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The 10 most hilariously wrong stereotypes about French people

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French people stink, never speak English and dress like fashion models, right?

While there is often a part of truth in clichés and stereotypes, the reality is sometimes completely different.

Discover the truth behind 10 hilariously wrong French stereotypes and find out whether the stereotypical French man really exists.

 1. French people stink

French people sell a lot of perfume, isn’t that the ultimate proof that they stink?

I don’t know where this stereotype  comes from, but after visiting many countries and living both in South Korea and in Germany for a few months, I can assure you that French people don’t stink more than anyone else.

Sure they may not be as obsessed about hygiene as people can be in other countries, but it’s actually quite rare to meet stinky French people.

Good news, you won’t need to hold your nose when you visit France :p.

2. French women don’t shave

Apart from my English teacher in high-school, I never met a French woman who didn’t shave. In fact, I bet you won’t see any if you go to the beach in France.

French women pay a lot of attention to their look, more than women in many other countries. And shaving is considered essential by most.

3. French people are lazy

French are notoriously known for being the laziest people on earth. Probably because of their love for strikes. However, according to The Economist, Canadians go on strike much more often than French people and anyone else in the world actually.

Wait, are you telling me that French people are not lazy? No, absolutely not. With an average of  1,453 hours of work per year, France is one of the country where people work the least amount of hours. Yet, they still work more than Germans (1337) and Norwegians for example.

One more proof than clichés can be totally wrong.

 4. French people are rude

Sure, if you spent a week in Paris you probably met rude people.

Yet, you have to remember that Paris is one of the most visited city in the world, so Parisians can occasionally get tired of tourists.

However, in my experience, you will mainly meet nice people if you come with an open mind and try to speak some basic French (simply saying “bonjour” instead of “hello” can make a huge difference).

The same is true in other cities. Although people are usually friendlier in small cities than in capitals like Paris. People are basically the same everywhere. If you smile, they will smile back.

5. French people never speak English

The impossibility to speak English in France regularly worries tourists.

While it’s true that some French people are reluctant to speak another language than French, you most likely won’t have any problem finding English-speaking people in touristic areas.

If you don’t, you can always try to pronounce English words with a French accent. This works surprisingly well.

As mentioned before, it’s always better to start the conversation by speaking some basic French as People are much more likely to try to speak English if they see you try to speak their language.

Contrary to the popular belief, French people don’t refuse to speak English because they  hate Americans, but because speaking a language they don’t necessarily speak well terrifies them.

When you are looking for English-speaking people to help you, young people and businessmen are usually a good option as they tend to speak English better than older people.

6. French people hate Americans

French people generally don’t have anything against Americans. In fact, going to the USA is the dream of many young French persons.

Sure, many French people criticize American politics and sometimes feel irritated about it, but most of them perfectly make the difference between governments and people.

7. French women all dress like fashion models

The idea that all French women dress well is widely spread. Many French women are interested in fashion and like to be elegant, but it’s far from being true for all of them.

Most French people buy their clothes in H&M and Zara and wearing clothes from brands like Dior or Chanel remains a dream for many.

 8. French people drink wine all the time

French people drink wine
dedmazay / 123RF

That one is true for some people. Wine is often served with food and every celebration goes with wine.

There is also a whole drinking etiquette that you are supposed to follow.

Yet, younger people tend to prefer cheap alcohol and you will rarely see people drink wine in bars.

Wine is still considered a “classy” drink, something you should enjoy and not simply an alcohol you drink to get wasted.

That’s why you won’t see people drinking wine directly from the bottle for example.

9. French people eat snails and frogs

Sure, if you go to Paris, you will see plenty of restaurants offering snails and frogs.

These restaurants are touristic restaurants and try to fit the idea of French food that foreigners have.

Yet, these are things French people rarely eat.

If you live with a French family for a few days, you will see that French people probably eat the same food as you do.

 10. French people complain all the time

There are regularly strikes in France. But it’s hard to say whether it is because French people complain more than other people, or because they are less afraid to fight for their rights.

One thing is certain though, French people are not afraid to say what they think and complain when something doesn’t make them happy.

 

What’s your idea of the typical French person? Has this idea changed after traveling to France? Share it in the comments below!


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Comments

  1. Thanks for saying that French people are in fact not different that the rest of the world. Of course they do have showers, shave etc… French people are just like you guys! :p

  2. For the rude one, I think french are not really rude but they usually have a negative mind especially older people, well at least where I live it’s like that.

    • Thanks for sharing this video Vicky :).

      The stereotype probably comes from the fact that some French people don’t really like to speak English with foreigners in France, because they feel it somehow destroys French culture.

      But of course many French people speak good English. It’s hard to generalize.

    • Of course some French people do speak English Vicky, but stereotypes are generalities. But let’s be honest, most of them don’t… other than Hi, bye, thank you!!!!
      This is due to:
      – the translation of foreign movies to french (unlike countries like The Netherlands where they only add subtitles and people speak proper day-to-day English by the age of 12).
      – the education system that does not prioritize English: English classes are only compulsory from 10 to 18 years old (with the exception of Business Schools) with a focus on reading and writing. Even doctors or people likely to communicate with foreigners are far from being fluent in English.

      • It’s true that compared to Northern Europeans, French tend to speak less English.

        But it’s also cultural I think. France is a relatively big country (compared to Northern European countries), So English is less needed.

        When you travel, speaking French is often enough because many foreigners abroad speak French.

        At the end though, it’s quite hard to know how well French people speak English. Because each person will think differently depending on who she met.

      • Hi Lydie,

        I am not French nor a native English speaker. I’m myself Brazilian studying in France. Even though what you are saying seems legitimate and widely thought. This is how I see things.

        – French culture and language are rich. French culture that does NOT need to be phagocyted by Anglo-Saxons’ and has the right to preserve its own rich and romantic language which was back in the days the official worldwide administrative language.

