France

France

  • accent, baguette, croissant, Eiffel Tower, cheese
  • baguette, cheese, art, revolution
  • Cheese, Wine, Eiffel Tower, Lourve
  • Cheese, wine, revolution, bourbon
  • cultural, language, learning, fun
  • Eiffel Tower, Paris, Fashion, movies
  • espresso, philosophy, Eiffel tower
  • fancy, soccer, bread
  • Food, Eiffel Tower, romantic
  • food, geography, art
  • Historic, Food, Culture
  • Paris, Art, Bakeries, Courtesy
  • Paris, delicious food, art, museums, beautiful sites, chic, a different lifestyle, French, love, rich in culture
  • Paris, French, Fun
  • Paris, French language, culture.
  • pastries, tour d'Eiffel, old
  • Quick, industrious, chic
  • revolution, Paris, wine, culture
  • Wine, Baguettes, Haughty
  • Wine, lavender, cheese
  • Baguette, cassoulet, Gilet jaune
  • baguette, croissant, Paris
  • baguette, sécurité, santé
  • baguette, vin, raclette
  • Bordeaux, Paris, Tour Eiffel, mode
  • champion du monde
  • coupe, pays, monde, champion
  • Etudes, impôts, travail (= Paris)
  • gastronomie, liberté, grève
  • Gastronomie, pain, cigarette, vin, sud
  • liberté, chance, entraide
  • Liberté, égalité, autorité
  • Macron, fraternité, droits de l'homme, tour Eiffel
  • Manifestation, Maison, Champion du Monde
  • meilleur pays du monde !!
  • Nourriture, alcool, manifestations
  • Pain, vin, croissant, gastronomie
  • Pays, politique
  • racisme, exclusion, horizons
  • Vin, grognon, charcuterie
  • Vin, pain, croissant
  • études, avenir, travail

Discussion

Il est intéressant de voir que la bonne cuisine est soulignée des deux côtés. Ce qui est, je pense, plutôt vrai. Du côté français, la récente victoire de la coupe du monde de foot et les récents mouvements contestataires se font remarquer alors que du côté américain non. Du côté américain, vous semblez avoir une bonne image de la France et des français. Pour ce qui est des qualificatifs “courtesy”, “love” et “romantic”, ils ne sont pas vraiment au goût du jour. “haughty” par contre…

I think it is interesting that the ENSEIRB side is more of a current image of french culture whereas the MIT side is more general and less recent. I would guess this is because in France it is more relevant to daily life whereas here it’s not something we are necessarily updated on all the time.

As mentioned above, it is quite interesting to see that both point out the food and gastronomy in France. However, while MIT students also mention the artistic aspect of French culture, there is no mention of it from the ENSEIRB students. Instead, we see a lot more words in politics and political ideologies as we also see from the ENSEIRB students on the association with the word “United States.”

I agree with Yoshihiro. I also noticed that MIT students mention French art, fashion, and culture which ENSEIRB students mention French politics more, like “Gilet Jaune”, “Macron”, and “droits de l’homme”. I suspect that these are the things that are portrayed most in the media for both sides.

I think what Knhicks said about the MIT students writing what is portrayed most in the media is probably correct, and is most likely why some dated words like “love” and “courtesy” are used. I assume that in television and movies, if the writers want to get the point across that something is French or people are in France, they would use things that are already established or everyone knows, such as those stereotypes. This would create a never-ending cycle of just reusing the same ideas, making old ideas persist to now.

I agree with Rsholler that the phrases mentioned by the MIT students are more general than the phrases mentioned by the ENSEIRB students which are much more specific to more time and present day France. This is not surprising given the fact that MIT students do not experience the French culture, society, ideals and politics on a daily bias, like the ENSEIRB students obviously do. I wonder if this is reversed for the section on the United States. However something that aligns with both sides is the appreciation of French food, as Damien mentioned. I think this is of common knowledge among both groups of students because good French food has been displayed very explicitly through the media and films, whereas other more technical, political ideas are probably known by a smaller group among the MIT students and Americans in general.

I think it’s interesting that one of the ENSEIRB students mentioned health in association with France. I think healthcare is very different in France than in the U. S. I wonder how the ENSEIRB students feel about the largely government-subsidized healthcare system in France, since this is such a divisive topic in the U. S.

I agree with most of the comments above about the French cuisine. It is no surprise that everyone mentions food since French cuisine is one of the most important aspects of its culture. I also see why the MIT students’s responses are a lot more romantic then the responses of the ENSEIRB students. It’s simply because France is only a travel destination for many Americans whereas French think about France less romantically and more seriously. I wonder why Damien doesn’t think that France is associated with with « romantic », « courtesy », « love » anymore. Do other ENSEIRB students agree with Damien? I’m also curious what Damien means by “haughty” for France?

I agree with rsholler and knhicks in that

Ce que je voulais dire à la fin de mon premier message est que la perception de la France par le reste du monde comme un symbole de romantisme et de courtoisie fait certainement référence à une époque passée en France (et plus précisément à Paris) et qu’aujourd’hui la situation particulière en France se ressent au quotidien et est bien éloignée de la perception passée du pays.

I agree with most of the comments above about French cuisine as well. Although, I think it is very interesting that someone said “meilleur pays du monde !!” and later on down the list someone else said “racisme”, “exclusion”, and “horizons”. Could it be that French students find exclusion as a good thing or maybe these students have different experiences in the country.

Je suis d’accord avec la plupart des messages exposés avant, on remarque bien que du point de vue MIT la France est symbolisée par Paris, sa gastronomie et certaines notions comme le romantisme et la culture. Du coté ENSEIRB, on retrouve ces notions surtout pour la gastronomie. Cependant on voit également certains thèmes politiques apparaître comme “les gilets jaunes” ou “Macron” qui semblent également nous concerner. Un autre point qui semble toucher l’ENSEIRB est la victoire de la France au championnat du monde de football (Soccer).

Pour répondre à Jorge , je pense oui que selon la catégorie sociale à laquelle on appartient, les étudiant Français n’ont pas le même point de vue de plus cela dépend aussi de l’endroit où l’on a grandi et vécu car même si c’est un petit pays à côté des Etats Unis il y a une multitude de cultures et de manières de vivre .