Il semble que les définitions de la famille soient relativement proches de part et d’autre: c’est sans doute le mot qui rassemble le plus dans liste.
On peut noter que es américains insistent plus sur «l'amour» et le «support» qu'apporte la famille, alors que les français mentionnent plus souvent leurs frères et sœurs, ou les enfants en général. Cela viendrait-il du fait que nos interlocuteurs américains sont plus souvent fils ou fille unique ?

Je pense que les Français et les Américains ont sensiblement la même idée de la famille. Cependant il y a quelques différences. Par exemple, les américains ont l’air d’être plus inquiet à propos de leur famille, ils parlent plus d’amour et d’aide. Est-ce que les américains sont moins timides, moins réservés que les français ou alors est-ce les français ne veulent pas paraître faible en dévoilant trop leur sentiment ?

One possibility for the outpouring of emotion of the American side of the list could be that many students in our class (myself included) attend college far from home, so they miss their families more and do not talk to them as often as the French students. Or do you all see your parents infrequently too?

In response to whether Americans are less reserved, I don't know whether that's true. Americans perceive family as applying to their own, whereas the French see it more as an abstract idea. Maybe it just reveals a difference in thinking. Americans apply ideas to personal situations whereas the French may apply ideas to community and society in general. Do you think this reveals that the French think in a broader picture and that Americans have very focused viewpoints? That is to say, do you think Americans are too concerned with themselves whereas the French see themselves as a part of a larger community?

From the time we are toddlers, we are taught that families are about love, support, etc. Though they influence our education, success, and sense of community, among other things, what first comes to mind when we think of family is what we have been taught for years and years. It's a sort of instinct, I guess. Maybe we are less timid, especially about saying things like "I love you." In France, do you say "I love you" often, or is it reserved for special situations?

A possible explanation, I think, is that perhaps to the French, the word love is already embedded in the word family. Is that true? Also, at least for me, anything and everything can be described with the word love. I "love" chocolate, I "love" tv, I "love" Micheal Jordan, etc. Are the French more reserved with the usage of the the word "love"?

Pour répondre à Mitra, je dirais que l'on peut rencontrer à la fois des étudiants qui vivent chez leurs parents et des étudiants qui logent dans un appartement assez éloigné de leur famille.
Ceci dit, c’est vrai que les distances sont assez limitées (en tout cas pour la métropole). Personnellement, je vois mes parents à peu près une fois par mois, mais je suis un cas particulier, j’ai une femme et un enfant. J’ai donc ma propre famille.
Pour répondre à Shriddha, je ne sais pas trop quoi répondre, il doit y avoir à la fois des français qui vont s’intéresser uniquement à leur famille proche (père, frère et soeur), et d’autres plus penser à la famille au sens large, les cousins, les petits-cousins, etc.
Pour Cécilia, pour ma part, en tant qu’homme, je ne dis pas trop souvent « Je t’aime » excepté à ma femme et à mon bébé.
Pour Yi, c’est vrai que l’amour est pour moi implicitement lié à la famille. Nous utilisons également beaucoup le verbe « aimer » pour dire qu’on aime le chocolat, ou tout autre chose. Cependant très souvent on y ajoute des adverbes, par exemple, j’aime bien le chocolat. Je pense que cela permet de différencier les deux sens.
De votre coté, est-ce que vous pensé déjà à votre future famille ? Voulez-vous vous marier ? Avoir des enfants ?

Being a student, my current goals are to graduate and start a career. I think most people in university have the same goals. However, I would like to start a family of my own someday, but that is probably going to happen once I complete my first two goals. That is why I haven't really thought about my future family yet. It still remains to distant in my future.

I feel kind of similar to Shriddha, I am really focused on school, and then I will probably go to graduate school too, so I have a long time left being a student, but at the same time, I am looking forward to getting married and having kids. I think I have always had the cliche dream of the prefect husband, two kids, and a house with a white picket fence. It's not in my immediate future at all, but I definitely want it some day.