        – France remains one of the most powerful/richest country in the world – official language in 28 countries – and many French people don’t feel the need to learn English – what for? They have big corporations – great health care (one of the best in the world)- they can even fly all the way to Quebec or Africa and still speak their own native language.

        – I have been to the U.S. and haven’t met anyone (including doctors , engineers, entrepreneurs, …) who could speak a single word of French – oh wait.. NOTHING other than English actually.

        – In France, not only English classes is mandatory but also a second language (third for the most courageous).
        Now, your answer to me – is “maybe they learned 2 languages but they can’t speak any of them”. Now, we go into another subject which is “public speaking””confidence” issue. French people are not encouraged to speak out loud, afraid of failure and the system DOES encourage them to learn languages but not to make mistakes. That’s the reason why they don’t dare saying anything else than “hello” “hi” “good bye” ..

        • Hi Vicky!

          You are absolutely right. In France, we are not encouraged to make mistakes at all. Do you face difficulties in France as a foreigner?

          While failure is seen as an opportunity to try again in the US, French people often consider failure to be the end. And a lot of French people are simply afraid to speak English. The fact they don’t answer in English doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t speak English.
          Actually many French people speak good enough English to help tourists.

          cf : this list of countries by English-speaking population
          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population

          • Hi Ben,
            🙂 Here’s the latest article on French -which might be the most spoken language in the future : http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/want-to-know-the-language-of-the-future-the-data-suggests-it-could-be-french/

            Well, I already went to high school in French when I was younger, then went back to Brazil and decided to continue my university level studies in France. I was already speaking well French. I never had any issue with understanding French people. So that was cool.

            The goof thing is that French people like Brazil and Brazilian. They like to remind me on Soccer team the carnaval! 😉 They also like to go into looooong discussing just for the pleasure of discussing which is part of the game.

          • Thanks for sharing this article. Honestly, I think they may be a bit too optimistic. But we will see :).

            Oh that’s awesome :). So your French must already be very good :). Feel free to contact me if you need any help.

            The carnival must be awesome. The only one I went to is Cologne carnival and it’s much smaller although absolutely awesome too :).

    • Bravo! Magnifique! So, dites-nous, s’il vous plait, what you think about driving In the US. J’ai 61 ans. I studied French for 2 very intensive years at Georgetown University [Washington, D.C.] but my vocabulary is asleep at the wheel parceque tout le monde parle espagnol! I look forward to your next video. In the meantime, bonne chance and enjoy your life here aux Etats-Unis!

      • Hi Joe, thanks for the feedback. I’m just the person who posted a cute video on a great blog nicely written. I am not the author of any of these two. Anyhow, I appreciate you liked the video too. 🙂

    • I’m a French 19 year old girl and I have to say most of the people I know just DON’T WANT to speak english. They find it useless, considering we only have to speak french blablabla… I agree with the fact that we’re afraid of speaking. For example, I love to speak english with my scottish friend or with my roommate. When I speak with them I can switch on my accent and stuff but when I’m around other french people, I become shy and I lack of confidence and end up speaking like in the video, speaking english with french pronunciation. I personally think this french girl’s accent is pretty awful to listen to whilst being correct, language speaking. My ears bleed. And most of the people I know speak like that.

      This is a french youtuber I discovered by chance a while ago, she lives in France and I think she’s a lot more fluent and I actually speak a lot more like her, with a more british kind of accent.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRsWyViRamg

      • I expected much worse when you wrote about her terrible French accent honestly :D.

        What truly helped me get over my fear of speaking was to make English friends, and go to Couchsurfing meetings and Polyglotclub events.

        Polyglotclub is great, because people are there to practice languages, so you don’t feel bad and can practice without worries.

  4. French people refuse to speak english because they don’t have a good accent. English is very hard for the french because of the “th” and the “r” [live in France] and yeah most french wash themselves everyday 😉
    [live in France]

  5. It’s lovely to read positive things about French society and culture, but I have to say that most of the stereotypes mentioned above seem to be at least partly true:) I live in Bordeaux, where even in governmental institutions people don’t seem to be able or willing to speak English, it would be ok, if they at least put some effort in trying:) I am not sure whether French girls shave or not, but I have seen quite a few girls at university that do not wear bras, haha.

  6. As a 17 years old French boy, I feel like the real reason why French people are often perceived as rude or not willing to speak English is because they’re insecure. In reality we are just as willing to meet you as you are but we are afraid of doing things badly… I’m a supposedly ‘bilingual’ French student heading to the UK to university and I feel really complexed about talking in English with my international friends. French people are afraid of failing (that is how I feel about it personally) and I am often scared of getting laughed at because of my accent or the mistakes I do. The truth is that, while I want my English to be ‘mistakeless’, I then don’t practice orally and don’t get better at it. This is amplified when I am surrounded by other French speakers. Once, one of my friend brought her friend from Singapore and she couldn’t speak French. I am perfectly able to have a conversation in English but I felt too shy and insecure about my skills to talk to her in English, so I either said brief things in French or didn’t talk at all: she thought that was really rude from me! But the truth was that I was just not confident about it, and felt ashamed that she thought that of me. However I feel like when a French is surrounded by non-French speakers, the task gets much easier as we have no choice and don’t fear getting laughed at by other French speakers.
    It’s the same for rudeness. French people just need some love like everyone else haha. In big cities like Paris where it’s very individualistic, you can’t smile at everyone. But also, as French are sometimes insecure, they don’t dare being outgoing and then it makes them look close-minded. But the truth is that, if you smile at a French and show you’re willing to have a respectful and nice conversational intercourse, I’m sure they’ll be delighted and give the kindness back!

    • You are totally right. Fear is probably the number one reason why French people don’t speak English, even though they could in theory.

      And I am sure many foreigners would be afraid to have to speak French to French tourists visiting their country too.

