(chapter
3)
Puivate Space
Montignac is a sleepy town i n the southwest corner of the country and the
picture postcard of a French commune. It boasts a fourteenth-century castle, ancient houses w i t h red tile roofs, and a surprisingly dense urban life
for a population of three thousand. Smack i n the middle of le Perigord, the
pays east of Bordeaux renowned for foie gras, confit, and cassoulet, i t is the
closest t o w n to the prehistoric site of Lascaux, a cave where twenty-twothousand-year-old paintings of horses, buffalo, and deer cover the walls.
But we w i l l remember the town for a lesson we learned about privacy there.
I n the company of Jean-BenoTt's parents, we were wandering the
streets i n the upper reaches of the town, grumbling because we hadn't been
able to visit the town's castle, w h i c h was private property. Walking back to
the town's center, Julie and her mother-in-law stopped to inspect a tree
that had two dozen CDs hanging from its branches. O n closer inspection,
we saw that i t was a fruit tree and the CDs were there to scare away birds.
Whether the plum-size fruits were figs or quinces, we didn't know, but
before we could decide, the owner of the garden emerged from a grove of
bamboo and banana trees in the back of the yard.
W i t h o u t introducing himself, he settled the question of the fruit. It
was indeed a fig tree. We told h i m we were surprised to find figs growing i n
France i n October, and the conversation got rolling. T h e man told us the
32
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private space
33
history of the village, explained the contents of his garden, and mentioned
Mr. H . L . Brossard, pour vous servir (at your service).
that he had built his house himself. He even gave us some juicy details
Mr. Brossard and Jean-Benoit's father, both k i n d men, would not have
about local politics. ("There are lots of Dutch who buy houses here," he
admitted they had actually rubbed each other the wrong way. Mr. Brossard
said, "but locals don't like them because they never spend their money at
had given us a tour of his garden, taken us into his home, opened up his bar
local restaurants.") We asked h i m about the famous Lascaux caves, and he
for us, and showed us pictures of his children without telling us his name.
told us i t was a childhood friend of his who had discovered them in 1940.
Mr. Nadeau had listened all the while wondering why our host didn't have
After listening to us rave about the figs, he went inside to get us a jar of his
the good manners to introduce himself. We'd been through this ourselves
wife's homemade fig jam. His wife came back w i t h h i m , and the six of us
when we were visiting the Beaujolais (the pays n o r t h of Lyon) with parents
chatted for half an hour over the wooden fence, at w h i c h point he invited
of a close friend. A sports physician we met invited us into his renovated
us inside for I'apero (a drink).
thirteenth-century castle and even took us to a private wine tasting i n his
The man was a perfect casual host. He was not finicky about his own
village, but never told us his name or asked otirs. (We slyly read it on an
appearance—we had caught h i m gardening, after a l l — a n d graciously pre-
envelope o n the dining room table). Another time, a friendly couple we
sented us w i t h a platter of peanuts, pretzels, and pastis. H e had traveled a
met i n a neighborhood restaurant i n Paris actually offered us the use of their
lot and was curious to find out what we thought of France and the French.
car if we ever needed it, but never told us who they were.
We had been i n the country long enough by this time to know some
This reticence to offer names may be one reason the French are so
rules about conversation. Questions N o r t h Americans consider polite, to
often accused of being aloof. Yet these incidents had nothing to do w i t h
the point of being banal, are sometimes considered rude i n France—espe-
lack of hospitality. Perfect strangers had invited us i n t o their homes, spent
cially, " W h a t do you do?" or, "What's your name?" We had learned that you
entire afternoons entertaining us, and offered us the use of their cars. T h e
should extract names and occupations indirectly by talking about other
misunderstanding over introductions comes from different notions of pri-
things like politics, culture, arts, or anything related to food. So when it
vacy. Americans and the French simply have entirely different ideas about
was time to leave, we got ready to say, "We are very sorry to end this con-
what information you share w i t h sttangers, and what information you
versation and hope we can pursue i t o n another occasion," a technique
don't shate. Conflicting notions of privacy make the behavior of one seem
that had often produced the desired result. There are other ways to get peo-
inappropriate to the other.
ple's names. T h o u g h it sounds precious and formal to N o r t h American
ears, you can ask, " W h a t should I do to have the pleasure of speaking to
you again?"
By privacy, we don't mean the issue of legally protecting personal
information. We're not even talking about ideas of personal space, though
the French are clearly less finicky than N o r t h Americans are about physi-
Though he'd traveled i n France before, Jean-Benoit's father, a busi-
cal proximity to strangers. By privacy here we mean each culture's intuitive
nessman, had no idea there were different rules of conversation about
sense of what's intimate, and what's public. For instance, N o r t h Americans
being too direct i n these circumstances.
freely discuss names and occupations i n public, but these things are con-
As he shook hands w i t h our host before leaving, he asked, "So, what's
your name?"
There was an awkward pause. Our host looked puzzled—not shocked,
just perplexed, as if he didn't see the point. He pulled out a card and
handed it to Jean-Benoit's father.
sidered extremely private matters i n France. T h e French freely kiss and
argue i n public, while N o r t h Americans consider i t more appropriate to do
these things i n private. A n d that's just the beginning.
