It seems like most people on both sides agree that self-centered people are the most annoying people. I was a little confused about one French response - "individualistes." I took this word to mean someone who expresses their individuality, or someone that doesn't blend into the crowd.

Does "individualiste" actually mean a self-centered person in this context? Or does it describe an expressive and non-conforming person? 

My thinking is that this is like the "suburbs"/"Banlieue" situation, where the allegedly analogous word means something different. In English, "le banlieue" is more like "The Projects" than "The suburbs." This different definition results in a different set of responses.

I think that in French, "individualiste" equates more directly with "self-centered" or "conceited," whereas in English, if someone is an "individual" they are unique and promote self-expression. The English word brings to mind positive attributes, and the opposite is true for the French word. 

I ask the French students: is this accurate? Or is it like Tayo suggests?

I agree with Paula. I believe there is a different connotation to the word "individualiste" in French. 

Also, I found it interesting that in the French side they mention respect several times, and in the American side, rudeness is brought up quite often. Do you believe there is a difference between these too? 

While many responses were shared, the ones that weren't perhaps shared some sort of similarity? I think that that the French focused more on the characteristics of individuals, as if certain behaviors were unacceptable, while the Americans wrote more based on actions and things people do. 

C'est intéressant de voir que du côté français il y a beaucoup de référence au respect d'autrui. C'est également évoqué du côté américain mais il y a davantage de diversité dans les énoncés ; il est fait mention d'hypocritie, d'égoïsme, etc qui sont davantages des "défauts" de la personne que des comportements asociaux.

"individualiste" en français équivaut quasiment à "égoïste", donc c'est Paula qui a raison ; )

Oui, "individualiste" dans ce contexte signifie "égoïste". Nous utilisons souvent ces deux mots comme synonymes. C'est l'équivalent de la réponse "only think about themselves".

Je trouve aussi que les réponses des deux côtés sont presque les mêmes. 

Je me demande si "are rude" est la même chose que "ne pas être respectueux". Quelqu'un pourrait m'expliquer un peu plus ce que signifie "rude" ?

Thanks for the clarification of the word "individualiste" everyone :-)

Lova, you are correct about the word "rude." It is basically a blend of some of the qualities listed. A rude person could be someone who is self-centered, someone who interrupts often, someone who chews with their mouth open, etc. Basically anything somebody does that offends you (it could be personal) or society is considered "rude." Perhaps someone else could add to this definition if it remains unclear.

I also thought it was interesting that about two responses from the French side involved lying, whereas none of the American responses were related to that. Is that possibly due to cultural differences?

@Clarissa, je pense que les étudiants français ont répondu celà sans doute dans le sens où lorsqu'on ment, on ne respecte pas son interlocuteur et c'est ce manque de respect qui est insuportable. Je pense que l'on peut aussi relier le mensonge à l'hypocrisie... 

Pour ma part, je toruve un commentaire américain très intéressant: je ne supporte pas les gens qui font des erreurs grammaticales.

Je trouve cette remarque très intéressante car je l'aurais plutôt attendue venant d'un français! Ce n'est pas un secret que les français sont très attachés à leur langue et faire des fautes de français est généralement assez mal vu. Et pourtant, on retrouve cette réponse du côté des étudiants américains. Etes-vous plusieurs à être sensible au mauvais usage de la grammaire ou est ce que cela vous laisse indifférent généralement?

@Marine:

In general, people tend to expect you to have a certain level of "correctness" when writing. In my opinion, I think that this is mainly because of the basics, such as the distinction between "you're" and "your", "they're" and "their", etc. It reflects a certain level of education and care to what you are trying to say, in addition to the fact that --at least for me--, sometimes seeing things like "your welcome" or "it is they're car" make me twitch.

@Marine: To add to what Adrian said, I think that response falls more under what we would call a "pet peeve." Pet peeves are usually smaller, more trivial things that bother us. 

I think if one were to ask the average American to respond to this question, "making grammatical errors" might not be high on the list of responses. It all depends on how one interprets the question, either as a more serious problem or a more trivial one. 

@Clarissa, I think the closest response on the American side to "lying" is "make promises and do not keep them," but I was also surprised that "lying" did not appear on the American side. It's not something I thought of when I made my responses, but in retrospect it's something that would annoy me quite a bit. I think in America, if someone you really trust lies to you, your relationship with that person is often never the same.

That being said, I wonder if the American students left "lying" because it's more of a dealbreaker here than an annoyance? Are the French more tolerant and forgiving of people when they lie? 

To respond to Marine, I think that improper grammer use is indicative of someone who is poorly educated or perhaps careless when typing out a quick email, but it certainly isn't rude. But we also don't have the informal and formal distinctions (i.e. tu et vous). Is it rude when somone uses tu who should have used vous?