    • I agree that French people have a fear of making mistakes. The true differences culturally definitely are not pointed out in this article, although truly states that many of the stereotypes above are urban myths! I’ve lived in France for three years and people now refuse to speak English with me simply because they’re afraid of making mistakes. I think this is part of the education system. My French friends I notice find it hard to laugh at their mistakes compared to my English friends, but that can make them seem proud and in turn impolite, but in reality a smile really does change the dynamic and relaxes the situation. Frankly I’ve found people in Berlin ruder that the Parisians.@Frenchie: good luck at university, Brits are generally embarrassed at their lack of foreign languages, but approach it differently and are generally prepared to speak slowly and explain strange vocab if you ask, although I generally find they will pick up on your needs without too much asking, a small cultural element I do miss, but I have to say has been replaced with a great attitude to aiming to keep life simpler!

      • It’s quite hard to judge whether people are rude or not, because what is considered rude somewhere can be polite somewhere else. I have lived in Germany a while, and I noticed that using lots of polite words and sentences can be considered irritating in Germany, whereas not using them would be considered rude in many other countries.

        But it’s certain that a positive attitude and a smile can change lots of things. The best way to convince French people to speak English is to show vulnerability first and talk French.

  8. Of course, not all French people speak english, as well as they do not speak other languages such as italian or spanish. But I do not see the point ! Are all americans speaking another language, and able to speak to tourists in their languages ? No, and this is absolutely normal for americans like it is for french or any other people in the world…

    • I totally agree with you. You can’t expect people to speak your language when you go abroad.

      Yet, tons of people visiting France complain that French don’t speak English, or at least don’t speak it well enough.

    • The Italian language is not diffused around the world… but on the other hand mostly English, and also French (depending on the area) are kinds of “lingua franca”.
      Americans are monolingual in the most cases, but is it truly an advantage?! How much do they miss traveling outside English language countries because of this?

  9. A lot probably. But this is understandable considering how easy it is to communicate in English in the world.

    If I were a native English speaker, I would also be lazy to learn another language. Truly a shame though.

    • Yes, this is true, but until a person decides to stay inside the “English bubble”. If you aim to quit the mass tourism, for instance, and go out on your own into not English countries you can start to face a state of frustration.
      Still remain true that learning a language imply efforts. 🙂

      • It’s all about personal preferences.

        Some people want to remain in the bubble. When they go abroad, they want to enjoy the beach and the sun, not discover another culture.

        But I totally understand how it can seem strange, I always learn basic words before visiting a country, because it’s so much fun to talk to natives, discover the culture etc.

  10. Well,there is a popular image of French people wearing berets and striped shirts but this has been proven very unlikely these days.I was in Paris from 19-21 June and I saw a handful of French people in striped shirts but I saw only 3 people in berets,they don’t wear a striped shirt and a beret together.I wore a beret and a striped dress for 2 days in Paris.I read that Parisians can joke you are going to be a pantomime if you wear a striped shirt and a beret in Paris so they probably laughed at me for dressing that way in Paris but I did not care.I found out that the French are willing to speak English,mainly those in the service sector such as hotel or airport workers.The French have absolutely nothing against the USA because if they did,why would there be two places in Paris named after US Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt?

    • Nice picture :).

      You are right French people really don’t have anything against Americans. There are exceptions of course. A woman once blamed me for speaking English in a French restaurant and called me a traitor ;D. The waiter kindly asked her to leave.

      It’s fun to see that the most French looking people in France are often foreigners who try to look French.

  11. I visited Paris for 3 days and I actually realized not all the people speak in English, but all of them were very kind and always tried to help me. I love Paris 😀

  14. Hi !
    I’m french, as you’ll see through my english skills 😉
    Pretty much everything has been said already, but I’d like to add a couple of things :

    – The element of surprise : When I’m traveling to a foreign country, I’m mentally prepared to speak english. I’m doing better, somehow.
    But when an english speaker asks me something in the streets, in France, I’m kind of « off guard », and I stress out a little…

    To make you understand, it’s a bit like if you’re going to your workplace like every other day, and in the streets, at a random moment, someone comes to you and asks :
    – « Hey, can you please dance with me, right now ? ».
    – «Wait, wait… let me remember… it’s been a while, it’s been years, actually… and I never was a good dancer anyway… and you are a pro… and.. arg…»
    Maybe some others, like me, are unconsciously living this as some kind of surprise test 🙂

    As other people mentioned here, there is actually a matter of shame and vulnerability. I hadn’t the time to prepare ; speaking another language is hard, and the discussion with someone asking for directions in the streets are, by nature, in a rush.

    So the result might be my face a little tense, and a reply going like « You go zis way ; zen you see a big… thing… zen… euh… voila. ». Then I might even frown a little (against myself), thinking « Damn… that wasn’t glorious… » . But of course I never meant to be rude.

    – When in a more suitable time, try speaking with french people : When having a drink or a meal at a cafe terrace, try to engage conversation with the french sitting at the neighboring table. About anything (« Bonjour, excuse me, what does ‘Curry d’Agneau’ means, please ? »). I certainly hope most of the time it will be an opening for a nicer conversation, because no one is in a hurry, and we’ll have the opportunity to ask questions too, make jokes and talk about food – and these are quite a hobby for us 🙂

    – Last thing : If you can, consider visiting cities other than Paris too, because France has different ambiances, rythms and life styles, and I think it would be a good experience to experiment several of them 🙂

    • Your English seems pretty good :).

      You are right, surprise definitely plays an important role. Native English speakers often don’t realize it can be scary for us to speak their language. It’s like if a French tourist in the US suddenly comes to you and ask you something in French. Even if you understand and could answer in French in theory, you are likely to freak out and sound rude, even though you didn’t mean to be rude.

  15. ive traveled quite a lot, and french people are generally more rude than people from other countries. Other travelers I meet say the same thing. Those are not just prejudices but opinions based on experience. They act like they are in some way superior and just don’t care much about other people. At least, less than other people from other countries.
    Most of the stereotypes listed above are generally true. You just take them to the most extreme form and bash that, but that’s not how stereotypes work.

    • I am sorry you had a bad experience with the French people you met. I can assure you there are lots of nice French people travelling abroad too.