W e tend to t h i n k of communication as verbal, but a lot of it (anthropologists say, most) is actually nonverbal. Even before we open our mouths,
34-
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35
others assess dozens of things about us. I n a split second they determine
the door, traditionally, communication i n N o r t h American stores is purpose-
whether we are dangerous or not, put us i n categories, and decide whether
driven. N o one speaks to you except to help you find what you need. But
they want to speak to us, even before a word has been uttered. Privacy is a
part of this nonverbal system of communication. Or as author Polly Piatt
so aptly describes i t i n French or Foe?, her guidebook to French manners
and more, people walk around inside a series of concentric bubbles that
define what's public, what's private, what's personal, and what's intimate.
Each of these bubbles can be penetrated without creating hostility if you
know the codes. But if you don't k n o w the codes, there w i l l be trouble, and
words won't save you.
Such difficulties have nothing to do w i t h language: Jean-Benoit is perfectly fluent i n French, but he still got hostile reactions from the French
when he inadvertently entered the private sphere without knowing it. For
a long time, when the French acted snobby, hostile, or aloof w i t h us, we
that's not the way it works i n France. The French store is considered the
extension of the owner's h o m e — i n many cases, it actually is. So the French
tend to treat businesses as part of the private sphere. It's up to the customer
to say something nice when entering and exiting the premises. Even an open
newspaper counter i n a train station has an "inside" and an "outside," and
the cashier might not take your money until you've said bonjour. This
explains why it is so hard to get good service i n big stores in France.
Employees are notoriously aloof i n these stores. There's no ritual in place to
regulate their interaction w i t h customers. If there was a way of yelling bonjour loud enough to be heard by all i n a thirty-five-thousand-square-foot
space, maybe that would help. But neglecting to say bonjour to a clerk when
entering a department did guarantee us bad service.
thought we were just dealing w i t h some difficult individual characters. But
The bonjour/au revoir ritual is one way to secure goodwill from the
eventually we understood how we were bursting privacy bubbles without
French. Handshaking is another. Employees of companies have to go
knowing it. A n d after we understood that, we could see how different ideas
through the routine of shaking hands w i t h everyone at the office when
of privacy explained a lot of things about the French, from the way they
they come i n and when they leave. The behavior was reproduced almost
relate to one another and to strangers, to their attitude about money, their
exactly by the members of Jean-Benoit's hiking club. Before heading out o n
world view, and even their notions of political accountability.
an expedition everyone shook hands or kissed, and they did i t again before
leaving. Kissing as a salutation is a complicated matter because it is an act
One French custom that puzzled us was their habit of saying bonjour
and au revoir every time they went i n and came out of a store. I t took us a
while to figure out that those were the magic words i n France for getting
good service. You have to say bonjour when you enter a store (looking at
the owner i n the eyes) and au revoir w h e n you leave, even if the owner isn't
there—in w h i c h case, if it's a neighborhood store, another customer may
answer for h i m . I f you enter or leave without uttering the passwords the
owner, his employees, and sometimes even the regulars w i l l frown at y o u —
occasionally performed on almost complete strangers. It's a prudish thing
that involves a mere rubbing of cheeks most of the time and very rarely
extends to anything like a hug. S t i l l , we learned that some people i n Paris
expected to give four kisses, while most people outside of Paris were satisfied w i t h t w o — o r sometimes three. A friend of ours, Paola, an architect,
told us that the best way of expressing dissatisfaction w i t h a colleague is to
skip the handshaking session for a day or two. T h e offending party w i l l
almost certainly know something is amiss.
when they're being polite. W h e n we caught on to this behavior we, too,
frowned at the rude customers who entered our regular haunts without presenting themselves.
I n all cultures, houses are the barometer that measure where the public ends and the private begins. I n Amsterdam, Julie was amazed to see that
In N o r t h America stores are extensions of the public space. Apart from
the D u t c h don't put curtains i n their enormous front windows. She could
large chains that force their employees to mechanically greet customers at
see them eating their dinner as she walked down the street. The message
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appears to be: n o t h i n g to hide. I n rural Mexico, where we also traveled,
37
scheme called la taille (the cut). France did not tax its nobles for many cen-
many houses had no front doors, and i f they did, they were open all the
turies. To tax city dwellers and peasants, they needed a system for evaluating
time, making the line between public and private pretty subtle. W h a t a
what they were worth. Starting four centuries ago, the government con-
shock when you compare these countries to France. The French house is a
tracted fermiers generaux (tax "farmers") to levy a certain amount of tax
categorical affirmation of its owners' privacy. You never see the inside of
money i n a given area. The tax farmers subcontracted the work out to lesser
people's homes from the street. Houses i n Paris actually t u r n their backs on
tax farmers who hired local delegates to spy on their neighbors and figure out
the street; the facade is rarely as interesting as the inside courtyard. O n the
how much they had in their houses. Rates of taxation were based on "appar-
street side, windows have thick curtains or shutters that block out the
ent" wealth, judged at eyeshot by looking through people's windows. So the
world. I n the countryside and suburbs, houses are often i n the middle of
shutter was a tax evasion scheme, and even when France started taxing aris-
gardens that are usually fenced i n .
