4 ms·

As a person from another Eastern EU country who worked in German and French corporations, absolutely no. The people at my current US employer treat me very, ver

As a person from another Eastern EU country who worked in German and French corporations, absolutely no. The people at my current US employer treat me very, very differently. I'm never going back. Even just the casual dismissal of my attempts to ask to speak a common language (English) - them switching to German/French whenever there was at least one other speaker of the language - even though the firms declared the working language is English... Where I live if a person who doesn't speak our language comes into the room we all switch to English so the person can feel welcome. Stuff like credit cards issued in my country simply not working and them saying things like "yeah well we don't trust these eastern banks" with the typical "zomg another poor schmuck"-look...

sofixa 3y ago
> Stuff like credit cards issued in my country simply not working and them saying things like "yeah well we don't trust these eastern banks" with the typical "zomg another poor schmuck"-look... That sounds like Germany and their obsolete banking system. No idea how things are there, but in France that hasn't been anything resembling my experience. Yeah I get the occasional "I detected a small accent there, where are you from? Oh cool, you speak very good French!" which doesn't bother me, but that's pretty much it. And for what it's worth, some Bulgarian banks are shit and don't work with French bank cards for whatever reason (naming and shaming: Unicredit Bulbank flat out told me they don't work with "some German banks" when my French card was not working on a POS terminal from them). > Even just the casual dismissal of my attempts to ask to speak a common language (English) - them switching to German/French whenever there was at least one other speaker of the language - even though the firms declared the working language is English... > Where I live if a person who doesn't speak our language comes into the room we all switch to English so the person can feel welcome. Yep, French people have that bad habit. It's mostly out of shame in my view though - their English is usually not perfect, and they don't feel comfortable expressing themselves in it, running back to their comfort zone at any opportunity. It's shitty towards people who don't speak their language.
- Guillaume86 3y ago
  About the french refusing to speak english, I think there's also some kind of language superiority complex (and I say that as a native french speaker). Even online in english spaces (big subreddits for example), I see french people switching back to french in the middle of a thread if they recognize each other, really rude IMO.
- mardifoufs 3y ago
  I guess you are right about how they treat Bulgarians. But one, France is still one of the most racist country in the west. Especially for north-africans (even if I'm also Canadian). The US is much more inclusive and less racist, and even fundamentalist christians are usually pretty nice even when I say I'm Muslim. Much more of a live and let live attitude compared to France
  - sofixa 3y ago
    > But one, France is still one of the most racist country in the west. Especially for north-africans (even if I'm also Canadian). The US is much more inclusive and less racist, and even fundamentalist christians are usually pretty nice even when I say I'm Muslim. Much more of a live and let live attitude compared to France I don't know what you're basing this on, but I don't have the same perception. In the US, there is an obsession with categorising people based on their skin colour and religion. Politicians talk about "people of skin colour X" as some homogeneous group that is all the same (we need to win the Latino vote so we'll say this and that). The financial and healthcare systems literally take into account your skin colour. In France, people generally don't give a shit. It's illegal to categorise people by skin colour and religion, and it's illegal for your employer to ask about it. They can't discriminate based on anything like it, and it's taken seriously (not "oh just have money to sue" seriously, report them and they'll be in massive trouble seriously). In France, everyone naturalised is 100% French. There are tons of North African (Maghreb) descendants, including many muslims, and also lots of people from other parts of Africa, and South America, Asia, Europe. 1 in 4 French people has immigrant origins. Oh and also, the majority of France's population is not religious, which everyone is very accepting of alongside the religions. In the US there are states that forbid atheists from holding office ffs. - small exceptions - populist racist politicians, the main ones of whom have literally been fined for their racist remarks, and mostly old folks who believe them. Once in the bus in Paris an old man said something vaguely racist (of course it's one like her, refering to a woman of African descent speaking loudly on the phone), and was loudly and agressively criticised by multiple other passengers. Not saying it happens generally, but most people are very open and don't care about others' religion/skin colour/origins.

sofixa 3y ago

> Stuff like credit cards issued in my country simply not working and them saying things like "yeah well we don't trust these eastern banks" with the typical "zomg another poor schmuck"-look... That sounds like Germany and their obsolete banking system. No idea how things are there, but in France that hasn't been anything resembling my experience. Yeah I get the occasional "I detected a small accent there, where are you from? Oh cool, you speak very good French!" which doesn't bother me, but that's pretty much it. And for what it's worth, some Bulgarian banks are shit and don't work with French bank cards for whatever reason (naming and shaming: Unicredit Bulbank flat out told me they don't work with "some German banks" when my French card was not working on a POS terminal from them). > Even just the casual dismissal of my attempts to ask to speak a common language (English) - them switching to German/French whenever there was at least one other speaker of the language - even though the firms declared the working language is English... > Where I live if a person who doesn't speak our language comes into the room we all switch to English so the person can feel welcome. Yep, French people have that bad habit. It's mostly out of shame in my view though - their English is usually not perfect, and they don't feel comfortable expressing themselves in it, running back to their comfort zone at any opportunity. It's shitty towards people who don't speak their language.

Guillaume86 3y ago
About the french refusing to speak english, I think there's also some kind of language superiority complex (and I say that as a native french speaker). Even online in english spaces (big subreddits for example), I see french people switching back to french in the middle of a thread if they recognize each other, really rude IMO.
mardifoufs 3y ago
I guess you are right about how they treat Bulgarians. But one, France is still one of the most racist country in the west. Especially for north-africans (even if I'm also Canadian). The US is much more inclusive and less racist, and even fundamentalist christians are usually pretty nice even when I say I'm Muslim. Much more of a live and let live attitude compared to France
- sofixa 3y ago
  > But one, France is still one of the most racist country in the west. Especially for north-africans (even if I'm also Canadian). The US is much more inclusive and less racist, and even fundamentalist christians are usually pretty nice even when I say I'm Muslim. Much more of a live and let live attitude compared to France I don't know what you're basing this on, but I don't have the same perception. In the US, there is an obsession with categorising people based on their skin colour and religion. Politicians talk about "people of skin colour X" as some homogeneous group that is all the same (we need to win the Latino vote so we'll say this and that). The financial and healthcare systems literally take into account your skin colour. In France, people generally don't give a shit. It's illegal to categorise people by skin colour and religion, and it's illegal for your employer to ask about it. They can't discriminate based on anything like it, and it's taken seriously (not "oh just have money to sue" seriously, report them and they'll be in massive trouble seriously). In France, everyone naturalised is 100% French. There are tons of North African (Maghreb) descendants, including many muslims, and also lots of people from other parts of Africa, and South America, Asia, Europe. 1 in 4 French people has immigrant origins. Oh and also, the majority of France's population is not religious, which everyone is very accepting of alongside the religions. In the US there are states that forbid atheists from holding office ffs. - small exceptions - populist racist politicians, the main ones of whom have literally been fined for their racist remarks, and mostly old folks who believe them. Once in the bus in Paris an old man said something vaguely racist (of course it's one like her, refering to a woman of African descent speaking loudly on the phone), and was loudly and agressively criticised by multiple other passengers. Not saying it happens generally, but most people are very open and don't care about others' religion/skin colour/origins.