      The problem with opinions based on experience is that they are highly personal. Some people have bad experiences with French people abroad, while other will tell you they had a great experience.

    • I’ve lived in several countries including France (and not in Paris either, one of the smaller, more chaleureuse cities), and I can say for sure that the experience that the French “just don’t care much about other people” is one stereotype that has quite a strong basis. It still puzzles me somewhat, and I spoke to lots of other expats about this, and we agreed on this. I loved life there in general, in the south, but where the service industry is concerned, standards are definitely different from many other cities.

      • It’s hard for me to judge, because I never had this feeling as a Frenchman. I have been living in Germany for one year and find people much more rude in Germany.

        But I also realize that politeness is not universal. Something considered rude somewhere can be considered polite somewhere else.

        For example, I noticed that in Germany, people almost never say thank you when you hold the door for them. And I find it rude, but for them, it doesn’t seem to be rude at all.

        Generally speaking French people hate being fake. People won’t pretend they are your friend like I often feel Americans do. This means that French people may seem (or be depending on how you feel about it) rude.

        • I am from Yemen and i am studying in France … all these stereotypes are wrong because i lived and contacted with french people .Frankly ,they are gentle and polite and they respect foreigners ..I appreciate that forever . the only strange thing is that french girls are not opened to us as foreigners when we are in the class and they make their group work together ..they are not interested in others . Merci pour la france .

          • I am glad you are having a positive experience in France :).
            My experience is that usually French girls are very cautious with men, because French guys are sometimes a bit irritating in the way they flirt.

  17. Well I don’t know, I travel to France several times a year for work and generally people seem no more friendly or unfriendly to me than anywhere else (except the taxi drivers.) I think the best advice almost anywhere –including France –for a traveler is try to get to know the language a bit. My French is really, really limited but I’ve noticed that no matter where I am if people see you are making an effort they will make an effort too.

    Except the taxi drivers. I remember a series of misadventures one night in Paris with a French friend that ended with her shouting at the 3rd driver who’d been obnoxious to us, “I am ashamed, do you hear? I AM ASHAMED TO BE FRENCH!!!”

    • I totally agree with you. I think the perception of friendliness depends a lot on who you meet, how you behave, or even what you consider to be friendliness. For example I heard that in nordic countries, holding the door for someone is considered rude, because it means you think the person is weak. Whereas not doing it in France would be considered rude.

      Yeah speaking French helps a lot, because when you do that you show that you want to get to know the country and that you respect its culture, but also because a person who is afraid to speak English will be less afraid if you show vulnerability by speaking French first. When I was younger, I used to run away when people asked me something in English, not because I didn’t want to, but because I was terrified at the idea of speaking English.

      Honestly, I can’t disagree when it comes to taxi drivers. I regularly get mad at them. They drive without any respect for pedestrians. I hope there are exceptions though.

    • Ashamed to be French or American ? A gentleman would be ashamed should his deeds not match his words and not his nationalty . Above all I’m European before to be French

  18. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to France yet, but I used to work as a hotel receptionist when I was younger – we had a lot of French tourists and for unknown reasons 98% of them refused to speak English which is not my native language too. I was speaking in English, they were speaking in French. Many articles say that when you go to a country you should try to learn some phrases, well none of the French tourists had tried it. So it is logical that if the French people expect of tourists to speak some French in France the same people would try to learn some phrases from the native languages of the countries they visit :)))
    Having said that I would love to learn French and have a little trip to France 🙂

    • Lots of people never make the effort the learn another language unfortunately. And it’s a shame for them, because they miss a whole part of the culture and fun by doing so.

      At school, French people are taught that you are either good or bad at languages, and they are not really encouraged to make efforts to talk. As a result, they are often scared to look silly abroad when they speak English. Even though, speaking French and expecting everyone to understand you when you are abroad is even more silly IMO.

    • I never heard about that, and I am French. So I would say it’s wrong, but then I don’t know everything.

      What’s sure is that being African in France can make your life more complicated. I honestly couldn’t say to what extent, and I hope not too much.

      But I don’t think that the fact to be American in addition to African changes anything.

  20. My suit mate in college was from Paris and not all these stereotypes are wrong.
    these are my answers to these statements

    1. i never thought she smelt bad
    2.she didnt shave
    3. she was on the college tennis team and had an amazing work ethic
    4. im from sc and I think there was a cultural divide between us which, yes, came across as rude and sensitive
    5. she was in america so she only spoke English around me
    6. I guess she like america cause she came here
    7. NOOOO!!!!! My roommate had the worst fashion of anyone Ive ever known and she literally had about 8 things in her closet….her minimalism really baffled me and my 2 other roommates
    8. Nope. This girl was driven and dedicated. I didnt see her drink much at all
    9. idk but she did eat weird food
    10. Yes they do

    • I am always surprised when I read about French women not shaving. This is really something most French people would find weird.

      Apart from that, luckily all French people don’t follow the stereotypes.

  21. Hey ! I’m French and I must to say that I looove this article because we can find the true here. Honestly I was starting to get used to hear or read all these clichés. Especially when I want to show that this cliché is wrong to someone and s/he doesn’t want to change her/his mentality, like “French drinks wine and champagne all day”

  22. I’m french and I really don’t understand all these. I also noticed that people tend to think as french people as fancy know it all that wear floor length dresses and the boys wear striped shirts and berets. Ugh.

    • Well, the feeling I have is that most stereotypes date from the last century. However, it’s still true in my opinion that French people tend to care more about their look than people in most other countries.

  25. I will be going to visit France in the future. I have been learning to speak french for over 2 years and will never be finished. But as an American, I would rather the locals speak to me in french. As I intend to speak to them in thier language. I’m sure it will be scary, but I don’t wish to be disrespectful. And I feel it would be very disappointing to miss the chance to practice what I have worked so hard to learn. I don’t really have anyone I can talk to in french at home.

