|
Title: French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France
Purchase
Item
Manufacturer: Distribooks
List Price: $16.95
Our Price: $9.50
|
|
| Customer Reviews: |
| French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Polly or folly? | Polly Platt's book is a mixture of valuable insight and eye-rolling pompousness. To give her due credit, the first chapter is full of useful information and essentially contains all that you will need to know from this book. Soon thereafter the book descends into a name-dropping snobbery and gives all the tips you'd need to know if you were visiting with the upper 3% of French society. Much of what Ms. Platt reveals about French culture seems to be outdated and of little relevance to the middle and lower-class French people that a visitor will no doubt actually be coming into contact with. Indeed, the author leaves the reader feeling that they would not be allowed at Ms. Platt's own dinner table.
When I visited Paris I certainly found some of her information useful, such as her recommendation to use "The Ten Magic Words" (again, in the first chapter), and whether many of the French we came across were smiling and accommodating for this reason, I cannot say. Read this book and you will likely make fewer cultural mistakes in France than you would have if you hadn't, but read it knowing it is not the last word on French culture, and does not apply to most of the French population. | | French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Best Friends We've Ever Had | As the relatively new kids on the geopolitical block, we Americans often misunderstand how the rest of the world operates, none more so than our amis ancien the French. I came across this book in a Genevan bookstore shortly after moving there and it has helped me immeasurably over the years. My Parisian friends have enjoyed and confirmed the truth and wisdom contained in its pages.
Who knew that approaching the French in a typically American way with a big smile and focus on the task at hand is considered disingenuous and rude? How amazingly different is the response I consistently get with a deadpan expression, proper greeting and speaking French first before getting down to business!
A whole host of helpful tips, from playing devil's advocate during an evening together, politically incorrect flirtation, and the customer not always being right, are covered here in a humorous and easy-to-remember fashion. Understanding builds the bridge to friendship. After all, the French have been our friends since before we became a sovereign country, even if it, as President Sarkozy has said, "friendship means accepting that friends can have different opinions."
| | French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Indispensible | The single most indispensable book for anyone planning on living in France for longer than five months.
More than a mere study of facts and procedures, "French or Foe" explores the worldview of the French that make all that they do comprehensible. Without reading this work, France is incomprehensible, and you will be confined to a social and hermeneutic ghetto.
Highly recommended. | | French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Informational, educational and fun! | | I am an American woman married to a French husband, and when I came across this book, I was unprepared for such thorough explanations of and insights into my husband's often inexplicable behavior. Polly Platt's book goes a long way in demystifying the French, and makes you laugh along the way. A great guide for anyone planning to visit or live in France. | | French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Foreign Country Vacation prep a MUST | | French or Foe is a well written book that is a thoroughly enjoyable read AND was of immense help in preparing us for dealing with our first trip 'across the big water.' Despite our having very limited French at our disposal, the understanding of the French - through this book- allowed us to not only get along, but to thoroughly enjoy ourselves (in contrast to an unprepared fellow American Travelor, at our motel, who appeared to be about ready for a straight jacket). | | French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France by Distribooks Amazon.com | | Let's face it: the French have gotten a bad rap. Mention that you're considering a trip to France and everyone will warn you about rude waiters, supercilious shopkeepers, and snooty concierges who won't give you the time of day--and worse, pretend not to understand your high-school French. Not so, says Polly Platt, author of French or Foe?; "The French are generous, exhilarating friends," but they are different--wonderfully so. The trick to getting along in France is understanding the culture and learning to accept it on French terms instead of your own. Though the book is designed primarily for people who will be living or working in France for extended periods, the lessons Platt teaches about manners, attitudes, and culture are invaluable for even those visitors just passing through. |
No item elements found in rss feed.
|
