Travelling in Europe what are the differences between the French and Italians (best, place)
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I am travelling in France and Italy this fall and are curious how the culture of the people vary in Italy vs France. (Other than language, my brother told me they were pretty much the same. Is this true?
They are all Latins, using a lot of hand gestures when speaking, very expressive people.
The Italians are friendlier, louder, more down to earth.
The French are very cultured, intellectual, snobby, somewhat might come out as "rude" to someone who doesn't know them, seem less friendly to someone who doesn't know their habits or culture.
Italians are usually louder and easier to talk to, but can also be invasive and disruptive. What is seen as rude in Italy can be perceived as normal in France and vice-versa. French people are more about respecting the rules also because the rules are clearer than in Italy where 10 different persons will tell you 10 different versions of what you have to do in a given situation (so don't ask more people)
French people are usually quieter and more formal. There are many unspoken social rules than even I (I am from there) don't know.
I don't think French people are particularly expressive, it highly depends on the people. I actually think Americans are very loud and expressive compared to us, so the latin thing does not make much sense to me to be honest.
What is similar is the taste for food and culture. People will tell you that the recipe from their town / region is the best. The appreciation of good food, and for local art / architecture is the common link between the two countries.
French people are a bit more nationalistic even if you will rarely meet someone waving the French flag like Americans do with theirs. Italians are pretty self-depreciative, yet they love the place they come from. They rarely have a high sense of nationalism (unless it is about soccer or food).
French people are more subtle, they rarely tell directly what they mean because it would be considered rude. They usually try to say negative things in a positive way. Italians are usually more straight-forward and can seem to be aggressive when they actually just state a personal opinion (especially Rome and southward).
Northern Italians are more in line with French people in general. Southern French people are more in tune with Central and Southern Italy.
Cities are usually prettier and more lively in Italy than in France. Things are cheaper overall in Italy. Things work better in France than in Italy.
There are more natural areas in France than in Italy for obvious reasons. Italy is an urban culture with a lot of beautiful mess, France is more of a suburban culture where people want to remain in a quiet place. Functionality is often considered as equally as important as beauty and culture.
In Italy there are many amazing cities which are really unpractical (i.e. When I tried to take the subway in Rome and it was just impossible because I did not have the right banknote... That and biking in general)
Italian people usually spend more time outside than French people, who prefer spending their outdoor time in the nature than in cities.
Both are equally as mediocre when it comes to english speaking. Also, Italian English is not understood by French people and French English does not reach many ears in Italy.
There are probably many other things to add, I'll write about it when I think about them.
French people are a bit more nationalistic even if you will rarely meet someone waving the French flag like Americans do with theirs. Italians are pretty self-depreciative, yet they love the place they come from. They rarely have a high sense of nationalism (unless it is about soccer or food).
I feel like this is very true.
Quote:
In Italy there are many amazing cities which are really unpractical.
I also find this to be extremely spot on. The fast trains are nice but it's like nothing else works. The internet is particularly terrible, like epic level of ****.
Last edited by Greysholic; 10-19-2016 at 11:19 AM..
French are more organized, formal, too much of perfectionists, complainers, strikers, intellectual pessimists while Italians are more relaxed, down-to-earth, problem solvers, less formal, more emotional, even louder, gesture champions. These people are much more expressive than individual Americans, I have lived in France.
We Americans and to an extent Canadians too are usually "more friendly or welcoming" than the French or Italians.
Last edited by saxonwold; 10-22-2016 at 10:22 AM..
I also find this to be extremely spot on. The fast trains are nice but it's like nothing else works. The internet is particularly terrible, like epic level of ****.
apparently someone cancelled my post on this because I was off topic (but then yours probably was as well...), but in my experience internet works fine here, it can get tricky in the south. We have free wi-fi downtown.
Saxonwold, I don't know what to say. Maybe you focus on some specific gestures that do not exist in the US, but to me Americans are generally loud and expressive (which is not a negative thing to say). French people are usually more reserved, unless we're talking about southerners.
About the welcoming thing, I think Americans are welcoming but it rarely means they do it because they like you. It's just because it's the way it is done. French people often have the impressions that Americans are faking it, because they look super enthuastic then act as if they've never seen you before.
To be fair I'm not sold on the problem solving capacity of Italians, but they have some kind of genius of tricky situations French people do not have, because French people are more used to working situations. People complain a lot here though, I can assure you.
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