Culture, nonverbal communicaiton , media, social media, traditional customs, literacy , art , sport

1. FRANCE
and their communication habits also
culture
ALTAR KAYA
ERDEM BASTOKLU

2. French Culture: Customs and
Traditions

3. Holidays and Celebrations
 The French celebrate the traditional
Christian holidays of Christmas and
Easter. They mark May Day, also known
as Labor Day, on May 1. Victory in
Europe Day on May 8 commemorates
the end of hostilities in Europe in World
War II. Bastille Day is celebrated on July
14. This is the day the Bastille fortress in
Paris was stormed by revolutionaries to
start the French Revolution.

4. Religion and Values
 Catholicism is the predominant religion of France. In a survey by the
French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP), 64 percent of the population
(about 41.6 million people) identified themselves as Roman Catholic.
 Values
 The French take immense great pride in their nation and government
and are typically offended by any negative comments about their
country. Visitors, particularly Americans, often interpret their attitude
toward foreigners as rude.
 The French embody romance and passion, and there is an open
attitude toward sex outside of marriage, according to a study by
France's National Research Agency on AIDS. Even the country’s top
politicians have been known to carry out extramarital affairs without
making an effort to conceal them. As a reflection of the country’s
secular nature, about half of children are born to unmarried couples.

5. Clothing
 Paris is known as the home to many high-end fashion
houses, such as Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Many French people dress in a sophisticated,
professional and fashionable style, but it is not overly
fussy. Typical outfits include nice dresses, suits, long
coats, scarves and berets.
 The term haute couture is associated with French fashion
and loosely means fancier garments that are handmade
or made to order.

6. Languages
 French is the dominant language of the
country’s 66 million residents, but there are
a number of variants based on region.
French, the official language, is the first
language of 88 percent of the population,
according to the BBC. French is the
second most widely learned foreign
language in the world.

7. French Education Level
 Just 72.5 percent of French adults aged 25 to 64 have
completed high school.
 Education is compulsory in France from the ages of 6 to
16, but a large majority of children start school well
before the minimum age, often as young as two years
old, and over 50% of 18-21 year olds in France are still in
full-time education. 73% of men have successfully
completed high-school compared with 71% of women.

8. Art
 Art is everywhere in France. Many of
history’s most renowned artists, including
Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and
Camille Pissarro, sought inspiration in Paris,
and they gave rise to the Impressionism
movement.
 The Louvre Museum in Paris is among the
world’s largest museums and is home to
many famous works of art, including the
Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

9. French Cuisine

10.  Food and wine are central to life at all socioeconomic
levels, and much socializing is done around lengthy
dinners.
 While cooking styles have changed to emphasize lighter
fare, many still associate French cooking with heavy
sauces and complicated preparation. Some classic
French dishes include boeuf bourguignon — a stew
made of beef braised in red wine, beef broth and
seasoned with garlic, onions and mushrooms — and coq
au vin, a dish made with chicken, Burgundy wine,
lardons (small strips or cubes of pork fat), button
mushrooms, onions and optional garlic.

11. Some food examples based on French cuisine and cooked by french cuisine
techniques.
Dishes

12. Penetration of leading social networks in
France as of 4th quarter 2014
This statistic presents the
social network penetration in
France. As of the fourth
quarter 2014, 45 percent of
the population had an active
account with any social
network. The most popular
social network was Facebook
with a 32 percent
penetration rate.

13. Most Famous Newspapers
Daily
Weekly

14. 3 Most Watched Television Channel
in France

15. French Body Language Gestures
1. Faire la bise
 Kissing on the cheek is a sign of greeting or
saying goodbyes between friends and family
in France. The number of kisses varies by the
region but in most parts of France two cheek
kisses are used and the right cheek is kissed
first. Usually two men do not exchange "bises"
but you occasionally see this happen as well,
so men coming from other cultures should not
freak out and consider it offensive if this
happens. Also, remember that the lips do not
really touch the cheek. The "bises" are not
supposed to be big, wet smooches!

16. 2. Bof
 Bof or the gallic shrug is usually a
sign of indifference or
disagreement. It could mean any
of the following: It's not my fault, I
don't know, I doubt it, I don't
agree or I don't really care. Raise
your shoulders, hold up your hands
with your palms facing out, stick
out your lower lip, raise your
eyebrows and say "Bof !"

17. 3. Faire la moue
 The "French pout" expresses
discontentment. Faire la moue is
the most apparent when the
French have to wait for long
periods of time or they don't get
their way but it expresses pretty
much any negative emotion. To
faire la moue pucker up your lips
pushing them forward, squint your
eyes and look bored.

18. 4. Du fric
 To indicate that you need money or
that something is very expensive, you
hold your hand up and slide your
thumb back-and-forth across your
fingertips. This hand gesture is self-
explanatory but you may accompany
this gesture by saying du fric! (which is
a colloquial form of money or
"dough").

19. 5. Zéro
 This gesture ought not to be confused with the
North American OK sign! In France, when you
make a circle with your index finger and your
thumb you are signalling that something is
"worthless" or "nothing"!

20. 6. Quelle barbe!
 Literally means What a beard! but can be
translated as what a drag! or so boring!
You can use "quelle barbe!", "la barbe!"
and "une vraie barbe" to mean the same
thing. Fold your hand and stroke your
cheek up and down with the back of your
fingers while saying: Quelle barbe!