An essay on comparison between german and french language
Answers
As a French living in Germany and married to a wonderful German man, I live everyday differences, and it was quite challenging at the beginning for me over here… We should always stay quiet, not really speak loud in public (when we sometimes have a different point of view on public), it is not well seen here to have a discussion outside, while it is more free and more open on my point of view in France.
Always clean the front and around your house,
never overtake somebody in a queue ( I mean in France it is more a national sport).
Never do noise on Sunday,
no small talk in the bakery.
During your birthday in Germany you are suppose to invite the others, and not the contrary like in France.
Christmas presents is given on the 24th of December in the evening, and not in the morning.
Moreover, what shocked me the most in Schwabenland: the note in the restaurant would be always paid separately… or at least the waiter asks if ““getrennt oder zusammen” !! With my husband family too… in France we receive one note and either somebody invite everyone or we share it between us (average price).
well I have been maybe more shocked when I realize that as a mother, in the region where I live it is not well seen to work more than 20%… I work 80% since my son is 1 Year old, and many people gave me their unsolicited opinion about that: he was to young, too small, my place should be home… yes in 2017! which is for France quite rare not to work after few months. my French friends and family found that I stayed already long at home… and to be honest, I was happy after a while to have other interactions with adults and use as well my master study and working experience… to comeback back to the “real” world.
I hear regularly “macho” and old school jokes at work or the seller of our house try to sell it by promoting the really great view from the laundry room and the children playground… I was 27 working girl without children at the time… or the kitchen seller asked my size for the kitchen working table, and when my husband gave his size
he looked right in my eyes and said he needed only the size of the one working in the kitchen … no joke!!
I would say here the main difference is that you have more possibilities to find a children care in France as in Germany, and all the day not only from 8 am to 1 pm…
Cars here are holy, and as a car fan, I am happy to share this value …
I lived in different cities in France (Paris, Grenoble, Lyon, south France) but only in Hannover and around Stuttgart in Germany… so my answer is based on my own experience and might be not matching other German living maybe in Köln where the ambiance is really more relaxed than around Stuttgart.
(I hope than my answer helped, and I am sorry for the potential mistake in English.)