International Focus Magazine Vol. 2, #4 | Page 45

coq au vin, beef bourguignon, chocolate souffle, nicoise salad, ratatouille, tarte tatin, soupe à l’oignon (French onion soup), quiche, and the many delicate pastries found in French pastry shops. Are you getting hungry? 10. Music: French and Cajun music can be soothing, romantic, sexy, jazzy, classical, and more. For samples, visit https://frenchcra- zy.com/2014/04/popular-100- french-songs.html/ where you can find a wide variety. “La Vie en rose,” a famous roman- tic song made popular French singer Édith Piaf, can be heard on https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KTqf_FXZygM. 11. Perfumes: The French are known for their enchanting, charming, memorable fra- grances for many occasions. Some popular perfumes in- clude Chanel No 5, Christian Dior J’Adore, Guerlain Shali- mar, Givenchy Very Irrésist- ible, