"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
news:htmsd4lnc40bsdh99jdb9tb3nrnkkkpesj@4ax.com...
> "nightjar" .me.uk> writes:
>
>> The French place great importance on being polite. If you strike them as
>> rude, they will be unhelpful but if you come over as polite, they are a
>> very
>> friendly people.
>
> Everyone places importance on being polite. The problem is that there are
> very few universal standards of politeness.
I find that the French are generally less tolerant of foreigners who do not
comply to their view of politeness than many other peoples.
> For example, Americans consider it polite to be very friendly and familiar
> with strangers shortly after meeting them. French people consider it
> polite
> to be rather reserved and distant with strangers until they make better
> acquaintance. American familiarity thus seems impolite to French people,
> and
> French reserve seems impolite to Americans....
I have always found the French to be very friendly after proper
introductions, but that is from a British viewpoint.
Colin Bignell
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