Bonjour à tous ! Je voulais juste réagir sur ce que disait Gina dans son dernier post. Je comprends et partage la notion de bonheur passant par la famille. Le concept de la vie parfaite me fait par contre un peu frissoner. Une vie règlée, avec des objectifs pré-déterminés...qu'elle est la part d'aléatoire, voir d'aventure dans ce projet de vie ? Qu'elle est votre vision d'une vie réussie, vos objectifs ? si déjà commencé, depuis quand oeuvrez-vous pour ? Recherchez vous le rêve américain ou ce cliché est largement dépassé ? Et enfin, pour interpreter vos réponses quel âges avez vous ? Cultura Power lol

Hi Nicolas, I think i overgeneralized my cliche dream a little. There are millions of things I want to do with my life, and, yes, having a family is one of them, but I definitely don't want to be like one of the "desperate housewives" or anything. I want to have adventures, be spontaneous, have interesting experiences, learn new things, work on global healthcare, or medical research, and I won't sacrifice any of that for my white picket fence, but I still want the white picket fence some day. Does that make sense? I think a lot of americans (at least many of my friends) feel similarly.

ps- i'm 20, how old are you?

Mademoiselle Gina, j'ai 23 ans. Tout me paraît très clair et surtout normal. En fait tu es quelqu'un de normal qui a envie vivre plein de choses :-) La clotûre blanche viendra un jour pour tout le monde lol. Nous sommes au final tous pareils, ou presque, sur nos ideaux de vie, excepté peut être Dong (cf. post sur le capitalisme). Je suis curieux de connaitre ta vision de lafamille, le nb "idéal" d'enfants, les valeurs que tu penses être le fondement d'une bonne éducation, ... A bientot sur : "cultura Power".

Ideal children... that's hard to answer. Definitely not my brother? haha, just kidding. I'll just answer what I want my kids to be like. I want my kids to respect other people, and ideas that are different than their own; know the value of hard work, but also know that it's important to relax and have fun; listen to me, and respect me as a parent, but also know that I will love them and support them unconditionally. (yeah, i know it sounds a little corny, but i'm an idealist...) What about you, what is an ideal child to you?

Si il y a bien quelque chose d'universel, c'est les blagues/guerres entre petit et grand frere/soeur :-) Je ne parlais pas vraiment de l'enfant ideal, mais du nombre d'enfant (pour connaitre la conception de la famille américaine, grande petite ? 2,3,4...) Mais c'est interessant de voir comment les barrieres de la langue font évoluer les conversations.
Pour moi les valeurs a transmettre sont la curiosité, la joie de vivre, l'ouverture d'esprit !!! et la volonté. Un top 4, car il y en aurait beaucoup. J'aimerai qu'il voyage beaucoup pour se faire leur propre image du monde, et vivent la réalité de manière internationale (est ce clair ?) Une question de plus pour appéhender la notion américaine de la famille : Quel est l'âge moyen des personnes se mariant ? C'est âge recule t-il aussi aux US ? A quel age finissez vous les études ?
PS : Donc tu es en medecine et aime dessiner/peindre pour te relaxer, is that true ?
Passionée de voile ?

Nicolas, at least to me the average age that people get married at is 28. The American average (by median, in 1995) was 25 for women and 27 for men.

I don't think that I will be done with school until after I am 30! i can't believe it, but it is true. I think 28 is about right for the average age to be married here, but i know some people who are 22 and getting married, so there's no rule to go by. I think most people want to finish their schooling first, and then get married after all that.
did i say earlier that i like to draw and paint? i do, but i don't have much time for it here. I also love to sail (that is what you were asking, right?)

désolé, juste un test

WOW! i like the happy face a lot!
Oh, and to add to the discussion on family, I think I wouldn't want more than two children. I think the issue of the danger of an overly large human population on earth is becoming more and more pressing each day. I really think the entire world needs education on birth control because at the rate we're going, we will really destroy this planet in a few hundred years. Quite a sad fate for something that has been around for five billion years. Back to the point, the average age for getting married in the United States is starting to shift more and more back. Many people are getting married in their 30's now as opposed to their 20's. More and more women are having children at older ages, which I would like to remind everyone is very dangerous! Yes to the mother, but more importantly, to the child! A child's probability of having down syndrome is directly correlated to the age of the mother, and the older the mother is, the more of a risk there is. In fact, the rate does not grow exponentially but it certainly multiplies by a significant factor.

As far as older mothers go, it's not that big of an issue, until they reach 40 years old. Having a child in one's 30's is starting to become commonplace and does not have significantly more risk for either the mother or the child.

How did you post the smiley face Nicolas?