J'ai remarqué une grande difference entre ce que nous pensons et ce que vous pensez. Vous semblez être moins distants que nous avec les gens que vous ne connaissez pas.

Cependant auriez-vous la même réaction dans toutes les situations? par exemple pendant un entretient pour obtenir un emploi.

Since I'm a foreigner I cannot say for sure how it will work but I assume that in job interviews, it will probably not be the same. I suppose they would address you as Ms. or Mr. and last name. (I can only imagine since I never had job interviews in the states)

In my country, they would general call the person both the last and firstname. And plus we usually add the last name in front of the first name so it would be like Choi Rose instead of Rose Choi. And we also add a special noun that we use when we want to be polite; it's like mr. and ms. except it's gender neutral. So we would generally be address Ms. HyoJeong Choi instead of Ms. Choi.

I was also surprised by the answers because many French students thought of addressing the first name as impolite and some would actually make a comment to the employee. I guess the situation is not a big deal in my country because most employees would actually call me by my first name. It would be rather awkward if they said Ms. Choi instead of HyoJeong.

I guess in foreign countries it would be wierd to just call me HyoJeong since they only have Ms or Mr. In my country we say Hyojeong "si" or Choi HyoJeong "si" whenever we address anyone not familiar or friendly. We would never say Choi "si." That would be rude in my country.

During the interviews I have had most people addressed me by my first name, but I don't know if that is the norm for all interviews.  Why is it that most of you were so offended? Is it because it is unusual? Are you taught that you shouldn't use first names when you are younger?

All the interviews i have been to, i have been addressed by my first name.Initially i thought it was because my last name was long/difficult to pronounce but most of my friends have had similar experiences. I will say it's "approximately" a norm for all interviews.

Like Razaz i also want to know why most of you were offended because no matter the situation i don't really care if i am addressed by my first name.

I was also surprised that many of the French responses were those of shock or a feeling of disrespect.  In the US, I feel that using first names is very common.  It is never really rude to call someone but their first name, but sometimes as a formality Mr. or Ms./Mrs. are used.  I believe that the reason for this difference can partially be revealed in the structure of both languages.  In French, both vous and tous are used to address people, whereas in English, we only use you.  I believe that not having a formal version of you in English has led to a more personal and less formal society.

Would you be offended if a foreigner addressed you by your first name? I'm asking because I feel that many foreigners may do this out of habit and mean no offense.  I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

I haven't had any formal job interviews so I can't really comment on that, but I know if my college interviews the interviewer always addressed me by first name, which was fine with me. Out of respect, I addressed the interviewers by "Mr." or "Ms." but I think all of them asked me to call them by their first names. Calling someone by his first name makes the situation feel a lot less formal, and for some people that makes the situation more comfortable. I think some people fear that formality stresses people out and prevents them from having a genuine conversation. 

To me, "Mr." and "Ms." have always been reserved for "older people." I have only been called "Ms. Procz" on envelopes from scholarships or the bank. Even then, the envelopes might say "Ms. Lauren Procz". 

What do your teachers call you in school? Do they call you by last name?

I was also addressed by my first name in my college and scholarship interviews, and it did make me feel a lot more comfortable talking to my interviewer. As Lauren mentioned above, we usually use title such as "Mr" or "Mrs" and last name for older people. I wonder if that also applies in France. Would you call someone younger by their last name or with title also?

I, too, enjoy the fact that I can call many of my professors by their first name.  It makes me feel not only more comfortable, but more able to have a conversation with them where we can discuss academic ideas / intellectual concepts from more of a common ground.  

Overall, I maintain that first-name basis seems much more desirable in many situations. Come to think of it, I can't imagine a case where I would not like to be addressed by my first name -- unless there are many people with the same first name as I do.  (However, I guess this becomes more an issue of personal identity and not of propriety.)

I think a lot of people follow the rule that you address someone formally - "Mr., Mrs., Dr.," etc until they tell you to call them by their first name. I know if I am exchanging emails with someone older, especially for internships, or classes, I always address them as such until they reply with an email that signs off with their first name (as opposed to Mr. whoever). This can cause a problem here at MIT, as I'm always worried I will seem impolite by calling a "Dr." as "Mr.", but silly if I call a "Mr." as "Dr"!. Anyway, this made me think, where is the line drawn between using "tu" and "vous"? Is it similar to this (as in, do they tell you that you can refer to them as "tu"), or is it sometimes awkward/difficult to figure it out? 

Merci pour toutes vos réponses. En tout cas vous êtes tous d'accord!

C'est en effet quelque chose de normal en France d'appeler quelqu'un par son nom de famille lorsqu'on ne connait pas cette personne. Pour ma part cela ne me dérangerais pas qu'on appelle par mon prénom. Cela me surprendrait sans doute mais cela ne me gênerait pas.

Je ne pense pas qu'un étranger offenserait quelqu'un. Je pense que l'on comprendrait très bien pourquoi il nous appelle par notre prénom, si c'est la coutume dans son pays.

Pour ce qui est des professeurs, cela dépend d'eux. Ils y en a qui nous appellent par notre prénom et d'autres par notre nom. Je ne crois pas que cela dérange les élèves, puisque en cours d'anglais notre professeur nous appelle par notre prénom et personne ne s'est plaint.

La différence entre le "tu" et le "vous" est la même différence que appeler quelqu'un par son prénom ou son nom. On tutoie un ami, quelqu'un qu'on connait (ou on l'appelle par son prénom), et on vouvoie quelqu'un qu'on ne connait pas (on l'appelle par son nom. Mais on peut aussi voir des gens vouvoyer les personnes plus âgées qu'eux et être tutoyés par celles-ci. On utilise aussi beaucoup des titres tels que "M", "Mme","Mlle"...suivit du nom. De ce point de vu cela semble être pareil qu'aux Etats Unis (d'après ce que vous dites).

Comment ça ce passe avec vos professeurs? sont-ils plutôt réservés, comme en France, ou parlent-ils plus librement?

In America, I think nearly all professors have students call them "Professor + last name".  You always show the professor respect by using their title and last name (you could alternatively say Dr. last name).  As a graduate student it is more vague, many professors ask to be called by their first name by graduate students, while some still wanted to be referred to by title.  Also, if the professor is teaching a class, you nearly always call them by title + last name, even if the you call that professor by first name out of class.  I usually refer to professors in the more respectful form, using the title and last name, and a professor will usually then tell you to call them by their first name if that is what they desire.

In classes, teachers call students with their first name, and if the professors are very young and the class size is small, professors usually ask to be called by their first name.

The interviewers of my job interviews usually call me by my first name, and ask to be called by their first name as well.