The window shutter in France was an ongoing source of fascination to
tocrats after the Revolution, the reflex remained. The French are still
staunchly defensive about the privacy of their homes.
us. I n N o r t h America, window shutters are decorative planks fastened to
the outsides of houses, but the French use them, almost religiously. I n every
Money is also considered part of the private sphere i n France. Even
household we visited, i n every part of France, summer or winter, our hosts
though France is the world capital of luxury goods, the French often come
went through the same morning and evening ritual of opening all the w i n -
across as hating money. It's not mere pretense. The French have an uneasy
dows, opening or closing the shutters, and then closing the windows.
relation w i t h the idea of money. They don't actually hate i t , but it is con-
Thanks to this custom, whole streets i n French cities and villages are
sidered a vulgar topic of conversation. N o class i n France earns more gen-
blacked out at night. We were certainly the only apartment dwellers on our
eral disdain than the one that dwells on money: the nouveaux riches. If the
street who never drew a curtain or closed a shutter during the two-and-a-
French like money for money's sake, they don't advertise i t .
half years we lived there.
Salaries are very rarely discussed i n public i n any context. W h e n peo-
Like the bonjour/au revoir routine i n stores, the custom of shutters puz-
ple do discuss them, they claim to earn less than they actually do.
zled us for a long time. Everywhere we stayed we asked our hosts why they
A l t h o u g h c i v i l servants' salaries are theoretically public, the system is so
opened and closed the shutters every day, and each time we got a different
riddled w i t h perks and bonuses that it's impossible to actually know what
answer. One fellow said it was to block out light so he could sleep better,
any c i v i l servant earns. By the same token, French tax offices have always
though that didn't explain why he closed the shutters o n all openings of
had difficulty assessing how much money there is i n the country. The
the entire apartment. Another person said the shutters helped h i m save on
switch to the euro brought a lot of cash back into the system because an
heating, but the little energy he saved w i t h this extra insulation was cer-
estimated 80 percent of all five hundred-franc bills were said to be stashed
tainly lost opening and closing all the windows of the house twice a day.
in mattresses and pillows across the country. W h e n French protesters
Another host said shutters were a good replacement for curtains, but most
demonstrate, they never openly ask for money; they wrap it in another
French homes have shutters and curtains.
demand like bettet working conditions.
We concluded that the shutter reflex, like a lot of things i n France, was
probably an ancient atavism. Shutters did protect windows from destruction,
The French consider money base. I n his book Le M a i Francois
(The
French Disease), former minister A l a i n Peyrefitte recounts a mind-boggling
or replace them i n times of war and riot, which wasn't that long ago i n
anecdote that illustrates how far this attitude goes. During a reception for a
France. But we did find another explanation: the traditional tax collection
French N o b e l Prize winner i n physics, one of Peyrefitte's assistants deplored
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the fact that the professor had never patented his discovery and that others
(Americans) had gotten rich on his invention. One science student vehemently disagreed. " A t least the French man was honest!" he said. It's as if
talking about money tarnishes things.
What goes on i n the French bedroom is also considered private—even
p r i v a t e space
39
think the French are opening the door to debauchery, this attitude does
have one advantage. It makes politicians a lot less subject to blackmail.
The French expect people i n power to run the country, not set moral
standards. A s a consequence, French journalists don't investigate sex scandals—or care that much about other countries'. I n 2001, when France's
head of their Supreme Court, Roland Dumas, was charged i n a corruption
where politics are concerned. We were lucky enough to be i n France dur-
case i n v o l v i n g his mistress, not a single French talk show asked Dumas's
ing the Monica Lewinsky affair that rocked the second term of Bill
wife how she felt about her husband having an affair. It was a private mat-
Clinton's presidency and watched the French relish the chance to sneer at
ter. A n outsider may jump to the conclusion that the French have no
Americans for their puritanical attitude about sex. But when the fun wore
morals, but what they really have is a different idea of what constitutes a
off, it was clear to us that the French failed to understand what all the fuss
morally reprehensible action, and what level of scrutiny is acceptable.
was about i n the first place, or why Americans were making such a fuss
about the president having an affair. T h e French truly consider sex a private matter. They don't think what politicians do w i t h cigars i n the i n t i macy of their o w n offices is the public's business. The French gossip about
But there is no doubt that they are more tolerant about extra-conjugal
affairs. During our stay, the national train service ran an ad that showed two
pairs of feet popping out from under a duvet. The text read: "Tell your
spouse you're o n a business t r i p . " According to statistics, the number of
the sex lives of public figures at dinner parties, of course. But they don't
Americans who admit to having committed adultety is 50
have the same urge as Americans or the British to instantly go public w i t h
same number as i n France. Adultery is a big sin i n France, like elsewhere,
the details.
but not the same kind. I n the U n i t e d States, adultety is a breach of trust, or
At
the
1996
percent—the
funeral of former president Francois M i t t e r r a n d
a breach of contract. The French are primarily concerned about the impact
(1981-95), the famous French gossip magazine Paris Match published a
it has on family life. The family is still pivotal i n France, and ruining a fam-
cover photo of Mitterrand's wife w i t h his mistress and illegitimate daugh-
ily is more appalling than a breach of contract, w h i c h happens all the time.
ter standing by her side. The photos surprised the nation, but it turned out
that several hundred journalists and politicians had k n o w n about
Mitterrand's mistress for the last twenty years. N o one even thought about
making it public. N o one even criticized Mitterrand for keeping his mistress and illegitimate daughter in a mansion at taxpayers' expense while he
was in power.
We lived a short walk from Pigalle, which was once Paris's red-light
district. T h e crowds we saw heading there were mostly busloads of tourists
on their way to drink champagne and ogle the skimpily dressed dancers at
the neighborhood's cabarets. I n the mind of foreigners, especially A n g l o Americans, "French" is almost synonymous w i t h sex, and many people
would swear that the French are the most lecherous people i n the world.
