The French Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the French [Paperback]

Ross Steele (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0844214957 | ISBN-13: 978-0844214955 | Publication Date: January 11, 1995 | Edition: 2

Ideal for all students, this valuable handbook helps you understand how people from every corner of France think, do business, and act in their daily lives. The French Way includes 85 major topics--organized alphabetically--that cover everything from ecology, food, holidays, the media, religion, sports, and style. This book will help increase your understanding and ability to communicate with French-speaking people.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Achieve savoir faire and fit into French culture with ease

Irascible, genial, logical, passionate, cerebral, poetic, snooty, egalitarian, diplomatic, blunt . . . the French have been called many things but never dull. Whether you're traveling to France for business or pleasure, you'll need all the help you can get navigating the apparent bundle of contradictions that comprise contemporary French culture. You need The French Way.

Written by an internationally renowned expert in French culture, Ross Steele, this second edition of The French Way offers a uniquely impartial and fully up-to-date perspective on French attitudes, tastes, and customs regarding everything from business style (formal) to pets (doted on), conversation (an art form) to humor (satiric, political), love (truly, madly, deeply) to time ("Better late than never!").

With the help of The French Way, you will:

• Understand how people from every corner of France interact, do business, and live their daily lives
• Become well-versed in ninety major topics including food, family, holidays, the media, religion, sports, money, entertainment, and le shopping
• Learn the truth about common myths and misconceptions concerning the French and communicate comfortably with French-speaking people without committing faux pas

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ross Steele is an honorary associate professor at the University of Sydney specializing in French society and culture. He was Adjunct Fellow of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington, DC. For his work promoting French language and culture internationally, he was been awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite, and Officier des Palmes Académiques.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 102 pages
• Publisher: Passport Books; 2 edition (January 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844214957
• ISBN-13: 978-0844214955
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,309,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good guide to culture of "France" only., November 1, 1999

By 

"operkaiserin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The French Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the French (Paperback)

This book is part of a series of cultural guides; others in the series are "The Hispanic Way", "The German Way", & "The Italian Way". I'd read & enjoyed both "The Hispanic Way" & "The German Way", so when finding "The French Way", I wanted to read it, too. Taken as a guide exclusively to France & its people, this book is quite serviceable & thorough. And like any book this size & attempting to deal with a topic of this scope, "The French Way" is not going to be exhaustive, but rather is a good introduction & "stepping-stone" to further reading. There is indeed good information in this book. However, "The Hispanic Way" & "The German Way" are more thorough, providing information not exclusive on "Spain" or "Germany", respectively, but on Spanish-speaking countries & German-speaking coutries, too. Obviously, the francophone world is huge, & a book of this size would have to focus primarily on one area; "The Hispanic Way" focused on Spain, does provide information about Hispanic America as well. I had hoped that "The French Way" would include some information about Belgium, Luxembourg, & Canada at least. Since this book doesn't include at least a little more information about these other francophone areas, I'd have to give it only 4 stars.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fluffy - not valuable information, May 19, 2004

By 

Mr. Wynn (State of Confusion) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The French Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the French (Paperback)

This book is too clichéd! Everything is described so briefly. I hesitate to call is succinct because it really doesn't delve deep into the culture. The topics covered are very superficial and it makes the culture look very transparent.

The book just barely gives you enough information to be a tad bit familiar with French culture but by all means will not prepare you for any immersion into French culture.

I've seen worse books than this, though. But there are better ones out there.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Broad and Basic, January 7, 2008

By 

Jill M. Clemmons (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The French Way : Aspects of Behavior, Attitudes, and Customs of the French (Paperback)

This book gives a very broad, basic view of France. If you know nothing about France, it can be helpful. However, if you've ever taken French classes in high school or college, you've probably learned these cultural notes in the introductory courses. As a study abroad advisor, I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't know anything about France, but would be very worried if I was sending a student to France for a year and this was the extent of his/her knowledge! If you're going to France for a week on a tour, this book will help prepare you and may explain some of the questions you have about France. If you're going to be going to France for a longer period of time and/or want to really develop a greater understanding of French culture, this book is way too general and introductory for you. It's set up like a mini encyclopedia, with the subjects arranged alphabetically, not by category or subject area. It's an interesting set up, and fine for a brief introduction to French culture. If you're a strict grammarian who finds it distracting to read texts with grammatical errors, be forewarned: this book has several grammatical errors throughout its subjects.