Hello welcome to Easy English. So last week, we made a video, finding out what Brits
thought about other Brits, which you can watch up here.
But this week, I thought it’d be fun to make a video about
what British people think about the French.
Now coincidentally, our friends at Easy French…
Bonjour Easy French! they've been making a video about what the French
think of the Brits. So Judith, what do French people actually think of British people?
What they think about British people,
they found them very open minded on many subjects.
They think that they have a very dark and absurd humour.
Er… they are nice to you and polite, er… they… yeah,
the only negative thing is that they have terrible food.
What about the music? - Music, well they… they were the first
in many music fields, people er… love English music like ''The Beatles'',
''The Rolling Stones'', er… ''Pink Floyd'' for example.
Yep, we really like English music in France.
Great! thank you very much. So, now it's time for us to find out what the Brits
think about the French, here we go. What do you think about the French? - We love the French,
we… it's only a couple hours on the ferry from us,
so we regularly head over there and enjoy the beaches
and the food and the wine. - Nice. And erm… so, maybe more specifically,
what do you think about the people that you have met, being there?
The people that we’ve met have been er… very welcoming,
very hospitable to us, from any campsites,
towns or villages that we've sort, of stayed through. - Okay.
So yeah, lovely, lovely people. - So, staying around,
kind of like, the north? - No, all the way down to sort of… well,
all over really to be fair. From the Alps down to Bordeaux and beyond,
and along that region as well. Dread to think what they’re going to say about us.
See I see Parisians as completely different to… - Yes.
You don’t… it doesn’t have to be about Parisians,
but it’s a good thing to speak about, maybe.
‘Cos I think they… the French might speak about Londoners.
Oh yeah, and Sussex, yeah. Yeah.
Well, one of the things with Fren… the Franc… France?
The French, is that I love the fact that you either eat
what we’re gonna serve and like it. - They don't really accommodate,
in my experience for the English palette.
No, which is probably a good thing. - Which I quite like,
because I think then you really get a taste of the truth French.
Yeah. - Cuisine. - Don’t you think the French are more laid back
than the English? - I think English can be a little bit more uptight.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I do, I think and their meal times
are great because you can just relax and there's no rush and…
No, it’s spread out over time, have a glass of wine. Back to the wine.
Yeah, back to the wine, the early start of
the wine. Could you tell me what the Brits think about the French?
I think er… Brits are a little bit jealous of French people.
Oh yeah? - Yeah, because French people; they've got great taste,
regarding food, regarding well, cuisine and culture and arts etcetera.
But the same time, I think Brits think that er…
French people are a little bit like, snobs.
Because they don't want to learn, they don't want to study
another language er… even English, because they… they've really…
what is the word? Try to (preserve) their own culture,
they don't want to borrow anything from British culture,
because they gave a lot to British culture during the Norman period.
Because, it's a lot of words etcetera we still use from French people. They’re like, very…
protective of their like, of their culture.
But erm… They will sort of… invite you to share with them.
Oh really? More so than British people? - Probably. - I think so,
yeah. We went to Paris and then to ''Disney World'' with our…
''Disneyland'' for our daughter but erm… yeah,
so I’ve really… and actually, I have been to the countryside
of France and that's a different story actually,
I did enjoy erm… South of France and… - But the people in particular.
Yeah, the people in particular were good,
we went to the market and it was really friendly in… in the market yeah,
when you're in the countryside I think it's different and it was…
it was… the culture is really interesting in the sense of;
the food and… any cultures interesting to
discover, but um… yeah. I think they’re very nice, I love the countryside, I love the frui…
food. But, then I think sometimes they can be quite erm…
arrogant and rude sometimes to foreigners.
But, other times they’re absolutely wonderful. What do you think about French people?
They’re nice and funny, very funny. - And funny?
In what way they tell jokes or? - Silly. - They’re silly?
Yeah, the French sense of humour is quite silly. - Oh yeah? - Yeah.
Okay, let’s go into that. Why is… why is that?
Well, they've loved Blackadd… Not ''Blackadder'', what's his name?
''Mr. Bean''. - Ah yeah. - See ''Mr. Bean'' is more popular in France,
than in Britain. That is just their sense of humour, quite slapstick.
Okay, like tripping over like, banana skins. - Yeah and silly faces.
Okay. - Just practical jokes, type thing. - Okay.
This reminds me of erm… Jean-Claude is. - Yeah.
