Free Downloads The French Way : Aspects Of Behavior, Attitudes, And Customs Of The French
Achieve savoir faire and fit into French culture with ease Written by an internationally renowned expert in French culture, Ross Steele, this second edition of The French Way offers a uniquely impartial and fully up-to-date perspective on French attitudes, tastes, and customs regarding everything from business style (formal) to pets (doted on), conversation (an art form) to humor (satiric, political), love (truly, madly, deeply) to time ("Better late than never!"). With the help of The French Way, you will: Understand how people from every corner of France interact, do business, and live their daily lives Become well-versed in ninety major topics including food, family, holidays, the media, religion, sports, money, entertainment, and le shopping Learn the truth about common myths and misconceptions concerning the French and communicate comfortably with French-speaking people without committing faux pas
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education; 2 edition (April 14, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0071428070
ISBN-13: 978-0071428071
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #57,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #48 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Customs & Traditions #59 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Foreign Languages > French #124 in Books > Reference > Foreign Language Study & Reference > Instruction
This book gives a very broad, basic view of France. If you know nothing about France, it can be helpful. However, if you've ever taken French classes in high school or college, you've probably learned these cultural notes in the introductory courses. As a study abroad advisor, I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about France, but would be very worried if I was sending a student to France for a year and this was the extent of his/her knowledge! If you're going to France for a week on a tour, this book will help prepare you and may explain some of the questions you have about France. If you're going to be going to France for a longer period of time and/or want to really develop a greater understanding of French culture, this book is way too general and introductory for you. It's set up like a mini encyclopedia, with the subjects arranged alphabetically, not by category or subject area. It's an interesting set up, and fine for a brief introduction to French culture. If you're a strict grammarian who finds it distracting to read texts with grammatical errors, be forewarned: this book has several grammatical errors throughout its subjects.
This book is too clichéd! Everything is described so briefly. I hesitate to call is succinct because it really doesn't delve deep into the culture. The topics covered are very superficial and it makes the culture look very transparent.The book just barely gives you enough information to be a tad bit familiar with French culture but by all means will not prepare you for any immersion into French culture.I've seen worse books than this, though. But there are better ones out there.
This book is part of a series of cultural guides; others in the series are "The Hispanic Way", "The German Way", & "The Italian Way". I'd read & enjoyed both "The Hispanic Way" & "The German Way", so when finding "The French Way", I wanted to read it, too. Taken as a guide exclusively to France & its people, this book is quite serviceable & thorough. And like any book this size & attempting to deal with a topic of this scope, "The French Way" is not going to be exhaustive, but rather is a good introduction & "stepping-stone" to further reading. There is indeed good information in this book. However, "The Hispanic Way" & "The German Way" are more thorough, providing information not exclusive on "Spain" or "Germany", respectively, but on Spanish-speaking countries & German-speaking coutries, too. Obviously, the francophone world is huge, & a book of this size would have to focus primarily on one area; "The Hispanic Way" focused on Spain, does provide information about Hispanic America as well. I had hoped that "The French Way" would include some information about Belgium, Luxembourg, & Canada at least. Since this book doesn't include at least a little more information about these other francophone areas, I'd have to give it only 4 stars.
Informative, up to a point. There's no real analysis here - don't expect to understand the French' approach to life. But if you are just vacationing for a week or two, it's probably all you need. But if you are like me and are looking to understand the French sensibility, look to other books, like Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong.And this book isn't a pleasure to read - it's just the facts, relayed in subjects a few paragraphs each.
Pretty light (and brief) book. An introduction to French culture and folkways, described as a 'key to the behavior, attitudes and customs of the French.' Frankly one would be better off to rely on the Lonely Planet for a cultural introduction. Disappointing.
Although some historical references are right (not all of them however), most of the content of this book is based on cliches and stereotypes about France ...First of all , how can you name a book "Aspect of behavior, attitudes , etc ... of French people" ? It sounds like a book about animals.Also I was very disappointed by the lack of information about regions and cities other than paris.To me it is not the kind of book that will help you understand the French culture or even help you travel throughout France, it is rather a very biased pro-american comparison between french and american cultures.Stay away from this book !
I learned alot of great things from ths book, i had to buy it because of a French class that i was taking and this is one of the required readings. While the class is over i still go back and read on the book from time to time.
Copyright in 2006, this book is slightly dated but still has a wealth of information. There are 90 chapters that read like dry encyclopedia entries. The chapters are independent of one another, so some things are repeated often. The chapters cover the gamut of French culture from social greetings to centuries of political history. Most of if not all of the information can be found online, but the book puts it all in one place. It may even answer a question you didn't even know you had. I think it is suitable for tourists, students, and business people.The most useful information I received is that France 5 is the culture television station. I had wanted know to what station in France was equivalent to PBS or BBC, so I got my answer and much more about French media. Now I can enjoy France 5 videos on Youtube.
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