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Jan 17

Living and Working in France: How Cultural Awareness Training Helps Bring the French Dream to Life

The last decade has seen an increasingly large number of UK residents crossing the English Channel to start a new life living and working in France where there are a plethora of attractive leisure and business opportunities. Finding a former farm or a typical Southern French house is actually fairly easy, but most expatriates forget that living the “French dream” is completely different than going on holiday in France.

Living and working in France requires a high level of cultural awareness and language skills to successfully cope with the potential culture shock they may experience as a result of the many cross cultural and linguistic challenges awaiting them. Without the right cultural awareness, many expatriates living in France risk seeing their dream turn into a nightmare.

Eiffel Tower SOMATUSCANI i Living and Working in France: How Cultural Awareness Training Helps Bring the French Dream to Life

Such was the case of expatriates Robert and Joanne Hall who tried to live the “French Dream” in Brittany and recently made news headlines all over the world. After ten years of living in an old French farmhouse in the countryside and trying to make their French dream come to life, their expatriation ended in the most tragic way when Joanne was found dead. Questioned by the French police, Robert Hall explained he had a drunken argument with Joanne during which she accidently fell and hit her head. According to people who knew the Hall family, they were “lost” and suffered a lot as a result of many failed attempts to make their expatriation and dreams work.

Most expatriations don’t end as badly as in the case of Robert and Joanne Hall, but many statistics show that couples will often divorce or have problems when living and working abroad. This phenomenon is largely due to the difficulties expatriates can have adapting to the new cultural environment and coping with the effects of culture shock. If culture shock and cultural differences are not effectively managed, expatriates living and working in France can suffer severe financial, health or relationship problems that can end in divorce or worse scenarios.

Many couples who move to France to start a new life find themselves spending more time than they ever have with their partner as they work on a project such as renovating the house together and they soon realise that do not like each other. Others who go to France may become distanced because one partner spends all their time at work while the other is left at home to manage the kids or household.

Cultural understanding and French language skills can help expatriates deal with challenges such as this as it can help them to meet people and bridge the gap between French and British culture. This can in turn give them some place to go for support or the opportunity to create some distance from their partner once in a while, allowing them to feel less isolated and more connected with their new life in France.

Understanding French cultural values, attitudes, communication styles and the language can be enormously helpful for any expatriates living and working in France. Being able to understand and communicate with local government officials, builders, shopkeepers and neighbours can help streamline any dream project and prevent delays, problems or frustrations which can further add to the challenges of adapting to a new cultural environment. Being able to speak the French language and show an appreciation for French culture can also help expatriates to build relationships and create a positive impression of what they are trying to do in France.

Living and working in France can be an amazing experience for British expatriates, but the real French dream will only truly be achieved with the right cultural and linguistic skills that will help them to anticipate and cope with the cross cultural differences they may encounter along the journey. Taking French language training or a cultural awareness training course such as Living and Working in France is the first step towards making any French dream come to life.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

Tagged with: adapting to another culture • challenges of expatriation • challenges of living in France • cross-cultural awareness • culture courses • expat dream turned sour • French cultural awareness • French culture • Living and Working in France • Robert and Joanna Hall • the French Dream

Nov 10

France and the UK Sign Historic Military Cooperation Agreement – Time for Some Cultural Awareness Training?

Cross Cultural Training, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

A new chapter has been written in the long history between France and the UK. The British Prime Minister David Cameron, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President recently signed a treaty of military co-operation. This historical treaty, signed in these new austere times, will see, amongst other things, the creation of a joint expeditionary force and coordination in the area of nuclear warhead testing and development.

Military Salute Arthur Carlo Franco i2 France and the UK Sign Historic Military Cooperation Agreement – Time for Some Cultural Awareness Training?

While this treaty has caused debate and raised eyebrows on both sides of the English Channel, it is far from a surprising move. In fact, a co-operation treaty was already under discussion between Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac several years ago, but disagreements over Iraq war brought the whole project to an abrupt end. But now the treaty has been signed and a force of thousands of British and French soldiers and their superiors are now tasked with getting on with it. But is it that simple? Experience in both the corporate and public sector has shown that any culture looking to work closely with another will benefit from receiving cultural awareness training.

Let’s look at the history of Anglo-French military cooperation more closely. Since 1904, and the proclamation of the “Entente Cordiale”, both countries’ armies have been co-operating on a regular basis. The most famous occasions were of course, the two World Wars, the Suez crisis, and more recently the involvement in the Gulf war, Kosovo and Afghanistan. However, despite this long period of friendship and military cooperation, one wonders if this unprecedented treaty will resist the wide cultural differences that separate these two great nations and military powers with a long tradition of independence.

As in any international co-operation project, cross cultural challenges and issues need to be clearly assessed and analysed by members of both armies to enable successful and effective interactions. Obvious differences such as language or organisation within the chain-of-command are only the start. Deep disparities exist between the UK and French cultures in areas such as communication styles or attitudes to time. While some may argue that being part of the military family would erase or smooth over these differences, it is a fact that culture shapes the way we act, regardless of our profession.

Resolving cultural differences between soldiers is also important. As we know, developing an esprit de corps is vital to ensure the effectiveness of an entire unit. Helping the members of the joint military force to socialise quickly and effectively will enhance their performance on the field. The same goes for the multicultural team responsible for the development and maintenance of the nuclear arsenal. They need to be able to communicate clearly to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings that would hinder their work.

To ensure success, both armies’ personnel will have to learn more about their own culture, how it is perceived and interpreted by their new military partner and how their counterparts think. Providing both British and French squaddies as well as their military leaders with cultural awareness training must be the way forward. The benefits are huge and the potential for failure significant. Cross cultural training programmeswill provide both sides with the cultural insights and knowledge they need to work and co-operate effectively helping both nations to meet their strategic needs and ensuring that miscommunication or lack of understanding does not cost lives.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010