    • Some people may switch to English if they see you are not a native French speaker, but generally if you keep speaking French they will speak French. What you could do also when you are in Paris is go to a polyglotclub meeting. Last time I went there, there were mainly French people and they were all eager to speak English so you could easily find people to practice with there.

      And if you want to practice before going to France, you can also find a language partner on Italki or via a language exchange meeting.

  26. I never understood stereotypes or where people got them from but as an American this makes me feel bad to see how much we stereotype other countries…

    • Oh you shouldn’t feel bad. It’s a natural human tendency, and Americans are far from being the only ones to have stereotypes about other countries.

      French people have lots of stereotypes about Americans. And I guess many of them are wrong. The best thing to do is to laugh about these stereotypes, they are often harmless after all :).

  27. I cooperate with French people in my company very often and I don’t know why but even if they are fluent in english, they speak each other ONLY in french, in the presence of foreigner. During business meeting it is terrible … particularly abroad France.

      • just the fact that your government influences people’s opinion and btw i visited France with my muslim friend who i must emphasize is french from 4 generations and wears a head veil , they were obnoxiously rude towards her and when I talked everyone was suddenly very open minded and nice . We think you people are rude because you don’t accept people with their differences the most obvious fact about it is that your government banned head veils in schools and concerning women they take care of themselves which means yes they do shave ! i just wish french people were a bit warm like in england if i smile people smile back to me in france the only people that smiled back to me were originaly arab or african or south european . do you understand now why most people think french are rude

  29. I just had a lot of fun reading all your comments! I was working on the French communication for my Negociation class when I found this blog and I just want to thank the author to explain all of this stereotypes. Just go to France before saying anything of that! How many times I went abroad and people told me (laughing in the same time, go figure aha) “Aww you’re french, you’re known to be rude and arrogant”. I just want to tell them “How can i not be rude when you’re telling me that when you don’t even know me?” and the funny part is that they love talking to you after that ’cause we easily say what we think (10. French people complain all the time). Same thing for not speaking english, I remember an australian who told me something about french who don’t make any effort, I just asked him “Tell me, do you speak any other language apart from english? If i’m not wrong i’m speaking in english to you while I could speak french, so who’s making no effort?”. Some people don’t understand that english is not the only language in the world! 🙂

    • Yeah I have always found it strange when English speakers go to Paris and complain that French people don’t speak English. I totally understand that it makes it harder for them, but when I go abroad, I don’t expect people to talk to me in French.

      But I would still say French people tend to be more arrogant, or let’s say proud than people in Scandinavia for example. But then it’s hard to say since each person is different.

  30. Heh. I don’t believe in stereotypes, becouse people are various, regardless of their country of origin. However, I met about 50 French people, and 90% was nice and cheerful but they was also a little bit arrogant and complain too much. I heard all time not literally – Ohh. In Paris we have better orginized … Ohh. French company would do that better Ohh. Ahh.

    • See that’s funny, because French people complain about France when they are there, but once abroad, they would be mad at you if you dare criticize France.

      To be honest, I do the same here in Germany. And then when I am in France, I do the opposite. I don’t know if it’s particularly French though, and as you say, it’s hard to generalize.

  31. A stereotype I have of the French is that they’re cowards, mostly caused by my dad and his love of WWII movies/books/documentaries.

    • I hear that one a lot here in Berlin ;D. I have always found it strange, because the French are among the people who are the least afraid to fight for their rights and to clearly express themselves when they don’t like something.

  32. :’-) !!! Lol !!!! I live in France and I could say : I never eat frogs and snails (horrible!) I love American, I love speak in English (even if I think French people are very bad in English) , my parents neveeerrrr drinks wine, I see very rarely poeple who are dress like models . I think stereotypes are hilariously xD

      • From where should I start? CORNETTO (in french croissant), MONA LISA,
        Marcello Malpighi and Giovanni Domenico Cassini’s influential works, and many others. I’ve always respected French people, but it appears that most of them are selfish and racists. In fact, Napoleon showed to the World who French are.

  34. I have a girl who has been here to the us but doesn’t seem to know how to leave my boyfriend alone. They yes have known one another from his sister. But she is literally trying to ruin our relationship. . Why?? Are they all this way.

  35. Bonjour, je suis français je vien de la région de la Lorraine et je tien à corrigé certains cliché que vous portez sur la france et leur habitants. Tout d’abord les français ne se lave jamais, ceci est totalement faux les français (en tout cas la très grande majorité) aime la propreté et se lave tout presque les jours. Nous aimons aussi sentir bon et nous nous parfumons tout les jours. Deuxièmement, les Françaises ne se rase pas, alors quand j’ai lu sa j’ai était choqué, je tien absolument à dire que nous somme un peuple très propre et que les femmes se rase je vous rassure. Toutes absolument toute les fille que j’ai connu se rase. Troisièment les français sont paraisseux, sa franchement je ne peut pas trop vous démentir quelques français sont paraisseux mais à croire se que vous dite on est soit en vacances soit en grève cela est faux, mais il est vrai que beaucoup d’étudiants sont fenient. Quatrièment, alors est-ce que on est impoli moi dans ma région, non, mais pas mal de gens dise que a Paris nous somme impolit. Sa peut être je ne peut pas vous le dire puisque je ne suis jamais était à Paris. Mais je sais que dans mon secteur nous somme pas des gens très méchant. Cinquièment, nous parlons mal anglais, oui et non moi personnellement je parle très mal anglais et beaucoup on un accent anglais très très nul voir inexistant, mais il ne faut généralisé personnes. Dans ma classe j’ai un Londonien et je peut vous dire que il parle aussi bien que certaines français ou française. Sixièment, alors là je suis tombé de ma chaise et je tien à dire que LES FRANÇAIS VOUS ADORE vous êtes un peuple très très classe et je ne connais personne absolument personnes qui à déjà dit du mal des USA. En France vous avez beaucoup de gens très fasciné de vous la preuve il aurait presque 1 million de Français qui a déménagé au État-Unis (ah, et aussi on adore Obama, il à la grande classe en France). Je vous le dit une dernière fois les français vous aime beaucoup beaucoup beaucoup. Septièment, les Françaises ne porte pas que des robe, mais aussi beaucoup de jeans et de jupe. Et je vais peut-être vous choqué mais les robe sont rare (un fois sur un vingtaines). Huitièment, les Français boivent beaucoup beaucoup de vin, oui on boit beaucoup de vin mais pas des litre non plus, non je dire 1 litre par semaine par personne. Et n’oubliez pas, pas tout les français boivent de l’alcool (un français sur cinq ne bois pas). Neuvièment, alors là oui les français mange des escargots des grenouille, effectivement mais il ne faut surtout pas croire que les français se nourrissent uniquement de sa non pas du tout, d’ailleurs je vais vous dire de quoi on se nourrit le plus, tout simplement de pâte exactement en moyenne un français mange 400 grammes de pâte par jour et par personne. Même si il est vrai certains français mange du cheval, des escargots, des moules et des grenouille (on mange que le cuisse les cuisses de grenouille par le reste du corps). Dixièment, alors oui peut-être que on se plaint, mais pas tout le temps non plus, on se plaint autant que tout le monde.
    Voilà, entant que français je pense être le mieux placé pour en parlé j’espère que vos cliché sur nous sont plus amical, en tout cas je vous jure que je suis bien français je vien d’une ville qui s’appelle Villerupt et j’étudie au lycée Alfred Mézières. Nous les français on est fasciné par vous j’espère que vous en ferais tout autant.

