American clichés...true or false?

Clichés, more cliches!

During our intercultural game, many readers sent us their contributions: after the Asian and European clichés, we offer you American clichés.

These anecdotes are first of all points of view on a given situation. They highlight the need to be open to the logic of others and not to hastily judge different behaviors from one's own cultural references.

Are the clichés stereotypes or prejudices that we should be wary of or do they provide information about culture? It’s up to you to tell us what you think…

What does “Great” mean to Americans?

As part of a stay at the University of Berkeley, our objective was to imagine a digital application based on an innovative concept, to create a business plan and to study its feasibility with potential investors during so-called “networking” evenings.

During one of these evenings, we spoke with a young American woman who seemed very attentive to our project. She told us several times that he was "great." After a good half hour, we exchanged business cards. Proud of ourselves, we shared this success with the other members of the team!

Two days later, the director of the Franco-American CCI spoke in Berkeley and gave keys to better understanding the way Americans communicate... She particularly insisted on the fact that when an American says "great", that simply and politely wants to say that it's good...

An American who was truly won over by our idea would have offered us a meeting to go further.

Marie LE JEUNE, student

Between East and West, what cultural differences!

At 18, I left New York to study in Northern California and experienced culture shock interacting with my fellow students. For example, when I wanted to discuss an idea, they reacted defensively and perceived me as aggressive. Confronting my thoughts with other logics to co-construct a “truth” was seen by them as a way of crushing their ideas! They said to me, “You’re so… New York!”

When I was too confrontational for my Californian friends, they would tell me: "You have your idea, I have my idea and they are both good. Please don't invalidate my feelings ."This meant that it was no longer possible to continue the discussion without coming across as an arrogant dictator. After a while, it was unbearable and in my eyes deeply anti-intellectual.

Once, to comfort me, a friend from the East Coast said to me: "But you know how Californians are. Everything is "awesome!" "great!" "wonderful!". They can't stand what is negative !" I then learned to practice “non-violent communication”; After five years, my Californian peers felt more respected and in return they listened to me. Everything was fine.

At the end of my graduate studies, I moved from California to Paris and the situation was... reversed! I found the French aggressive when they defended their ideas. Once, I even, in a small voice, tried to repeat the phrase of my Californian classmates: “You have your idea, I have mine and they are both good.” Please don't invalidate my feelings. ”The response to the face was not very Californian: “But of course I invalidate your idea! It makes no sense ! I don't agree with you at all!”

And so for me, the native New Yorker, what was aggressive and disrespectful in the way I defended my ideas happened to be, for my Parisian friends, an acceptable way of debating and confronting ideas.

In the state of New York, Californians are often perceived as rather superficial and a little simplistic, which also sometimes corresponds to the clichés that the French have of Americans and the Parisians of provincials. Conversely, from California's point of view, New Yorkers are often seen as arrogant, aggressive, intellectual and even contemptuous, which corresponds to the negative stereotypes that Americans have of the French, as much as the Provincials have of Parisians. Brief ! Maybe we're all someone's Californian or New Yorker!

Natalie LUTZ, Akteos Consultant

Can we speak of American ethnocentrism?

As part of a Franco-American merger, a client from the French side ordered online training modules from us to give all employees of the new entity the keys to mutual understanding.

She is not the sole decision-maker and must therefore make a presentation to her American colleagues.

She first tells them about the Nomad' Profiler, our cultural profiling tool. Great tool! One buys ! Then, our e-learning on the United States. Great! Fan-tas-tic ! We buy too!

Finally, in a spirit of reciprocity, she presents our e-learning about France to them. While they had shown great enthusiasm until now, the Americans remained silent and looked at each other. My client understands that a misunderstanding has arisen. Her American colleague then breaks the silence: “Karine, I don’t understand, why do the French need to train to work with French people?”

Obviously, they didn't understand each other.

Mehdi CLEMENT, Akteos Project Manager

But America is not limited to the United States...

Why are Brazilians optimistic?

Generally speaking, Brazilians are always optimistic. You have to take advantage of the present moment! All problems have a solution! Moreover, the proverb "the only thing you can't escape is death" mischievously underlines the Brazilian way of thinking.

Why do Brazilians brush their teeth 3 times a day?

In the workplace, just after lunchtime, it is common to see Brazilians queuing for the toilet to brush their teeth. In a country where the cult of the body and appearance is important, having white teeth is a distinctive sign of success and belonging to a privileged social class. However, we note that very often in French subsidiaries established in Brazil, the only ones who escape this rule are French expatriates!

Are Argentinians Italians who speak Spanish?

Generally speaking, the communication style is implicit, expressive and direct with a tendency to communicate a lot. It is also said that Argentines are Italians who speak Spanish. Relationships are simple and familiarity is almost immediate, even between strangers, regardless of their age. And we easily call people by their first name.

Guillaume SARRAZIN, Akteos Consultant