Chapter 7
Each time the French people visit the United States of American, they are surprised by
the status that is given to children. They are not pleased by the education system of the
Americans, and it is that reason that they call it lax. As Americans have dinner as a family, the
French learned that children have a right to talk, which is directly opposite to their culture.
Children's' say is always taken with a lot of caution as children were equated to adults. The right
of children to express themselves in any way they wish to does not only exercise at home by also
in school. In contrary to French schools, American schools aim at enabling students to socialize
with each other and learn how to practice democracy. The schools also allow the student to have
the self-confidence that will enable them to manage their everyday activities. In France, things
are different schools are meant to instill discipline to the student, and there is no one time that the
children are allowed to express themselves.
The things related to children relations learnt by the French on arrival to the United States
have made them need to be in hierarchical relationships. The desire of the French to be identified
with connections came up after learning that in the US, all people, regardless of age, are treated
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equally and given the respect they deserve. The other issue for French desire is because the
hierarchical relationship in France was characterized by wealth and ability of an individual to
meet the required standard of a particular class of social stratification. On the contrary, links in
the United States do not consider wealth status but look at the rights of the individual and ensure
that they do not violate them. Besides, French is surprised by the fact that the American culture
has remained the same for the longest time. The issue of master and servants is an important item
to figure out the French and American culture. In this regard, the American culture believes that
at any given time, a servant can become a master, which makes many individuals aspire to rise to
that condition. The master and servants do not quarrel as neither the two people are inferior to
the other. The culture of the French people is different from that of Americans, whereby there is
no democracy among the French people. Masters and servants are two different people playing
different roles. The master is perceived to be more superior to the servants, which makes them
offer command and set rules to be followed by the servants.
Chapter 8
Concerning companies and how they operate, there is much difference in French and
American cultures engage in. In French companies, a culture of complaints is developed as all
the workers in the company from the CEO to the junior-most workers complain about their
working conditions. Employees in French companies are unable to work in a clear framework
over a period of time since time after time, some changes will be introduced, which will alter the
previously stated structure. As a result, it is difficult for French companies to achieve their goals
as there are many changes introduced as the companies go on with their operations. The issue is
different in American as the American companies have adopted a culture that involves ensuring
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that the initial target is met before introducing others. This culture has enabled workers to
operate with ease as they have no fears that some things will be added as they progress with the
operations. The difference in how the American and French companies operate shows the
difference in cultures and why the French were interested in Americas’ culture.
Chapter 9
French culture is also associated with a number of taboos that ensure that the people who
follow the culture do not engage in some activities. The French people are intentional when it
comes to mental health as they are concerned with some of the issues that are related to it. In this
regard, there is awareness to improve mental illness among the French people to ensure that they
do not get the schizophrenic condition. Schizophrenia is characterized by a lot of denial and
rejection whereby an individual with the condition is unable to identify themselves and not
willing to take up change. As a result, schizophrenia condition is recognized as one of the central
taboo in the French culture. Other issues that are taboos in the culture of the French people are
the issues that can result in violent. When others ignore an individual, treated in a wrong way, or
never praised, these people can be identified to be a taboo in the community. These people with
the mentioned characteristics are most seen as people who can cause violence, and as a result,
they receive the punishment of perceived as a taboo. Violence in the French culture is not
approved as it is linked to several vices that have the ability to destroy the unity of French. In
French families, fathers were assigned the authority role, which dictated the other members of
the family to pay attention to him. Fathers symbolized the law and were crucial to understand
how different activities of the family are ran. The culture of French people focused on the
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authority given by men in the family. In this regard, it is a taboo in the French culture for women
and children to take up the role of fathers.