    Hello, I am French I vien of the region of Lorraine and I fixed some cliché to yours that you carry on France and their inhabitants . First the French never washes This is totally false the French (at least the vast majority ) loves cleanliness and washing almost all day. We also like to feel good and we parfumons us every day. Second, the French do not shave , so when I read her I was shocked, I mean absolutely yours that we are a very clean people and women shaves I assure you . All absolutely all the girl that I ‘ve known shaves . Thirdly the French are paraisseux his frankly I can not deny you too are few Frenchparaisseux his frankly I can not deny you too are few French paraisseux but believe if you said you are either on vacation or on strike this is wrong, but it is true that many students are fenient . Quatrièment , then do it is rude to me in my area , no, but a lot of people say that we are in Paris impolit . His may be I can not tell you because I never was in Paris . But I know that in my area we no sum ​​of very nasty people . Cinquièment we speak little English , yes , not me personally I speak very little English and lots of an English accent very very no nonexistent , but do general people. In my class I have a Londoner and I can tell you that he speaks as well as some French or French . Sixièment while there I fell out of my chair and I mean that yours THE FRENCH LOVE YOU you are a very classy people, and I absolutely do not know anyone who has already spoken ill of the US. In France you have a lot of very fascinated people you proof it would have nearly 1 million French who moved to the United State ( ah, and we also love Obama, he to the great class in France). I tell you the last time the French much much much love you. Septièment the French does not only dress, but also a lot of jeans and skirt. And I’ll maybe you shocked but dress are rare ( one time on a twenties ).
    . Neuvièment , then yes the French eat frog snails, actually but it is important not to believe that the French feed only its not at all , in fact I ‘ll tell you what more we feed while While it is true some French eat horses , snails, mussels and frogs ( frog legs eat the thigh by the rest of the body).Dixièment , then yes maybe we complain , but not all the time either, they complain as much as everyone. That, I think entant that French be in the best position to talk I hope your cliché we are friendlier , at least I swear I am French I vien a town called Villerupt and j We French are fascinated by you I hope you ‘d do just as much.

  37. It isn’t only Paris where the French are rude.I spent a week in Brittany and the people there were foul.They are also very racist compared to the UK and intolerant.My friend suffers Albinism and people there openly laughed at him.People stir briefly in the UK but I have never known that happen.They also let their dogs defecate all over the place which I found very unpleasant.

    • One year later – indeed, no racists in the UK. At. All.

      Also, Paris and Brittany?
      As in, “only 2 different places in the whole country” – that’s what I called rushed judgement!

  38. I found out on each of my trips to France, that many French who do speak English quite well, pretend not to. They will actually outright state at the beginning of a conversation that they do not speak English, and later on, magically turn into capable English speakers. I’ve been to many non-english speaking countries besides France, and this has never happened to me even once.

    Yes, some French don’t pretend they don’t speak English, but many unfortunately so pretend. It’s not a misconception, it’s a personal experience.

  39. Un fact if saying english words with a french accents works often it’s because english ans french are really close because m, long time ago Guillaume le conquérant had conquered England and, of course english people dpoke french. So after english language have kept a lot of French thinks in his vocabulary etc…

  40. Aha very funny article! I mostly completely agree. I am a French from the South and when I travel (generaly in gigantic countries such as in Asia where people might tend to hold on to stereotypes as far as I have noticed) I am always suprised to hear people immediatly thinking “Oh, French? Then you live in Paris!” I’ve been in the North probably 4/5 times and quite like the cities. However the stereotypes such as: Paris is the most romantic city … makes me smile because… well, a big city is a big city, with the cars, the honking and the pollution. There is something called the “Syndrome du voyageur” referring to foreigners going in Paris for the romantism, Jerusalem for the beauty/History/religion, India for the color, Taj mahal and so on. And once the tourists are there, they are depressed, even pass out and leave due to the intense disapointment. I must say I don’t like stereotypes in general. I-ve been studying foreign languages for more than a decade, pationate about traveling, and I never take stereotypes for actual facts: instead I travel and see for myself. The French stereotypes personnaly make me feel ill at ease, especially the ones about sex… For instance, it is true that we talk about it easily and don’t make it a monster compared to other countries. It is a way to prevent it,actually. However when I travel and go out, I very often see how the interests grows among men the instant they know I’m French, when women tend to be less welcoming during nights out. Three times last year, while studying in Suzhou, a young man dragged me out saying “You’re French? Great!” to present me to his shy friend. I didn’t get it until the shy guy smiled at me, closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out for me to “French Kiss” him. I ran away. It happened again after that, even in situations where my friend was being hitting on, said “No” so, well let’s try with the other friend, the next best thing. It suprised me a lot because I’ve heard about this stereotype, but I wonder: is “being easy” another stereotype about French in America?

