I'm afraid you didn't get the 'vous' and 'tu' correct. It is not a question of being older or being higher ranked. that maybe was true 100 years ago, for our grand-parents. Today, it is more a question of distance. You say 'tu' to someone that is close to you. That may means close inside the same family (only children of aristocratic families still use 'vous' to address their parents) but that may also mean distance on your job. You may use the 'tu' between colleges of the same category/rank. While you always say 'vous' to your manager, the same manager will also say 'vous' to you, because you are of different ranks and therefore, there is distance between you. And both of you respect that distance. If there is a reason to emphasis on the closeness or equality (members of the same religion are supposed to be brothers and sisters, players of the same sport team, ...) you may use the 'tu' to someone you first meet. If you have reasons to show or to want distance, you will use the 'vous'. If you respond with 'vous' to someone who has addressed you with 'tu', you are mainly sending the message 'I want to keep this discussion on a professional level' or 'I don't want to get close to you'. For children, the equation is slightly different, because you are in an unbalanced relation. If you say 'vous' to a child, he will not understand, because you tell him you want to keep distance, to be 'professional'. Who wants the relation to a child to be only professional? Only very strict teachers will say 'vous' to a child. On the other hand, the child will address you as 'vous', because that is how he is trained to address any adult outside his family. Although the child do not know or understand the reasons behind, there are reasons. It shows that you are not on the same level (you are an adult, he is a child), respect (you have authority on him), but at the same time, it keeps some distance. Even a young child will know instinctively that a 'tu' adult is allowed to hug him, while a 'vous' adult is not. So teach your child to say 'vous' to any adult outside the family/friends if you don't want him to send unwanted messages to the wrong adults... 'Tu' sends message of closeness, compassion, kindness, concern, emotional relations, equality, friendship, "vous' sends messages of distance, respect, professionalism, business or coldness.
+ydela1961 When I was a child or teenager (I am French), I had teachers using "vous" or "tu" but I never used "tu" when I talk to them. Now, I am 30 and I often use "vous" when I talk to children that I don't know. This is respect to them and also it learns them respect to the eldest. In the work place, it is different. Where I work, the first day they told me everybody use "tu". But this policy is different in many companies. In the friendly area, you use "tu" when you are in a party, a bar even if somebody is 30 years older than you. It would be rude to notice them they are not belonging here! In the family, you use "tu". There is one exeption: your family in law. You never use "tu" but always "vous" when you speak to your parents in law. Now, those rules can change. It depends of the education, geography, social roots, etc. For us, it is natural but we do understand that it can be challenging and confusing for people who don't speak langages which mark this kind of differences.
Thank you for serving the Lord in our lost country; I've been to the US with Cru, isn't that ironic ? Doing evangelism in the land of the Great revivals ? GBU !!
That's just weird. To kiss people you don't know just like that. I never ever had to do that during the time I spent in France. I kiss friends and family there (and real close people to the family), not just random people walking into a room. Like my fiancés neighbour, the first time i met him. We shook hands. That's normal.
juste kevin Well, I don't know why you even wrote that comment as a response to me.. But I'm sorry to say that what you said is not entirely true. Men do kiss other men too. It's not just between female and male and female to female.
About the kiss thing : I'm from the north and we start with the right cheeks, and when I go to the south, it's very difficult to change this habit and It makes me embarass, you know... It's difficult for french people too ^^
