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30/06/2008, 10:11 Frenchie Joined on 31/05/2007 2 Sèvres,79 Posts 4,117 Re: Death.... then integration  Hello, and welcome to the forum! Being French , I can give you my feeling about that, but some posters might have a different one , of course. I assume your husband is right, because something strange and unpleasant often happens to me. When I am introduced to people about my age in a party, or wherever, thay use tu, and the conversation is fine, until they ask me what I do, and when I say that I'm a teacher, they start using " vous" again !! So , if you want to invite them to say " tu " to you ( = tutoyer) , you can simply say " On pourrait se  tutoyer , non ? "  Or " On peut se dire tu , n 'est ce pas ?" Hope this helps.. Happy    Report

30/06/2008, 11:19 witsinfr Joined on 30/05/2008 Luchapt area (86) Posts 17 Re: Death.... then integration Knowing when, who and how many kisses are correct does seem to be quite a problem... However, and I'm sure that Powerdesal will back me up in this, in the Middle East (yep I just left there) it's a little more unusual. The men kiss each other on the cheeks (or if you're related maybe on the forehead or nose), believe me as a fully red-blooded western male it does take a little getting used to, especially when it's your very influential employer that's instigating the move... And then there's what you can do with the ladies, or rather what you can't do with them, some even won't let you shake hands, you tend not, as a male, to offer a hand leaving it to the lady to make the first hand-shake move. Les Froggitts    Report

30/06/2008, 12:19 powerdesal Joined on 07/01/2006 ex-Sharjah U.A.E Posts 2,174 Re: Death.... then integration I have never got involved with the men kissing men bit - Its just their culture but it seems very odd to us, as does the men walking around holding hands - sign of close friendship. As far as local ladies go, no physical contact at all, none, zilch, nada, dont even think about it. Some even wear full arm length gloves when driving, presumably because a man might have touched the steering wheel - strange. Steve now ex-Sharjah + 50 (in France) ...........................................................................    Report

30/06/2008, 12:48 Lotmontel Joined on 31/05/2008 Charente Maritime Posts 15 Re: Death.... then integration Thank you Frenchie, that was indeed very helpful.  Guess I will just have to bite the bullet and suggest "tu" first! Ty again! El    Report

30/06/2008, 13:06 Pierre ZFP Joined on 12/11/2004 PdC(62)/Luxembourg Posts 1,815 Re: Death.... then integration You don't have to go as far as the Middle East to see men greeted with a kiss, it's far from unusual in Belgium too, and I'm not talking about Gays either. Fool me once, shame on you Fool me twice, shame on me Fool me 3 times and you can see a statistical tendency    Report

01/08/2008, 21:29 odile Joined on 09/05/2008 East Mids + Swiss Jura Posts 409 Re: Death.... then integration friend of mine in Switzerland actually converted to Catholicism in order to be able to be (later!) buried in the local cemetery- that's pushing it (them - daisies!) a bit, i feel!    Report

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France Forum » French Culture » French Culture » Death.... then integration

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