why do people dislike French people

[Melissa_dwl]

im wondering why many people think french people r arrogant and not considerate. people in usa and some countries in europe like uk and holland think that way particularly. any history problems?

[geofbob]

I agree, Melissa, that many British people are prejudiced against the French, and some of this may date back to our many past wars against France. Personally, I have been going to France on holiday for many, many years, and I find the French people like every other nationality - some people are nice and considerate; some are rude and arrogant (and sometimes the same person is pleasant one day, but not the next!). On the other hand, the French don't always think too highly of the British, n'est ce pas?

[Will__]

I'd agree with geofbob. However, I have travelled in France quite a lot as well, and while I have found friendliness in most places, Paris continues to amaze me. It's almost as if they train people in schools to be rude and arrogant. However, that's just Paris. Everywhere else seems to be like the UK - depends on the person. But as a rule, if you speak to a Parisian in English, they'll reply in French and vice versa. Don't know why. They are particularly rude to Americans. Not sure why.

[stoogmeister]

It's probably connected to politics like most conflicts.

[stoogmeister]

My dad has worked on oilrigs with frenchmen before and he's told me that they would only speak to him in English when necessary i.e when it was work related. My dad can't speak French at all (except for the odd word I suppose) but they obviously resented that and were too arrogant to speak English out of politeness. Many Britons are too arrogant to bother learning a foreign language because they expect everyone else to learn English even if they have never been to an English speaking country. However, if my dad had to learn every language from every country he's worked in or of every person he's worked with, he'd never get any work done, so those frenchmen could've been a bit more friendly. If they couldn't speak English it would be okay for them to only speak French, my dad would've accepted that, but they were just doing it out of spite. Having said that, I think my dad isn't willing to learn any foreign languages despite considering moving to a foreign country when he retires. He thinks it's not necessary because most of the natives will be able to speak English anyway. That is also being arrogant.
OK, I've finished my long, boring reply now lol