Text by Corey Amaro:
Someone once told me that the difference between a French person and an American person could be summarized like this:
“If you put a French person and an American person in the middle of a dense jungle and asked them to find their way out, the French person would bend down and look at the soil for clues, look up to see which way the wind blew the trees and which way the sun was moving across the sky… in other words, the French person would study the situation at hand before making a move. On the other hand, the American would climb up the nearest tree, look around, and holler, “HEY, Anyone out there?”
In general, because thankfully we cannot label a whole country, let alone a single person, the French are more methodical in their approach, trusting that they can find their way by themselves. In contrast, the Americans look at teamwork and will go on a limb to find a new way.
Why?
If you ask three hundred thousand French people, “Did you have fun (as in liked, enjoyed, considered it the best years ever…) school?” Two hundred and ninety-eight of them would answer solemnly, “No.” Then, they would look at you oddly and ask, “Why?”
French students go to school to learn how to study. Fun is rarely in the equation. On the first day of school, they are taught to come into the classroom and sit at their desk quietly. They are not allowed to talk unless they are asked a question. If the teacher asks the students for a response or “Who knows the answer?” The French child is supposed to raise their hand no higher than their shoulder, with their pointer finger in the air. Unlike an American student, they cannot wave their arm frantically and excitedly say, “I know, I know, ask me!!!!”
The French are taught from a very early age to sit still, listen, obey, and if in doubt, re-think; if you don’t know the answer, listen, and if you think you are right, you probably are wrong.
Therefore, when they know the answer, they know they are right. Their opinion is well thought out; they can back it up with many examples. They will listen to your arguments and ideas but ultimately believe they are never wrong.
American students are taught they are the masters of their universe and can accomplish whatever they want if they believe it, work hard towards it, and have the money to get it.
The Americans and the French come from very different upbringings, educational approaches, and ways to be. In France, you rarely hear: “If there is a will, there is a way!” Watching my children go through the French schools and listening to many of them talk about schools, I believe I would have suffered dramatically in their mold. I was raised to climb a tree and believe in myself, even if I didn’t have a single example to back it up.
This is not to say either approach is better or worse than the other. Both have advantages, both are worthy, and both ways of educating can shape a different way of thinking.
In the end, the American who climbed the tree and the French person who studies the surroundings find their way… and both ways bring for an exciting conversation at the end of the day.
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