Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 00:13:07 -0700 From: Rudy Troike Subject: The French Connection This may close out the discussion of experiences with French linguistic attitudes, but it may be that reactions to them are as much a reflection on American culture as anything. I shared Dennis Baron's e-note with a Chinese former student who spent a couple of years working in Nice for IBM, and who knew no French on arrival. She said it was interesting to discover how much information can be exchanged without reliance on verbalization, and though she had some problems and experienced some frustration, she was amazed by the negativism expressed by her American colleeagues, which seemed to her very much out of proportion to their actual experiences. I had heard very negative experiences from friends about their communication encounters in France, and so avoided going there for years, but on the several occasions that I have been in France, I have had only pleasant experiences. But even if I had had "negative" experiences, I wonder it my own reaction to them would not have been a reflection of my own culture? --Rudy Troike (rtroike[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ccit.arizona.edu)