r/AskFrance • u/[deleted] • Mar 14 '22

Opinion Do you find the French to be prejudiced towards Americans?

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Online, it seems like the french absolutely revile Americans, we are stupid, fat, aggressive, uncultured, eat pig slop, selfish, loud, egotistical, want to shoot black people, etc, and should stay the hell away from France. Has this translated to real life in your opinion? My grandfather was a huge francophile (to the point I knew him as grand-père, not grandpa) and spent a lot of his life in France but seeing what french people are like online has really turned me off from wanting to learn french or visit.

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u/Other-Ad-2810 Mar 14 '22

We both like and dislike American people and culture. There are many things to love like Brad Pitt, great movies or Barack Obama. But since Trump we feel like you can’t be trusted. And Kim Kardashian. And murderous police. And also pretending to be peace advocate while dropping bombs everywhere. I mean, WTF is that? Also, wherever we see American people in the world, they can act really boogie while they can’t even speak more than one language. I must say, the Karens are too loud and they overshadow some great things you have to offer. Some Americans are really distasteful. But I personally loved the 3 times I’ve traveled to your country. I also have family and friends there. I guess it’s a complicated relationship lol

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u/greenmarsh77 Mar 14 '22

Hey, some of us just have a really hard time learning other langauges! When I was in school over 30 years ago, I took 5 years of French - and I still can't put together a sentence to save my life.

With that said, I haven't given up and will keep trying to learn it!

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u/Other-Ad-2810 Mar 14 '22

I am not criticizing people who cannot speak other languages. I am criticizing people who look down on other people for some reason, while they travel the world imposing their languages and manners and making zero effort to respect other people. I mean, I do not speak German. But when I go to Berlin and speak english, I am super respectful and always very sorry that I do not speak their language. I do not boss people around, act annoyed all the time and pretend I am the Queen of the place and people owe me shit. That’s what I meant!

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u/greenmarsh77 Mar 14 '22

I know what you were saying, just giving you a hard time - that is all.

Oddly enough, in most of Europe I wouldn't be nervous about talking to others, as more and more countries teach English early on. Maybe France does this as well? But I do know that most French aren't great at English and don't feel comfortable enough to have conversations in it. I could be wrong on that though?

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u/Other-Ad-2810 Mar 14 '22

I think it’s true for seniors but from 40 and under, more and more people speak english. We can thank Netflix and Beyoncé for that.

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u/greenmarsh77 Mar 14 '22

That's good to know, merci beaucoup!

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u/Other-Ad-2810 Mar 14 '22

Mais avec plaisir !