N o r t h Americans would see Mitterrand's behavior as immoral and as
The French do talk a lot about love and sex, and often i n graphic detail.
an abuse of power, but the French just t h i n k it's Mitterrand's business. His
They have a gigantic body of poetry and writing dating back to the
illegitimate daughter, Mazarine, even became something of a media per-
eleventh century that testifies to their interest i n exploring new dimen-
sonality since her "coming out" at her father's funeral. T h e French don't
sions and new postures. The Marquis de Sade was French, and Nabokov,
grill their politicians over theit private conduct—or that of their family
the author of Lolita, though Russian, was published i n Paris, as was Henry
members—like Americans do. The assumption is that as long as no crime
Miller, author of Tropic of Cancer. A n d a great part of their film production
was committed, the bedroom is a private space. W h i l e an American might
over the last century has been dedicated to exploring the frontier between
4-0
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4
l
good taste and bad taste. Talking about sex graphically is acceptable behav-
Assemblee Rationale passed an anti-libel law that would make reporters
ior in public—up to a certain p o i n t — b u t more as an abstract idea than a
guilty of libel if they intended to harm a plaintiff's reputation, even if the
testimony of one's actual conduct. Regarding this, they come out, para-
facts revealed were true!
doxically, as rather prudish. The French don't even have a term for French
The French are horrified by Americans' attempts to develop the
kiss, except the very vulgar rouler une pelle (literally, roll a shovel). A n d it
Internet and the Web by allowing companies to document individuals'
may well be that they prefer the heroics and the talking to the actual act.
transactions, profile their spending habits, and trade those profiles as commodities. France's privacy laws prevent companies from using personal
The French pay a price for being so defensive about the private lives of
information of any kind either for marketing purposes or to gain credit
their leaders, though. Even for matters far more serious than sex, they are
information. I n France, there is no such thing as a private company keep-
sadly neglectful about calling theit politicians to accounts. Every month, the
ing records of people's credit ratings. That's the government's business, and
ptime minister hands each of his ministers an envelope w i t h fifteen thousand
the French are even wary of letting the government get too much infor-
euros in cash for discretionary expenses. Ministers are not expected or
mation about them. I t is forbidden to ask questions about ethnic origin or
required to teport on what they do w i t h this spending money. (Despite the
religion on national censuses. A landlord in Lille asked his tenants to indi-
French National Assembly's vast powers to investigate such matters, by tra-
cate their ethnic origin on an informal survey i n 1999, and it turned into
dition, or out of convenience, politicians are rarely made accountable for
a national scandal. (See chapters 15 and 21 for more on this.)
their spending. This practice was forbidden by the new prime minister, Jean
Pierre Raffarin, i n 2002.) Since all ministers benefit from this k i n d of corruption, no one has been willing to take on the system. Besides, it's no secret
to the public, and they aren't doing anything about it, either.
In some ways the French are more guarded than N o r t h Americans are,
but in other ways they are definitely more open. We found them exttemely
welcoming toward strangers on the whole, though n o t i n the way N o r t h
Americans are. For instance, the French don't show guests around their
The French media don't even seem to understand what "conflict of
homes. It's simply not part of their concept of hospitality. Guests who come
interest" means. Journalists often sneer at the idea of political accounta-
to dinner or for I'apero are pretty much restricted to the living room and
bility, calling it an Anglo-Saxon concept. I n recent years, a generation of
the dining room. The doors to the rest of the rooms are usually closed.
young French judges, who are not part of the traditional political class,
During our first Christmas season i n France, we were invited by a French
have been trying to stop the systematic corruption i n the political system
friend to stay at his parents' place in Pau, near the Spanish border. Our
by nailing some high-profile politicians. Their investigations into party
friend is married to a French-Canadian woman. The four of us slept on the
financing scandals have revealed that all of France's political parties are
second floor; his parents' room was on the first. W h e n we got up the next
involved (one political party asks for kickbacks and pays the other parties
morning, the doors to every room on our floor were wide open. W h e n we
to keep quiet). Yet even as the judges unveil dozens of political scandals,
went downstairs for breakfast, the doors on his parents' floor were shut, as
the French public has been surprisingly indulgent about corruption. They
were the shutters.
tend to think that once a wrong act has been punished it turns back into
a private matter. So they teelect politicians i n spite of allegations of corruption, or even after some have been found guilty of fraud. T h e French
media have not exactly been trained to h u n t out corruption, and stringent
privacy and anti-libel laws haven't helped them. I n the early 1970s, the
1
N o r t h Americans are always impressed (though not always pleased) by
how much protocol and ritual still exists in France. One reason is that the
French consider eating a public act. W h e n N o r t h Americans try to imitate
French meals, they come across as overly formal and uptight. They've
missed the point. The French aren't formal just because they enjoy rules
42
sixty m i l l i o n f r e n c h m e n can't b e w r o n g
and decorum. Since eating is a public act, i t follows clear rules everyone
agrees on. Diners place their napkins o n their laps as soon as they are
seated. Cutlery is handled a certain way, and dishes are served i n a certain
order. The dining room—not the kitchen—is the most public room in the
French house.
The French don't do this for show. It's an automatic reflex. They don't
understand why N o r t h Americans eat at all hours and i n any circumstances.
