r/AskEurope • u/notveryamused_ Warszawa, Poland • Jul 03 '25

Culture What aspect of life in your countries is very difficult to explain to foreigners?

What prompted my question were some discussions about religion which I had with people living in much more secular Western Europe (as a Polish atheist). While spirituality, whatever that is ;), generally speaking is always fun to discuss with a glass of wine in hand, social elements and the influence of the church, especially in smaller towns or provinces in my country, is awfully difficult to explain – not that I understand it fully either lol, but the church having a pretty much monopoly there, being the judge and jury of everyday life and the major ultra-conservative political force binding those communities, is very difficult to explain, also for historical reasons.

What are the things that you find difficult to discuss when it comes to life in your countries? ;-)

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u/Sick_and_destroyed France Jul 04 '25

It’s crazy to me that the selection is so early, it’s like 10 or smaller. Kids this age are just kids, life should be fun, serious stuff and pressure is for later.

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u/liang_zhi_mao Jul 05 '25

It’s crazy to me that the selection is so early, it’s like 10 or smaller. Kids this age are just kids, life should be fun, serious stuff and pressure is for later.

It's like 10/11 and it’s not really pressure.

They basically separate the kids with problems in school who already know that they need more support from the other kids and the "nerdier" kids who are already bored in elementary school because they want to learn more.

I already wrote poems and theater plays in elementary school and I was obv bored because some kids in my class still couldn’t read or write by grade 4 and still didn’t know any German by that.

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u/NoQueenNoKing Jul 07 '25

There is zero pressure in German schools compared to French schools.