FRENCH Culture Help

[Midnight Storm]

Thanks! Is that pronounced 'yous'?

~Midnight Storm

[luinrina]

In Germany, the sound is ˈɔʏʁo and the slang ˈɔʏs. Eus sounds like "Oi!" with an s.

The French pronounce Euro øˈʁo, other countries differently again. Whether they have slang terms for Euro, I don't know.

[Karaley Dargen]

I think it really depends on the people you're writing about, and exactly what country they live in. The slang might be very different depending on that.

I for one have never used anything other than "Euro" when I meant €... and I've never heard anyone say anything else either. And I'm very sure that the "Eus" doesn't apply anywhere outside certain parts of Germany (and like I said, I've never even heard it before!) because I doubt a lot of other languages have the sound you need to pronounce it.

If there's no one from France on here, you might get much better results by googling "France slang euro". It'll take you five minutes to find what you need. From what I gather, it's possible that the slang that applied eleven years ago (WHAT time flies!) to Francs and Centimes still applies to the Euro now.

[Lovemagic]

My teacher says that in France people go on strike more frequently than in the U.S. such as the Transportation department or perhaps Retail, if I remember correctly, usually for higher pay. If this is true, how large do these strikes get? Or if it's not...I just want to keep my facts right.

Hayden

[Northumbrian]

Hi
There is no easy answer to that question. French Unions are strong (stronger than those in the UK, which in turn, from what I understand are stronger than those in the USA.
The French are more likely to take to the streets in protest and there were national strikes and protests late last year when the French (again, like us) were facing major pension reforms, so it is not always higher pay. At the time transport workers, Air Traffic Contollers and Civil Servants were on strike, and protesters were blockading refineries (leading to fuel shortages to).
-N-

[AidaLuthien]

It is an American and British stereotype that the French go on strike at the drop of the hat. But certainly French workers have stronger unions than both American and British workers and they are significantly more likely to go on strike these days.

As Northumbrian points out, it's not always higher pay. In fact, most European countries have been trying to reform pensions and workers' rights - such as making it easier for management to fire people. In France, once you have a job it is almost impossible to be fired. Obviously, this doesn't necessarily lead to people working very hard once they have a job, since they don't fear being fired, which slows down overall productivity and the economy. So in this economic downturn, the government is trying to take away rights like those.

This is also why French strikes tend to be larger. It's not about higher pay for one industry, as much as the rights of workers overall.

[crazy717]

Hi =)

I was just wondering if Beauxbatons is likely to have a head boy and girl and prefects or is that a very British thing? If not, would they have some other form of student leadership or are they all equal?

~Abi~