(Eating is in the private sphere i n N o r t h America. You do what you want,
and it's nobody's business.) A Christmas shopping trip to Paris's grands magasins confirmed our theory. We decided to eat at the cafeteria of Au
Printemps, one of Paris's upscale department stores, and expected the casual
lawlessness one usually sees at tables i n cafeterias. Instead, all the French
families were sitting w i t h their cloth napkins on their laps, holding their
cutlery correctly (knife i n the right hand, fork i n the left), taking their time
as if they were enjoying a Sunday dinner. The food on their trays was
arranged in three courses: appetizer, main course, and dessert, w i t h water or
wine. Pretty civilized for last-minute Christmas shoppers. A l t h o u g h Au
Printemps is an upscale store, the behavior of its clients is more the rule i n
France than the exception. O n every road trip we ever took we saw people
acting the same way at L'Arche, a roadside cafeteria chain.
One of the reasons the French stay skinny in spite of their eating
habits is that they don't snack much. Snacking flies i n the face of their definition of eating: when you snack, you're doing what you want i n your own
private way. For the French, it's an invasion of the private over the public
sphere—a little like someone talking loudly on a cellular phone on the
train. Whenever the concierge i n our building saw us eating an apple,
drinking a coke, or eating a sandwich o n the run, he looked us i n the eyes
and wished us bon appetit. He said i t w i t h a smile, but something about his
tone made i t feel like a mild slap on the wrist. W h a t is so remarkable about
eating an apple i n the elevator? It's an abrogation of the rules of eating.
p r i v a t e space
4-3
parentage. Dalila's parties were always interesting cultural mixing pots.
That night there were at least fifty guests, half English speaking and half
French, the English on one side of the apartment and the Ftench on the
other. W e floated back and forth between these two worlds. O n the
English-speaking side, people started conversations by asking our names
and what we were doing i n France. English conversation was like a game
of handball where players just try to keep the ball in the air.
O n the French side, no one ever asked our names. We were admitted
into conversations when we spoke up and expressed an opinion on something, preferably w i t h wit. French education and film policy were the topics
that night. One young man argued that both were i n a crisis. Another said
that both were fine. Everyone else added their bit, supporting or attacking
positions. N o one ever came to a conclusion: it wasn't really the point.
French conversation is not cooperative. It's about scoting points and proving
you have something interesting to say. People that night spoke at the top of
their lungs, intemipted each other, veered off onto new angles without warning, argued, sought confrontation, and didn't particularly try to resolve disagreements. A n d at the end, we exchanged names and a minimum of
personal information, and expressed the hope of seeing each other again.
A g a i n , it's all about different notions of private and public. A t Dalila's
party we had moved between two sets of privacy rules. The English freely
asked personal questions that the French would consider too private to
broach w i t h a stranger. Yet the French argued—something the English definitely prefer to do i n private.
Different definitions of private and public spheres also affect how couples act i n public. As a bicultural couple, we had experienced this ourselves,
but only realized what was going o n when we read an excellent book on
French-American cultural differences called Cultural Misunderstandings,
by
French ethnologist Raymonde Carroll. Carroll is herself married to an
American ethnologist, which is an ethnological experiment of sorts. She
says the typical American couple seeks to display harmony. American
Conceptions of private and public explain a lot about the way the
spouses rarely contradict each other i n public, but instead try to show sup-
French converse. During the last year of our stay, we were invited to a
port for one another. Arguing and criticizing one another in public is
housewarming patty of a friend of ours, Dalila, a French woman of Algerian
regarded as distasteful, if not dysfunctional. It's something you do in private.
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The French expect exactly the opposite: there's something wrong w i t h a
couple that doesn't contradict one another i n public and constantly displays
harmony. I n their minds, a relationship should be strong enough to withstand differences, w h i c h are only normal i n a couple. A l l the better if differences are displayed in public w i t h w i t and spirit—it makes conversation
more interesting. It's not that French spouses disagree all the time and that
Anglo-Americans never argue. The behavior is just restricted to different
spheres.
Conversation, according to Raymonde Carroll, has a different function in both cultures. We realized this i n the subway. A t rush hour, the only
thing distinguishing the Paris metro from the Tokyo subway is that nobody
is paid to do the pushing. The French have a very discreet way of forcing
their way into the jammed subway cars. W h i l e Americans tend to push
their way forward i n crowds w i t h their elbows, the French simply turn their
back and enter backwards. A n d then, no matter how many body parts get
mingled in the crush, the French never say anything to each other. For the
French, talking is a way of making contact w i t h people, of getting to know
them, and they don't want to know strangers i n the subway. Americans
45
Americans are definitely irked by the French habit of contesting the
United States o n every issue, but what really bugs the French is that the
Americans seem to expect everyone to agree i n every instance. We started
to wonder if Raymonde Carroll's theory of couples' behavior didn't also
apply to France and the U n i t e d State's on the international stage.
Americans want nothing more t h a n a perfect show of harmony among
allies. The French t h i n k that if the relationship is strong enough, it should
be able to withstand strong differences i n public.