    • As a man I noticed that too in Korea. We were several French people, and lots of Koreans seemed to consider that since we are French we will try to seduce their boyfriends and girlfriends. I thought it was kind of flattering actually since they seemed so sure we would succeed they avoided contact with us. But your example with the guy trying to kiss you sounds quite extreme. Where was it?

      I think the stereotype of being easy is actually quite funny, because lots of French think the same of Americans.

  41. “While it’s true that some French people are reluctant to speak another language than French, you most likely won’t have any problem finding English-speaking people in touristic areas.”

    This quote is hilarious. Yeah, you can find English speakers in touristic areas in France, but all of them are tourists. 🙂

      • Bonjour Benjamin! I was having a glance on the comments and when I read that French people are not encouraged to make mistakes, I was a little disappointed. I teach French & English in India and I understand very well that how much effort is required to learn a new language especially when it is not a part of your culture. So, as a teacher, I encourage my students a lot to at least try and speak and do not hesitate to make mistakes. It is not about French or American but as a tendency of a human being, a person who will not try anything will not make any mistake and the one who would take an initiative is prone to make some mistakes. If French people do not like making mistakes then obviously they will not accept mistakes from the other side as well. This is quiet alarming for those who are trying to learn French.

  42. Merci Benjamin ! Thanks for this article fully of justice ! In my (French) opinion, French people are a little afraid that their language disappears if English becomes the language of the world village. In the other hand, they are very proud of their History, Literature and Poetry. That’s the first reason to which they resist the “invader”.
    Your advice to say “Bonjour” when you enter into a shop for example is the best of all ! A second one should be to speak slowly, very slowly, and never forget that your listener is not native English.
    The last point from a Frenchie guy : The rest of the world do an effort to speak your american language. So be kind, and imagine you have to do the same, if chinese would be the global language, or Russian for example.
    Thanks again for your post and … au-revoir les amis !

    • My pleasure :).

      Yeah speaking slowly often speaks a lot. But usually starting to speak French, even imperfectly helps a lot. Because when you do that, you show vulnerability so the person is less afraid to speak another language.

  43. Plz help me. I want to go abroad but I have no idea and money. ([email protected] )

  44. Before complainging about “the rude french who don’t speak english”, just keep in mind two points : first, in France english is a foreign language, as german, italian or arabic, no more. Second, how many foreign languages do you speak ? There’s a common joke shared in every country in Europe : How do you call someone who speaks 3 languages, a trilingual, two languages, a bilingual and only one language ? An anglo-saxon… These points set up, amercians are really welcome in France and many french people are fond of american culture, movies and whatsoever. The time where Bush was president is over, and french people were really happy when Oabama was elected. Obama is the USA we’ve always loved. Forget us the recent past.

      • That is true, I’ve been to France many times on vacation and I find french people are usually polite. While I can’t say that all french are friendly I haven’t had any bad experience there. My french is really limited but a smile and bonjour goes a long way most of the time. I’ve had some bad experienced with rude people in London and Milan than in Paris or other places in France . While a lot of people who believed in these French rude stereotype are people who haven’t been in that country themselves, also I think that those people who complain about other countries which doesn’t speak English as first languages can be hypocrite for expecting everyone in that country to speak English. For example, while most of public transport in those countries have both their native and english sign, I haven’t seen one yet in any English speaking countries do the same or try speaking in your native languages in any shops here in Australia and see how many of those shop keepers would even attemp to say one words other than English.

  45. Another stereotype I’m reading online is that French hate Italians. I’m Italian, I’ve been to France many times on vacation and all French people I’ve met have been nice and kind to me.I know some Italians can be very rude, but I hope in general you don’t hate us…I really like your country, people, language!

  47. ..just came back from France and yes-they do not stink, but they are rude and unfriendly compared to Americans and they really do not like us! They feel that they are more cultured then us. Also-the average french woman does not dress better than the average American. Actually, in NYC the women dress nicer than in Paris. So there!

    • It’s also a difference of mentality. Many French people consider that Americans are too friendly with strangers and that it looks fake.

      All I can tell you is that how friendly French people are depends a lot on where you go, but also on your attitude. With a positive attitude, the whole world is friendly.

      You may have been unlucky, or maybe you did something considered rude in France without realising it.

    • Thank you for your comment!! I completely agree, I mean obviously there are exceptions but for the most part your right! I was in France for about a month and speak almost no French. When I spoke to people in English, they were always so rude and hateful. But when I speak to them in Spanish their mood would completely change, a lot of people I met spoke Spanish which was interesting.

      And its not as easy as having a positive attitude. Obviously we all come with a positive attitude most tourist are excited and happy about going to Paris. It is not considered friendly to treat someone different because of the language they speak only because you think your better than them!

  48. I completely disagree with your explanation about the language issue. Often, when I try speaking French to natives in France, they will respond to me in English (with very varying levels of skill). I didn’t meet one single French person who was the least bit shy about it either. I think they do this because they are very stuck up about their language and
    extremely impatient if one doesn’t speak it perfectly fluently. I am conversational, but not fluent in
    French, mainly because it is a bit difficult for me speak and understand at
    full speed. I need to speak just a hair slower than full speed, but not
    that much. I am good enough though that I have had full conversations in French in Quebec and in France with native
    speakers. They understood me just fine On a recent trip to the Provence
    region, at least once a day, I would speak French to someone and they would
    respond to me by rolling their eyes and answering in English. I grew up
    in New York, where we get tons of foreign tourists who are not native speakers,
    so I am very familiar with the experience of speaking to someone who speaks and
    understands a little slowly and with some errors. It’s
    really not that hard. Most people aren’t going to speak a second language
    perfectly unless they use it on a regular basis.
    I would never, ever roll my eyes at someone because they don’t speak my
    language perfectly. That’s disgusting. Basically, many French are incredibly snobbish about their culture, and if you are not 100% fluent in French they get annoyed speaking with you.

