France People and Culture

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Other Europeans have a peculiar relationship with the French people, in which there may be more than a touch of envy. The French have much to boast about, and are rightly proud of their culture. As a result, they have gained a reputation with their neighbors for being arrogant. They are often accused of seeing themselves as decidedly superior to every other nation. For years the French have been criticized and stereotyped for their attitude. But the minute a foreigner steps on French soil he or she is once more seduced: by the country, the overwhelming charm of the people, the way of life.The French strike a happy balance between the work driven culture of northern Europeans and the wonderfully alluring, but overly relaxed, southern European approach to life.

Since prehistoric times, France has been a crossroads of trade, travel, and invasion. Three basic European ethnic stocks--Celtic, Latin, and Teutonic (Frankish)--have blended over the centuries to make up its present population. France's birth rate was among the highest in Europe from 1945 until the late 1960s. Since then, its birth rate has fallen but remains higher than that of most other west European countries. Traditionally, France has had a high level of immigration. More than 1 million Muslims immigrated in the 1960s and early 1970s from North Africa, especially Algeria. About 90% of the population is Roman Catholic, 7% Muslim, less than 2% Protestant, and about 1% Jewish. In 2004, there were over 5 million Muslims, largely of North African descent, living in France.

Education is free, beginning at age 2, and mandatory between ages 6 and 16. The public education system is highly centralized. Private education is primarily Roman Catholic. Higher education in France began with the founding of the University of Paris in 1150. It now consists of 91 public universities and 175 professional schools, such as the post-graduate Grandes Ecoles. Private, college-level institutions focusing on business and management with curriculums structured on the American system of credits and semesters have been growing in recent years.

The French language derives from the vernacular Latin spoken by the Romans in Gaul, although it includes many Celtic and Germanic words. French has been an international language for centuries and is a common second language throughout the world. It is one of five official languages at the United Nations. In Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the West Indies, French has been a unifying factor, particularly in those countries where it serves as the only common language among a variety of indigenous languages and dialects.

Culture

The culture of France is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as the influence of recent immigration. France has played an important role for centuries as a cultural center, with Paris as a world center of high culture.

Paris is seen by some as the art capital of Europe, after Rome. The possible heyday of this was during les années folles in the period between the world wars.

Traditionally a predominantly Roman Catholic country, with anticlerical leanings, France is since the 1970s a very secular country. However, public holidays are still largely traditional Catholic holidays; and knowledge of facts about the history of Catholicism (for instance, the attribute of saints) is considered normal for an educated person. The French generally consider that since the 1905 law of separation of Church and State, they have struck an excellent balance between the rights of religious people and the neutrality of public institutions with respect to religious matters, summarized in the concept of laïcité.

France is noted for its cosmopolitan, civilised approach to life, combined with great concern for style, fashion and appearances. French people are sometimes perceived as taking a great pride in the national identity and positive achievements of France, although many French people would argue that all nations tend to do that.

French people address each other with formality, calling each other Madame, Mademoiselle or Monsieur in a way which may seem formulaic to outsiders, but signifies a respect for the individual which permeates the French way of life. Similarly, it is expected that social interaction should be preceded by a bonjour or bonsoir (or more familiar) greeting, even in shops and other services. Failing to abide by those rules is considered rude.

The French language has two ways of addressing individual people in the second person (corresponding to the English "you"):

* The formal way is to use the plural vous; talking in that fashion is called vouvoyer. This puts some distance between the person who speaks and the person addressed, shows some respect to the other person, and is the normal and appropriate way to discuss matters between strangers, or business contacts, or for a child to address an adult outside his family. Using vous is the safe solution in most contexts.

* The informal way is to use the singular tu (corresponding to the archaic "thou" in English); talking in that fashion is called tutoyer. It expresses some kind of intimacy, and sometimes some lack of respect for the other person. It is the common way to address people in one's own family, or one's closest colleagues, or to talk to a small child. It is also common among the youth; students address each other with tu unless the age difference is large.