It is very difficult for a foreign observer to define what's private and
what's public i n a culture, what's intimate and what's open, what you show
and what you hide, what is intuitively affirmed or understated. We're
hardly conscious of these rules i n our own culture. Yet entire populations
have things they want to show, and things they want to hide. N o r t h
Americans like to hide the role of their State. It's not that the American
or Canadian State is particularly small, but we don't affirm i t . Business, private interests, and community life are what we like to talk about. The
State has a lot to do w i t h the way we live our lives, but we play down its
importance. It's not a fundamental part of our identity.
have exactly the opposite reflex. Partly because physical proximity w i t h
But i t is for the French. T h e French State is so central to their iden-
strangers is so unsettling for them, they talk out of embarrassment, and as
tity—and they're so proud of its accomplishments—that they often attrib-
a way of marking distance from others. I f an American ends up talking to
ute to i t deeds that are not the State's doing at all. For instance, most of
a French person i n this situation, the French person only tries to avoid
the redistribution of wealth i n France is carried out by employers and
engaging i n a conversation, w i t h the predictable consequence: each rubs
unions, not the State. Religion, local cultures, and local government are
the other the wrong way.
also important elements of French culture, yet the French downplay them
Carroll mostly writes about cultural differences that create misunderstandings i n personal situations, but judging from what we observed i n
France, her ideas might also explain some misunderstandings that take
place between countries. W h i l e we were i n Europe we watched France and
the U n i t e d States disagree about some very serious issues: the bombings of
Kosovo, different international treaties, the World Trade Organization
negotiations i n Seattle. During every conflict, the press and diplomatic circles reacted w i t h Pavlovian predictability. The Americans blamed the
French for disagreeing all the time, and the French criticized Americans
for lacking subtlety and always t h i n k i n g they were right.
the same way we downplay the State. The French rarely talk about the
economy, even though economic success is an important part of their way
of life. T h a t doesn't mean the economy isn't there. I t is just part of France's
"private life."
C&03
Sixty Million Fmchm
Can't Be (Duong
(why we love f r a n c e , but n o t t h e french)
Jean-Benott Nadeau
& Julie Barlow
Copyright © 2003 hy Julie Barlow and Jean-Benott Nadeau
Cover and internal design © 2003 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover illustration © Getty Images/Bill Brown
Internal illustration © Getty Images/Bill Brown
A l l rights reserved. N o part of this book may be reproduced i n any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—
except in the case of brief quotations embodied i n critical articles or reviews—without
permission i n writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
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Acfaowledgmith
We are indebted to a considerable number of people without w h o m t
book would never have been written. I t is not possible to thank them
without writing another book, but some names do stand out.
Over a decade before we lived i n France, Professor Charles Tayloi
M c G i l l University taught both of us a method of thinking that allowec
to decode the French i n record time, and that is very much at the ori
of this book (though Charles Taylor has no doubt long forgotten both
us). Daniel Roux, Professor Thierry Leterre, Jean-Jacques Fraenkel, e
Gustave (who we hope w i l l recognize himself) shed invaluable light
the workings of the French mind and taught us many unexpected lesso
Miranda de Toulouse-Lautrec, David Hapgood, and Judson Gooding ao
as sounding boards for our ideas many times over. Our agent Ed Knapprr
and our editor H i l l e l Black both went to bat for us and told us to be be
Finally, Peter M a r t i n , director of the Institute of Current W o
Affairs, trusted us enough to pay our bills for two years i n France a
taught us to cultivate our first impressions. L u M a r t i n has been a const;
source of support and encouragement to b o t h of us.
Nadeau, Jean-Benott.
Sixty M i l l i o n Frenchmen can't be wrong : why we love France but not the French
/ By Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-4022-0045-5 (alk. paper)
1. National characteristics, French. 2. France—Social life and customs.
1. Title: 60 million Frenchmen can't be wrong. 11. Barlow, Julie. 111. Title.
DC34 .N33 2003
305.8'00944—dc21
2002153446
Printed and bound i n the U n i t e d States of America
VP 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21
To all we've named, and to the many friends and relatives who he
given us inspiration, ideas, and support along the way, we would like
extend a big bear hug.
W H A T DOES IT TAKE T O L E A R N A LANGUAGE W E L L ?
133
i omprehension, both of which can be learned to an advanced level
wilhout ever meeting a native speaker.
30
What does it take to learn a
language well?
Nina Garrett
Do you have to be clever to learn a new language? How
long does it take to learn one well? Is' total immersion'
the only real way to do it? Are there any shortcuts?
People often say, 'I had four semesters of Language X, but I can't
speak a word.' That's a very common problem—in fact, it may be
the typical experience of adult classroom language learners. Why
is it so common? The implication seems to be that we're not very
smart, or we're bad at learning languages, or we had poor teachers.
But probably none of those are true.
We're talking here about speaking a language, speaking it well
enough to talk with other people in their native language about realworld topics, with the confidence both that you're understanding the
cultural context of what they're saying and that you're representing
your own thoughts and feelings so that they'll understand you. That's
a very different matter from reading knowledge or even listening
132
Speaking another language fluently isn't a matter of IQ or academic smarts: there are millions of people who have no formal
education at all but who speak several languages fluently. Nor is it a
matter of youth: it's too pessimistic to say that only children can learn
languages. The Modern Language Association insists, 'Never too
early, never too late.' Children can certainly pick up a new language
easily when they're immersed in it, but they're not necessarily better
than older learners when they take it as a school subject, because
(he latter have cognitive advantages.
Still, you don't want to massacre the language, sounding like
Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther films. A language is not
just a set of words and phrases that you can memorize to get
simple here-and-now meanings across; it's a complex system for
communicating—and even more fundamentally for structuring
thought. So don't believe the ads in airline magazines for courses
l hat guarantee 'mastery' of a language in just a few weeks—that's
just nonsense. Language learning takes time, and the less similar the
language is to English, the more time it takes. Think about this: in
a typical four-semester course in college, you may well have fewer
than two hundred hours of contact time with the language. In U.S.
government schools, where languages are taught for real proficiency,
courses meet for a minimum of six hundred hours of full-time study,
and getting to proficiency in the languages most difficult for English
speakers—Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic—takes twice as
long as in the easier ones like French or Spanish.