Go on, you know someone who’s like Mr. Bean?
He was our neighbour in France. - Yeah. - He’s really silly.
Yeah, he looked kind of, quite serious and scary didn't he?
But actually he was really silly. Is there like, a pattern or sort of like,
something that identifies the French people as a whole?
Do they have a certain behavioural characteristic or something?
Er… I mean wine and cheese; that's definitely a behaviour of the French.
Like, foodies and… - Yeah, definitely. Loving…
loving of the food and loving the outdoor life I think is the other…
the other crucial bit.
And how… how were you treated as a Brit over there?
I think, probably because we're quite friendly,
they treated us as friendly as well. Erm… I think as long
as you go like that you know, open nin… open mind sorry,
and friendly-faced, I think you’re broadly speaking well accepted.
And how’s your French? - Not brilliant,
we get by, it's not amazing. Is there something to be said then, about what you said,
a little bit about what you said. That, you know,
if you go somewhere like Spain, they’ll have like,
English foods, do you know what I mean? They’ll cater for the Brits.
Whereas, you’re sort of saying that the French… - No, they don't.
No, they don’t. - And does that say something about their like,
character… their character traits? - Yeah, I think so.
I think so; I think that they. - I think, probably in cities
it's a little bit different.
Yes, yeah and they truly believe that their cuisine is probably…
Well they would probably say theirs is the best in the world
and to some extent, maybe… - It probably is to a certain degree.
And they're a little bit more adventurous aren't they?
I mean, the English a little um… A little bit restricted
in their palette, aren't they? - If it’s not beige, then it’s kind of like,
dangerous isn’t it? - Yeah, exactly. - Almost.
If it hasn't got baked beans with it or. French people are very sophisticated people,
but at the same time maybe they're not so friendly towards
British people, because they’re a little bit… well, reserved. What’s your er…
opinion of the French.
Erm… - And maybe you have to sort of, explain that you…
I’ve got a massive soft spot for the French. - Okay.
I… well, so I did French and German and I always had… you know,
lots of French exchanges, German exchanges, you know,
I au paired in Germany and I worked in a campsite in France.
So I spent a lot of time in both countries and I always had
an amazing time in France and then I always had a bit
of a rubbish time in Germany. But, so I always ended up loving France;
I love the language, you know, it’s a beautiful country
and actually if you speak French to the French, they can be the…
they're always impressed and pleased and erm… they’re just really warm.
Where we were, which is a bit of a lost part of France,
um… they’re just very warm and lovely
and welcoming. Did you have a nice… did you have any nice experiences with people?
Or did you have… yeah, what was your…
I didn't have a nice experience with people,
in the sense of when you try to ask um… questions,
if you're speaking English, people don't really want to talk with you.
No? - So there's a bit of that there, I feel. If you don't try you know,
to speak the French language, then there's a bit of a barrier,
in the sense of… so I think, obviously,
(it’d) be good to have some background in the language to communicate,
because I do find there is that barrier if you don't have the language.
Yeah, yeah. - Then, there isn't that communication
that is open with the French. Is there like, a one defining characteristic
that all French people have, that you could identify? - Lovers of food.
good food. - It’s a cliché, but it’s kind of, true right?
Yeah, I think it's true. Whereabouts in France have you been? - Most recently Nice.
Yep Nice. - Which is actually really quite Italian though, isn’t it?
Yeah, and Cannes is very cosmopolitan, so it's very, very expensive and…
Normandy. - Yep, I… I like to go, when we go to Nice,
I like to go to Mandelieu, which is the other side.
Which is a little bit more traditional and you get the
smaller restaurants and the… you know, the… have…
this is the only dishes the day, so this is what you have, rather than.
The traditional side of France? - And their confidence in their food
is kind of… yeah, they have, definitely.
I think, like we were saying earlier,
I think Paris compared to the rest of France is a little bit on its own.
Probably like London. - yes. - To some extent.
And I think food in Paris can be a little bit more, what's the word?
Like, diluted to the rest of France. - Yes. - It’s not quite so you…
do you know what I’m trying to say. - Yeah, I do know what you mean. And then what do you think,
other British people think about French people?
I think most British people think that they just walk around
in berets and hold baguettes all the time. And wear like, stripy tops.
What! And this isn’t true? - No, it really isn’t.
Thanks for watching this week's episode. Don't forget to watch Easy French’s version about
what the French think about the Brits, up here.
And we'll see you next week, bye.