One should especially beware of interactions when one party says vous to the other and the other uses tu. This may be interpreted as very rude and demeaning behavior from the party using tu.

One of the first things some people note in France is the kissing on both cheeks (not always involving making contact with the lips) between two people. Family members generally kiss each other this way. In young and familiar settings, males generally kiss females in the same way. Similar kissing between males is common in the southeast, but uncommon in other regions.

The normal meal schedule is to take a light breakfast in the morning (consisting of bread and/or cereal, possibly coffee and some fruit, perhaps croissants), a lunch at some point between noon and 2PM, and dinner in the evening. A normal complete meal consists in appetizers (perhaps raw vegetables or salad), a main dish (generally, meat or fish with a side of vegetables, pasta, rice or friest), some cheese and/or dessert (fruit or cake). While most working people and students eat their lunch outside, it is to be noted that corporate and school cafeterias normally serve complete meals (appetizers, main dish, dessert); it is not usual for students to bring sandwiches.

The French generally take a strong interest in food. French food was largely regional, and these influences still show (to draw some caricature, the cooking of Normandy is based on cream and butter, while Provence uses olive oil as a cooking fat). Some dishes, such as garnished sauerkraut, are connoted for a particular region (in this case, Alsace). However, with the movements of population across contemporary France, regional distinctions are less acute; while many dishes retain the association with their region of origin, they are available and appreciated nationwide. Furthermore, international cuisines are appreciated; let us cite Northern African dishes such as couscous stew, Chinese cuisine, and, more recently, Japanese cuisine (the latter are generally appreciated in restaurants).

Traditionally, France has been a culture of wine consumption. However, this characteristic has lessened with time, and nowadays only 23% of the French consume wine every day.[1] Especially, the consumption of low-quality wines during meals has been greatly reduced. Beer is especially popular with the youth. Other popular alcoholic drinks include pastis, an aniseed-flavored beverage drunk diluted with cold water, especially in the summer.

The legal drinking age for most spirits is 16; it is not customary that shopkeepers or bartenders check for the age of consumers.

The most played sport in France is Pétanque. The leisured form of the sport of Pétanque is played by about 17 millions people in France. The category Sport Competition of Pétanque is played by about 480.000 persons licenced with the Federation Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (ffpjp). The ffpjp is the 4th sportive féderation in France. Licensed players play the very competitive form of Pétanque which is called Pétanque Sport, under precise rules.

The most-watched sports in France are football (soccer), basketball, rugby, cycling and tennis. France is notable for holding the football World Cup in 1998, for holding the annual cycling race Tour de France, and the tennis Grand Slam tournament Roland Garros, or the French Open. Sport is encouraged in school, and local sports clubs receive financial support from the local governments. While football is definitely the most popular, rugby takes dominance in the southwest, especially around the city of Toulouse.

Babyfoot (table football) is a very popular pastime in bars and in homes in France, and the French are the predominant winners of worldwide table football competitions.

French culture is profoundly allied with the French language. The artful use of the mother tongue, and its defense against perceived decline or corruption by foreign terms, is a major preoccupation for some persons and entities.

The Académie française sets an official standard of language purity; however, this standard, which is not mandatory, is even occasionally ignored by the government itself: for instance, the left-wing government of Lionel Jospin pushed for the feminization of the names of some functions (madame la ministre) while the Académie pushed for some more traditional madame le ministre.

Some action has been taken by the government in order to promote French culture and the French language. For instance, there exists a system of subsidies and preferential loans for supporting French cinema. The Toubon law, from the name of the conservative culture minister who promoted it, makes it mandatory to use French in advertisements directed to the general public. Note that contrary to some misconception sometimes found in the Anglophone media, the French government neither regulates the language used by private parties in non-commercial settings, neither makes it compulsory that France-based WWW sites should be in French.



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