In addition to a realistic amount of time, you need two things for
success: a long period of regular interaction with people speaking
the language, and some help with making sense of what's going on
linguistically. It's not enough just to hang out for a month—or even a
I year—in a country where the language is spoken. Imagine a foreigner
Just starting to learn English, who hears an American acquaintance
say 'Wutchagonnado?' There'll come a day when she can recognize
134
THE FIVE-MINUTE LINGUIST
that, and understand it, as a colloquially compressed version of the
six-word sentence "What are you going to do?' But as a beginner shell
likely to hear just a single burst of sound. That's what any of us will
experience with an unfamiliar language. How do you learn to make
sense of those bursts of sound? Not through 'total immersion'; when
you're in the country, the people around you—native speakers—arc
simply communicating with others who already know the language.
They aren't speaking so as to teach you grammar—how to put wordl
together to make meaning—and they probably don't know how to
do that. (Most native speakers can't articulate why they say thing!
the way they do.) But without someone explaining the system, your!
learning will be random and inefficient.
After puberty most of us need classroom work to create a frame*
work for hearing sounds, figuring out how sentences work, and
understanding the cultural context. Adults who pick up a language
without that framework often end up with a kind of 'abominable
fluency'—a lot of words, good speed, maybe even decent pronunciation, but typically mangled grammar and not much cultural sensitivity about how the words are used. They reach a plateau where they
sound like Inspector Clouseau with a bigger vocabulary, and they
often can't get beyond that plateau.
For adult learners it's ideal to have some solid academic back- >
ground in the language before going abroad, but the classroom
experience on its own isn't enough. If you took a language course and
a few years later couldn't remember what you learned, it's probably
because you left out the second step: prolonged interaction with
people who speak the language. You can do that in the country, of
course, but you can also do it by immersion in a summer language
school or camp, or by dating a near-monolingual speaker of the,
language, or by finding intensive uses of the internet—listening t
or watching news broadcasts, finding audio materials with trani
scripts, 'talking" with native speakers in chat rooms (which gives yo
'spoken' language even in written form), reading, reading aloud t
yourself, watching movies over and over, practicing the dialogu
W H A T D O E S IT TAKE T O L E A R N A LANGUAGE W E L L ?
13 5
or songs that you hear. Emerging technologies are increasingly
good at simulating—or even providing for real—the experience
of communicating with native speakers. All of this takes serious
motivation; but once you've gotten to the point of real comfort in
another language, the excitement and the advantages of your fluency
will give you all the motivation you need to keep it up.
About the author
Nina Garrett has taught French and German at junior high school, high
school, and college levels, and has also taught graduate-level courses on
Second Language Acquisition, especially as its theory underlies language
pedagogy. Her first language was Dutch, and she has also studied Russian, Latin, and Spanish. She is internationally known in Computer Assisted Language Learning for her work in developing the use of computer technology both for teaching languages and for conducting research
on how language is learned. She is currently Director of the Center for
Language Study at Yale University (http://www.cls.yale/.edu), working
with teachers of fifty languages.
Suggestions for further reading
In this book: Chapters relevant to language learning by adults include
15 (language and the brain), 27 (foreign accents), 29 (adult advantages
in language learning), 31 (history of language-teaching methods), 32
(study abroad), and 34 (language-teaching technology).
Elsewhere:
Lightbown, Patsy, and Nina Spada. How Languages are Learned (Oxford
University Press, 1993). A very readable account both of children's firstlanguage learning and of second-language learning both in the classroom and in the immersion environment.
WHY S T U D Y LANGUAGES ABROAD?
32
Why study languages abroad? j
Sheri Spaine Long
Can you learn a language without going abroad? Isn't
it easier to pick up a language by living in a country
where it's spoken than by sitting in a classroom in your
own country? Are there any pitfalls to 'total immersion'
learning?
Are you one of those language learners who love to be plunked into
an ongoing stream of talk, soaking it up, mimicking what they hear,
unruffled if they do not understand what is being said? O r do you
find yourself needing more structure, wanting to know what each
word means before trying it out, and being frustrated when waves
of incomprehensible speech wash over you?
As a language professor, I often hear people say: 'the only way
to learn a language is to go abroad.' That assumption is not strictly
true. And it is particularly not true if you are thinking that by being
in another country you will automatically 'pick up' the language. I
dislike that phrase—'pick up a language'—because it implies that
language learning somehow happens without effort. Not so. It does
take effort, and we probably all know people who spent two or three
years in a foreign country but came home still monolingual.
140
141
Learning styles vary, so a good way to think about learning a
language abroad is from the point of view of readiness. For most
people, to parachute into a foreign culture with no previous study
of the language, no preparation at all, is not only disorienting, it
is inefficient. With no framework to help make sense of what you
arc hearing, progress is slow. Readiness differs from one person to
the next, but for most of us, it is best to have some formal study of
a language before you pull the ripcord. And once you are on the
ground, it is best to enroll in a structured learning experience, a
language class of some kind. You take the class to get knowledge
alwut the language, and then use the street, pubs, and clubs of the
community as your lab to practice speaking and hearing it.
