”Vous” or ”tu” in France?
February 2010
When studying in France many years ago, the international students were invited by French families for a day or a weekend to meet each other and get an idea of what French family life is all about.
Sitting in the back seat of the car with the parents in the front we started talking on our way to their residence. They used the informal French tu (you) to me so I concluded that I should do the same to them: say tu instead of the formal vous. A stir in the car arose and I understood that I had done something completely wrong. Nobody told me exactly what until a couple of years later when I was back in France and made the same mistake with the mother of a French friend. The mother said tu to me so I said tu to her. Only when my friend took me aside and whispered that time had come for a courtesy course did I realize that my logic didn’t work. An older and respected person should always be met with a vous unless they invite for the opposite themselves. I’m still grateful to my friend for her guidance and will never forget French courtesy.
"Around 40-45 % of all relocations to Denmark include moving the family. However, over half of these relocated employees do not stay for the full duration of their contract because the family has difficulties settling in Denmark. For companies, this means extra expense in recruiting and training a new specialist employee, as well as the risk of the project stopping while this takes place."