Hi Jow Forums :) Soon I'll be moving out from Spain to France because I found a job there. What are the main cultural differences that I should take into account?
I am especially interested in these subjects: - Lifestyle - Work-life balance - How welcoming are french people towards spaniards - Friendships/romantic relationships
I am in my mid 20's and will be working as a software engineer, if it helps. The location is still unknown, could be Toulouse, Lyon ... I am really looking forward to it and learning french :D Vive la France!
I don't really know about Spain so...I guess for young people it's not that different between our countries. If you speak french it will be a huge help. If you go to a province city and can only speak spanish/english, you may have a hard time in the beginning, as few people speak it. Main differences would be...no siesta, and we eat around 7-8pm.
Kevin Brown
OP here > and we eat around 7-8pm Wut? Do you mean lunch or dinner there? What time do you normally have breakfast and the rest of the daily meals?
Lucas Hill
I just figured out how to reply x)
Samuel Martin
Dinner obviously. Breakfast between 7am-9am, depending on when you wake up...Lunch around noon-1pm, usually it takes 1 hour. Then people usually take coffee/smoking breaks in the afternoon (and also in the morning).
Angel Johnson
The eating hours are 2 hours earlier than in Spain, that's interesting. I guess that affects the usual break for eating in the job as well.
Jordan Bennett
What job will you do?
Justin Barnes
Dude I'm a French guy who just arrived in Spain. What city are you from ? I return you the questions by the way.
The main differences I noticed so far: - in France stores aren't open as late but they don't close in the middle of the afternoon -we eat around 12 to 2pm and 7 to 9pm -i found Spanish people to be louder and more expressive but maybe it's because I'm from the north -you guys really dress fancy and colourful even for stuff like going shopping or meeting friends in the afternoon -you have a big concentration of bars and restaurants and really go out a lot
That's all I can think now buy there's probably more
Logan Wright
I will be working as a software engineer. Is there something I should know about the industry of how it is perceived there?
Elijah Turner
Same case but the other way haha
I didn't know we dressed fancy!
I am currently living in Lleida, near Barcelona. How much would you say french people go out?
Noah Roberts
Also we don't have negative stereotypes about Spaniards, you guys are welcome here.
I also found that people are generally less punctual in Spain and Latin America as well (had many friends from there during my time in Canada). In France people finish all their beer but in Spain I was really surprised that people left the bottom and the waiters come pick it up even if there's something left in it.
Matthew Russell
2 or 3 times a week I guess, I meant that there were really a lot of people in the streets in the evenings and all restaurants were full, and not only students, a lot of middle aged people too.
Mason Green
Yeah, you are right. Depending on the place it can get really crowdy. In Lleida for example if you don't make a reservation it's really hard to find a place to have dinner a Friday.
I also agree with the punctuality difference, but it depends on the person sometimes. You end up adapting to the "lateness" of your friends haha
Zachary Jones
things spaniards make that annoy people (I lived in international student residence):
- Making noise really late - Making noise and party all the time - using tu for everybody
that's pretty much all
Jordan Williams
and I forget being late all the time.
Benjamin Davis
French are Spanish mutts, they wouldnt tell you apart untill you open mouth.
Spanish students are rarely quiet, a student residence must be annoying
What do you mean by using tu for everybody? Not calling people by their name?
Luke Turner
i believe he means using formal speech, in french 2. person plural vous instead of tu (2. person singular) which is informal and rude to persons of higher standing or strangers.
Ian Lewis
you know in french you have tu and vous, a bit like tu and usted. But it's a lot more common to use vous in french than to use usted in spanish. Basically people like a bit more formalities in france.
So be carefull about using tu with your big boss without asking on the first day at your job. Maybe the guy doesn't care but maybe he does and he's going to think you'r a rude fuck.
Owen Howard
Oh, that's good to know. I studied french for a year some time ago, and I recall that we always used vous. I didn't even know that 'tu' existed in french.
I will need to take classes, fortunately both languages are pretty similar.
Hunter Harris
>thread about OP wanting some tips on how to live in France >le eugenics amerimutt man appears
Christian Collins
>But it's a lot more common to use vous in french than to use usted in spanish. >Basically people like a bit more formalities in france. south americans use it, we don't
Oliver Reed
What movies in Spanish do you recommend ? And series if you know some good ones
Spain has some weird mix of boring shit and kino, their comedies are weird but funny. Check out stuff by Alex de la Iglesia, for thrillers check Alejandro Amenabar. For weird shit check out the shows “La hora chanante” and “Muchachada Nui.”