The great advantage of studying and living abroad is that you can
experience the language in its cultural context. Words and phrases that
you hear in a sometimes 'sterile' classroom come alive, even change
meaning, when you hear them coming from a native speaker over
drinks in a cafe. Or when you join the crowds in a soccer game. Or deal
with the local bureaucracy. However, be careful to avoid the 'dreaded
anglophile', the local who wants to practice English with you and who
takes advantage of your homesickness to do it. He or she gains—you
lose. Your goal is to speak as little English as possible while abroad.
When a friend of mine was a junior in college—after a couple
of semesters of Spanish—she signed up for a program in Spain, her
first experience with language study abroad. After orientation on the
first day, the instructor shifted to Spanish and told fifteen nervous
Americans to take a 'no English' pledge. From then on my friend was
immersed in a dialect of Spanish that she slowly adopted as her own.
She spoke almost no English for five months. She did not socialize
with English speakers. She watched Spanish T V and movies (with no
subtitles), and spent as much time as she could with locals. At first
she spoke broken Spanish; but by the end of the semester, she was
using the language comfortably, expressing herself at an advanced
level. That was total immersion in the language and culture. She spent
all of her waking hours, seven days a week, speaking or thinking
exclusively in the target language.
142
T H E F I V E - M I N U T E LINGUIST
It is fatiguing at first to be confronted with a foreign language,
because you are constantly listening, concentrating, trying to make
sense of what you hear. And because it takes effort, it is easier than
you think to spend a long time abroad and still come home monolingual. If your goal is to learn a language abroad, try for linguistic
isolation. That means avoiding overseas phone calls, the Internet,
satellite T V from home, and opportunities to speak your mother
tongue. Even a little before you think you are ready, make a vow to
yourself to communicate only in the target language, and do it at
much as you can—around the clock.
There is an abundance of study-abroad programs, offered by
a wide variety of providers who serve the business, health, and
educational communities. Before selecting such a program, you
will want to research the providers. Make sure that their goals are
in line with yours and that the time abroad is focused on language
learning. Ask questions, such as, Does the provider offer structured
academic classes and immersion activities? Does the provider offer
lodging and dining arrangements that enhance language and cultural
immersion? If you are seeking documentation and measurement
of the skills you acquire abroad, you should explore options for
university or secondary-school credit, proficiency credentials or
diplomas. Most people return from their time abroad enthusiastic
about their linguistic gains and their new cross-cultural skills, and
they express a fresh perspective on their home culture. Study abroad
by itself is not the key to learning a language, but the combination
of a structured class and total immersion cannot be beat.
About the author
Sheri Spaine Long teaches Spanish language, culture, and literature at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and currently serves
as chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
there. Dr. Long, who earned her Ph.D. at the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA), writes about Madrid in the contemporary Spanish novel. She is the co-author of Nexos: Introductory Spanish (Houghton
WHY S T U D Y LANGUAGES ABROAD?
I43
Mifflin, 2005) and Pueblos: Intermediate Spanish in Cultural Contexts
(forthcoming). She has published articles in Associated Departments
of Foreign Languages Bulletin, Dimension, Foreign Language Annals,
Uispania, Modern Language Journal and Romance Languages Annual. She
serves on the boards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages and the Southern Conference on the Teaching of Languages,
and she is an Associate of the National Museum of Language. Dr. Long
was recently named Editor of Foreign Language Annals, the scholarly
journal of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Suggestions for further reading
In this book: For other discussions of adult language-learning see
chapters 15 (language and the brain), 27 (foreign accents), 29 (adult
advantages in language learning), 30 (language-learning tips), 31
(history of language-teaching methods), and 34 (language-teaching
technology).
Web sites:
http://www.studyabroad.com
Offers a comprehensive way to search for study abroad providers and
compare options.
http://www.ciee.org/
'Ihis site, maintained by the Council on International Educational
Exchange, specializes in options for academic international exchange.
http://www.nafsa.org/
This site is maintained by NAFSA: Association of International
Educators (formerly known as the National Association of Foreign
Student Advisors), and has a variety of useful publications about study
abroad and general information about international education.
The following journals focus on study abroad and contain specialized
case and research studies regarding individual study-abroad programs.
Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad
http://frontiersjournal.com.
journal of Studies in International Education
http://jsi.sagepub.com.
The Five-Minute Linguist
Bite-sized essays on language
and languages
Edited by
E.M. Rickerson and Barry Hilton
equinox
LONDON
OAKVIUE
Published by
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
UK: Unit 6, The Village, 101 Amies Street, London, SW11 2JW
USA: DBBC, 28 Main Street, Oakville, CT 06779
www.equinoxpub.com
First published 2006
Reprinted 2007
*Wherever you are
and whatever you do,
language makes a dilference!'
— Trie F i v e - M i n u t e Linguist
© E.M. Rickerson, Barry Hilton, and contributors 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without
prior permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-10 1 84553 199 X
ISBN-13 978 1 84553 199 7
(paperback)
(paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The five-minute linguist: bite-sized essays on language and languages /
edited by E.M. Rickerson and Barry Hilton,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN l-84553-199-X(pbk.)
1. Language and languages—Miscellanea. I. Rickerson, E. M . I I .
Hilton, Barry. III. Title: 5 minute linguist.
P107.A15 2006
400-dc22
2006022397
Typeset by Catchline, Milton Keynes (www.catchline.com)
Printed and bound in Great Britain and USA
The radio series that served as the foundation for
this book was jointly sponsored by the School
of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs at the
College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) and the
National Museum of Language.