American associations with "success" tend to be more concrete and personal (happiness, self-fulfillment), while French associations appear more abstract and less attainable (unless the majority actually believes they will become celebrities).

I wonder if this reflect a general cultural attitude, that Americans believe more strongly in their very own chances of success, while for the French success is something typically identified with other people.

Naturally "money" was mentioned a great deal on both sides.  The americans went on to talk about "happiness" and "achievement" though and the most popular french response besides money and success was celebrity.  Is there a connotation that I don't know about?  I personally tend to think of celebrities as financially successfull but emotionally and mentally dissatisfied.  I wouldn't want to live in the public eye would you?  Is it not that you want to be celebrities but that you think of them as mascots for success?

I found it very curious that the French students frequently associated "success" with words indicative of societal recognition, such as "celebrite," "reconnaissance," and "gloire."  The Americans, on the other hand, were much more inclined to see the "self-fulfilment" and "self-satisfaction" facets of success, and to mention the efforts involved in achieving said success.  I wonder why the French feel motivated more by the desire to demonstrate their capacity to others, than by the desire to prove their capacity to onseself.  Also, the French spoke a lot about the destination of success or "reussite," but what of the path involved in achieving it?

I am in agreement with everyone else about the celebrity status, but I can also see the correlation between being a celebrity and success.  I'm wondering if the link between being a celebrity and being successful lies less with the actually Hollywood glamour aspect (that I'm sure some of the Americans are defining as a celebrities) and more with the recognition that might be associated with one's success. The other thing that I found interesting was that the idea of bing beautiful or attractive was also linked to success. Is there an underlying reason behind this?

I found it very interesting the most of the French students associated the word success with words that are indicative of social status such as 'celebrite', 'beaute' and 'l'argent' while the Americans used words that are indicative of self-satisfaction. I was happy to see that the French associated success with having a family which only one American did. I am very curious to know why so many French students used the word celebrity. Do they think that success that is not socially recognisable is not worth mentioning?

Many words from the Americains contain both adjectives of success and nouns describing how to get to success.  For example, words like "dedication","discipline", and "ambition" are one the list.  On the other han, The French words are almost purely success adjectives.  Could there be a cultural difference here, such as the deep capitalism of the Americains, that causes more Americains to think about hard work and skills needed to become successful?

By looking at the responses from the French students, it seems like the French are more concerned with the superficial aspects of success. They seem more interested in having money and being wealthy, and being praised by others, whereas the Americans seem more concerned by their own happiness and their own sense of fulfillment. Overall, I just got the feeling that success in France is all about impressing other people, rather than feeling accomplished with your own actions.

Il est vrai que les réponses françaises et américaines diffèrent sur le mot "succès". Personnellement le mot succès me fait penser davantage à la célébrité, aux stars ... plutôt qu'au travail. Peut-être y a t-il une différence de connotation sur le mot succès. On parle souvent d'un "chanteur à succès" mais rarement d'un chef d'entreprise à succès. On va davantage parler de réussite plutôt que de succès dans le cadre professionnel.

je suis d'accord avec Milena, je pense que les français sont attirés par les aspects superficiels du succés, par les paillettes, comme si c'était une histoire. vous américains, semblez mieux comprendre ce phénomène de société, et vous énoncez les moyens d'y parvenir.

 je ne pense pas que les français  ne pensent pas énormément à la suite du fait de devenir célébre. en effet à part passer à la télé et signer des autographes la plupart des gens ignorent le reste. Comme l'a dit Erika il y a une suite a cela: les célébrités sont riches en argent mais pauvres dans de nombreux autres domaines et sont souvent malheureux.

non ce n'est pas vrai, pour tous les francais le succès n'est pas seulement la reconnaissance vis à vis  des autres personnes.En revanche, le reve américain illustre bien cette vision du succès.Ma vision du succès est la réussite au niveau professionel,familial,sentimental.Bien sur, le mot succès fait penser aux célébrites mais ce n'est pas que cela!(for david Mross)

Salut,

aprés avoir constater vos remarques .je ne peux que dire que :la vie est perçu comme une sorte de cmpétition et pour tout avoir il faut donc réussir.