un peu perdue.
Love your glasses, Geraldine!
Ludovic makes French men seem so thoughtful. I have apparently dated Americanised French men here in the states.
Thanks Marzi!
Une question…is “salut les mecs” used only for greeting men friends? Can it be used to greet a mixed crowd? Can a woman use “salut les mecs”? J’aime bien votre ami Lodovic… I can see very well how the words can be better pronounced by watching his bouche…merci tellement…
Bonjour Judith,
“Salut les mecs” is to greet men only. A woman can use it.
I’ll pass on to Ludovic your kind words.
I loved it! Really made me laugh! Will show my husband when he gets home! Merci beaucoup!
🙂
Bonjour Géraldine,
Just saw you in the latest edition of Bien-Dire. Congratulations for being so successful at only 28!
I enjoyed today’s lesson with Ludovic, it was a lot of fun!
Thank you Karen. That’s very kind.
MERCI Geraldine et Ludovic! Very helpful for understanding some behaviour of my French partner 🙂
That’s great, Michelle! 🙂
I would add: wearing a man-purse! Before visiting France (I’m from the USA) I seriously thought it was just one of those myths Americans thought about French people , but didn’t actually happen. Maybe it’s a European thing, and not just a French thing though, I’m not sure?
Yes Megan, many men have a “sac” (or a “besace” or a “sacoche”). 🙂 My boyfriend uses one sometimes when his pockets are to small to carry his keys, wallet & phone (in summer).
I haven’t thought of this! Great idea. Thanks.
However, I don’t know about other European countries.
Irish men would NEVER consider wearing a sac (man-bag)
They would rather have pockets stuffed with wallets, keys etc – but of course we don’t get the hot weather to wear smaller garments…
Geraldine, I love your videos, thank you so much for sharing your free resources. Myself and my husband are just living in France now for a few months, and we are enjoying the new experiences.
In Ireland we as women hug and kiss (proper kiss, not an air kiss) with close friends and family. Men sometimes hug eachother and sometimes shake hands. Sometimes a nod is given (perhaps in the pub, or within a large group). I find Irish men quite prudish / modest. I am confused, if french men are so comfortable with kissing (both men and women) and giving women compliments, why are they so modest in the gym or similar places where nudity is common? I would have thought they would be very comfortable with each other’s nudity.
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for sharing your experience from Ireland. 🙂
Yes, it’s a paradox!
super!!! thank you for the awsome video
🙂
Mais vos lunettes vous vont vraiment bien! Vous devriez les porter plus souvent. Merci pour vos vidéos, qui sont toujours très divertissants et instructifs!
Merci Elizabeth c’est très gentil. 🙂
HI, I love your web announcements! I teach basic French to Deaf students. When the captions are on, the script comes out very haywire because of the accents and the use of French words which the voice recognized captions can not interpret across two languages. Would you be so kind to consider providing a script of your shows so we can read it prior to watching the video? Thanks!!
Thanks for your suggestion Sofia.
I loved how men/boys in france (of all ages) shook hands at every meetup, not just formal ones. Australian men (or blokes) do indeed shake hands, but not at every meetup. Likewise, I grew to appreciate the ‘faire les bises’ aspect of every meetup with friends in France – even if it was cursory, it was a nice tradition that we lack in Australia – here we at pains to be in each other’s space for the most-part, or at least are not encouraged to feel comfortable in sharing close space. We need to get over ourselves! 🙂
🙂
Vous êtes très å propos. Merci
I like your glasses and the new set up is very contemporary.
Bonjour Yvonnebird,
Thanks!
Salut Ludovic et Geraldine
Je pense que les Français sont très semblable á des hommes australiens – . Mais c’est vrais que nous ne pas faire la bise – les hommes australiens qui se plus connaissent bien souvent faire embrasser (hug each other) en guise de salutation, tout en serrant la main est pour plus de salutations ou réunion formelle pour la première fois. Nous n’avons pas nu très souvent, mais nous n’avons pas peur de nos corps, . Je pense que les hommes et les femmes françaises mettent davantage l’accent sur l’esthétique et le style que les hommes et les femmes australiennes.
S’il vous plaît continuez votre bon travail – je suis aimer les vidéos et oui aimerait voir plus pour les hommes – l’année dernière j’ai visité la France pendant 2 mois et serai de retour pour plus longtemps la prochaine fois 🙂
Merci Jerry, on note ta suggestion!
Salut Geraldine et Ludovic.
In Denmark men don´t kiss, but they often hug close friends or relatives, and shake hands with others. In fact, among friends, we often hug the ladies and shake hands with the men, 🙂
We don´t give compliments enough to women, but most men know how to cook! I wish more men were more pudique comme les francais.
Congrats on your new setup. That´s quite a wide angle lens you got there… 🙂
Bonjour Peter,
Thanks for sharing your experience from Denmark!
Yes, I need to adapt to this wide new angle. 🙂
Bonjour à Ludovic et à Geraldine,
Je vous remercie pour cela et même que ca m’a fait rire! Oooh la la les français. Les charmeurs mais gentils et oui ils peuvent faire la cuisine . C’est magnifique. Je les trouve un peu plus macho parfois?
Mais je vous aime bien.!!
Merci Fiona!
Slaut Ludovic and Geraldine
Loved your video today on french men. Delightful. I can’t think that there is too much difference between french men and Aussie men except that they never faire la bise to each other! They always shake hands. I think this may be changing as I note my sons who are 20 hug each other’s friends male and female. But I don’t think Australian males have been taught to give free compliments to women that are genuine and meant to make the woman feel good. And Australian men love to show-off and NUDE UP as we say. My husband and his mates have golfing weekends and it is traditional to Nude Up somewhere on the course together – sort of a male bonding ritual!! They are not so pudique!
Thanks for sharing the anecdote Kate!
Hi Geraldine and Ludovic, I think it’s a great thing to also add some video’s for the men. My husband works for a French business and it is always good to get ideas for him to fit in more. Thanks for this.
Glad to help, Donna!