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Make a Good First Impression

JEK

Senior Insider
Alway greet every shopkeeper/waiter/barman with a hearty bonjour! Service is bound to improve!


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Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impression

It's also somewhat customary to greet all the patrons in a given shop or small restaurant when one enters with the same Bon Jour.
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

It's also somewhat customary to greet all the patrons in a given shop or small restaurant when one enters with the same Bon Jour.

In fact, I seem to be more socially acceptable in greetings while in St. Barth than almost any place I can name :)
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

Also a nice smile and a Merci when leaving a shop....even if you didn't buy anything.

Timely thread, the bad behavior I saw on this trip made me cringe!

John T
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

Also a nice smile and a Merci when leaving a shop....even if you didn't buy anything.



Coming tomorrow :)
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

In fact, I seem to be more socially acceptable in greetings while in St. Barth than almost any place I can name :)
I find that for some reason my cheerful "Bon Jour" is so convincing that many times I am then spoken to in (what seems to me to be rapid fire) French. That of course blows my cover and the truth of 3 years of high school French is immediately apparent, ha ha. I think what gives me away is my "deer in the headlights" look.
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

WIWT,

Despite 10 years of practice, your Bon Jour must be better than my Bon Jour. My Bon Jour immediately leads the recipient to speak English to me. It's very disheartening....
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

WIWT,

Despite 10 years of practice, your Bon Jour must be better than my Bon Jour. My Bon Jour immediately leads the recipient to speak English to me. It's very disheartening....

My trick is when I want the check after dinner- always a struggle- I use the imaginary pen in the air thing and say
"S'il vous pla
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impression

as someone who is on the other side of that equation I would say I agree 1000%...sadly many Americans dont do that....its one of the ways we figure out who is European and Canadian and who is American when they walk in the shop.......the British are probably best at being nice and pleasant and polite when they enter and leave a shop
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

I use the imaginary pen in the air thing and say
"S'il vous pla
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

The smile, the bon jour, the merci, the "air pen" and "l'addtion svp" always make a difference. Except at Kudeta last night.

So far kinda cloudy and windy. So what! Harbor is filling with huge yachts (more than I've seen for Carnaval) for the boat races this weekend. Will post some interesting pix of the buckled dock in the harbor when I get back. The waves were brutal last week. No ferry service for about 3 days. Many folks stranded both here and on St. M.

A'voir,

Gotta head to the next feeding frenzy (quite a bit more expensive this year.)
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

In fact, I seem to be more socially acceptable in greetings while in St. Barth than almost any place I can name :)
I find that for some reason my cheerful "Bon Jour" is so convincing that many times I am then spoken to in (what seems to me to be rapid fire) French. That of course blows my cover and the truth of 3 years of high school French is immediately apparent, ha ha. I think what gives me away is my "deer in the headlights" look.

I'll be there in June with a at least one Frenchie. I'll just say "bonjour" and let them deal with the rapid-fire response.
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

I always try to say "Bon Jour" in my best French then immediately follow it up with "How are you" in my best English just in case my best French truly was just that .........
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

This was going to be in my trip report (that I'm still trying finish from February, already) which was getting a little long-winded anyway...

I
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

its just polite to at least learn the basic language of a country you are visiting...if nothing else it shows respect for their culture, regardless of how well or how badly you speak it...I always appreciate it when my foreign customers make an attempt at communicating with me in my native language while in my country....but not to worry boys and girls...within 10 -15 years French will probably be the second language spoken there..and than no one will have to worry anymore
 
Re: Newbie Info du Jour : Make a first good impres

its just polite to at least learn the basic language of a country you are visiting...if nothing else it shows respect for their culture

Sort of like wearing long pants for dinner and respecting the culture?
 
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