French (Corporate) Culture

Bonjour: Hello
Ça va?: How are you/how is it going?
Ça va, ça va: (response) it goes
Bon appetit: Eat well (“Bon app” for short)
Bon après-mid: Have a good afternoon (“Bon aprèm” for short)
Bonne soirée: Have a good night (“Bon soir” for short)
A tout à l’heure: See you later (“A tout” for short)
A plus tard: See you later (“A plus” for short)

I have now worked for a little over a month now, enabling me to become a bit acquainted with our office culture. As I have not had too much experience in offices in the States, I have little to compare to but I have found some aspects at work that I think may be different than our culture at home.

First of all, of course there is the difference of language. That comes with the territory, I suppose (no pun intended). I speak mostly French in the office with my co-workers. There is one women who works at my office who is Irish, so I get to sneak in some English with her every once and a while. The office is not very big--only about 15 people at most (with some leaving at the end of the summer), so I have a chance to talk to everybody a bit. However, as we handle a large export market, there remains the rest of the world to speak with. What is, pray tell, the international language of business? That’s right, good ‘ole English. Despite the unfortunate reality that many Americans will only ever learn one language, at least it’s a damn good practical one! We speak English with most of our clients, excluding perhaps Belgium and Luxembourg (French speaking), some of the French-speaking African nations, and some Spanish-speaking nations (as the family that owns the company all speak Spanish as well). The main part of my internship so far is working with the U.S. market, conveniently enough for me I speak good English.

The second thing I want to make mention of is the abundance of pleasantries exchanged throughout the day. I will be one of the first to say that I believe the French in general are much “colder” than we are in America; we who embrace foreigners with welcoming arms into our great melting pot. Yet, the French are all about their gestures and greetings. When I enter the office in the morning, I have to make my rounds to individually say “Bonjour” to everyone who is already there, maybe exchange a few ça va’s here and there. Then I make some coffee and go to my office, and everyone else that comes in after also makes rounds so you get a series of “Bonjours” for the first 15 minutes of so of the morning. If I encounter the President of the company or my boss, they will usually shake my hand. I do not give the kisses (“bises”) to anyone except sometimes the other interns, who are my age—although I feel like I get them whenever they feel like it because it’s not everyday. You’d think that after being here for 7 months I would know when to give/expect kisses, and when not to, but there’s just consistency here. I just don’t pucker my lips until there is a cheek right in front of them in the case of a forward motion being mistaken for a lean-in for the kiss. Miss-firing kisses is just embarrassing.
After morning “Bonjours,” there comes mid-day “Bon appetites” (or “Bon app” if you’re sly) in which you tell everyone between the hours of 12-2pm to have a good lunch even if they are not at the moment eating, even if they have already eaten, or even if they are just walking in the hall. If I leave the office for lunch, I make sure to do rounds again to wish everyone “good eating.” What happens after lunch, perhaps less formal, but there is the “Bon après-midi,” to wish your fellow colleagues a good afternoon. Whereas in English, our “Good Afternoon” I find to be more of a introductory greeting, here it is more of parting greeting-more so as “I hope you have a good afternoon” smooshed into two words or a quick “Bon aprèm.” (I have yet to try the cute shortcuts to these greetings for fear of sounding silly). When the day ends, there are the “Au revoirs” and “Bonne soirees” distributed, again another cycle of rounds to make sure you bid everyone adieu. That means no sneaking out early without everyone knowing—or, if you do without saying goodbye, you will likely be perceived as rude!

Finally, there is the “vous” and “tu” game. The lovely English language is fortunate enough to only use one form of the word “you” to everybody and anybody. In many other languages, however, there are two forms, an informal (tu) and a formal (vous). This complicates things because misuse is considered quite rude. The French are taught how to use these when they are young and learning the language, so I believe it comes naturally to them when to use “vous” and when to use “tu.” For me, however, I’m dropping tu’s when I should be dropping vous’s all the time, and vice versa. I especially had this problem when I started working because most of the people I have been speaking to in French are other students, so I was accustomed “tu.” (and therefore conjugating like so). When you meet someone for the first time, or they an “elder” (whatever that means), or in a position above, you should always use, “vous.” I use tu with anyone about my age or younger. With those you start using “vous” with, you have to wait for them to give you permission to use “tu.” (it’s actually a verb-“tutoyer”). I have had our marketing director tell me I can tutoyer him, an older woman who is probably around 60 tell me I can use “tu,” but I have been warned by my fellow interns to never-ever, not once use “tu” with the three brothers who run the business (despite one of them only being 25 years old). This makes sense; it is similar calling someone Mr./Mrs. instead of their first name—but in English you don’t usually slip their first name by accident as I have been doing with “tu.” Whoops. Oddly enough, however, I call them all by their first names, but use “vous.” Weird.