    • Hi Jane

      I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. I never noticed this kind of behaviour in France so I can’t explain it. All I can tell you is that what you describe is also considered rude in France.

      Next time you go to France, I recommend you to go to Polyglot Club meetings, these are meetings made specifically for practicing foreign languages and you’ll find lots of friendly people there.

      P.S: if it makes you feel any better, I often notice people rolling their eyes when I ask something in France. And I’m a native speaker. It’s not necessary a matter of language. Some people are just mad about everything, especially in Paris.

    • I’m French, and I disagree, but i understand that your experience was a bad experience for you. You surely found some dumb French. It really depends on the region you go in… There are French. But there are also French people from the center, the north, the south, the east-south, the west-south …. It really depends. Provence is sees as a rich region of France (expensive cars, big houses, villas…) and people are known to be snobbish (not all of them for sure). Something you can try : go to the west-south near Bordeaux , or to the center near Orléans/Tours. People are really friendly ! In Bretagne too (besides the rain and clouds :P). Concerning speaking English, I never rolled my eyes to someone who’s trying to speak French. On the contrary, I really find it cute as the cutest cat you can find on the cutest site of internet ! Also, you have may be misunderstanding her “rolling eyes”… Sometimes, we roll eyes because we feel a difficulty or when we think. This is not necessarily a bad thing. May be the person wanted to make the best she can do so, she rolled her eyes to think about how she has to answer… Hope you’ll have a better experience later. Have fun in France ! 🙂

    • I had the same experiences and I think these are shared among many tourist, that obviously French people will not have the same experiences.

  50. This is so right! Thanks for writing this. I totally agree with this article. I live in Paris and I have been living here for 9 years. French is my native language.
    The thing that foreigners don’t really understand about french people is that they are just like them, listening at Drake and Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber and whatever. Surely we have french artists… but americans still take place in the top charts. People in France usually hate snails. Oh and btw frog tastes like fancy chicken ?.
    Youngsters in France usually LOVE Americans, dream of travelling in NY, wish they could have IN N OUT (no in n outs in France 🙁 ) and eat nerds, and Reese’s, and Marshmallow Fluff, because North American culture is “trendy”.
    Most people shop at H&M and Zara yeah… Avenue Montaigne is where you find all the successful Chanel, YSL, Dior, etc… which are EXTREMELY expensive, of course.
    Bref, je suis très d’accord avec tout ça donc merciii!

    • I listen to a lot of French radio on my phone, a lot of the music is in English. but I really like listening to the DJs and commercials. just to hear the French I like “Rire & Chanson”, “fun Radio” and “MFM Radio”.

  51. Snails are actually eaten quite often and are easily found in shops, way more than frog legs, though. Still, snails aren’t really a common thing to eat, and a lot of us don’t really like them / haven’t dared to taste them.

      • I always eat snails and frog legs at christmas day. I assume snails are really repulsive and leave a kind of weird feel in your mouth that most peoples dislikes, but frog legs are delicious, I mean REALLY delicious cooked with some snail butter.

    • Hi, I’m french and I’ve never ate snails in my whole life. It’s actually really hard to find some snails (or frog legs) !in ordinary shops ( I don’t live in Paris) !

  52. I totally agree that spending lots of time using and hearing/reading the language is the best way to learn it.

    And that’s also why kids seem to do better, they simply try harder in my experience. I’m convinced that adults can perfectly master French if they want to. The only reason why most don’t is that they either lack the motivation or simply don’t have the time.

  53. No no French people are polite good people and rude people at the same time I’m A Lebanese Man and i want to go to France/America and Canada after i guratudate from my univeristy as a Information Systems Degree Collegue also Canadian people are like them but better British people are good people also but they are very limited people meaning all they do is just work,study and sleep only also they got the best univerisities in the world of these countires that i want to visit them :).

  54. French people are good people, and none of these are true. Except for the one about French people always retreating or surrendering. That one has been true for as long as time has been a thing. Or, at least, as long as France has been a thing.

  57. Right, these ones are hilarious but I’ve just found this article of The Telegraph. I would have appreciated if they had add a mention saying it’s a joke. But no, it’s only an extremely racist article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3634345/30-reasons-why-we-hate-the-French.html
    A few months ago, I’ve interviewed 10 foreigners who have visited France. Although they knew they were completely free to say whatever they wanted, they actually broke some of the stereotypes about French people: http://travelsfrance.com/travel-tips/enjoy-france/

  58. Hello everybody. My name is Arnaud, i’m just a french guy, i’m 43 years old soon , i live in Bordeaux, you know Bordeaux the City of wine. I was searching for an article about how french people are seen by foreigners. What make us different ? In good or on Bad. And i found your article about stereotypes about french. So funny to read it, and obviously most of these stereotypes are wrong. But I can tell you that i love snails and frog’s legs with butter and parsley, trench usely complain, but it’s for our rights, WE are not lazy, i don’t think so, and WE love wine because it’s good but we drink less ans less because After it’s dangerous to drive if you are drunk and cops Can punish you.
    So tell me what can make you say that these french people are so weird for you ? What do we make or think or say that you would never do ?
    Please to read you.

  60. Based on reading the article and comments, I think that while the French have several traits that make them, well, French, they share many things with everyone else. Some may fit the stereotype to a T, while others may not be anywhere near.

  61. I am from Colombia, I live in USA, I am in Paris and I was wondering why some French people smell so bad. Not all of them but some smell like sweat of 2 weeks, and some women smells like stds, and not all of them, But some. I can smell them even if you are not close. Rude, yes and unfriendly and they get really annoyed if you ask them something specially in English. I dont see hairy legs on women so I do think they shave.

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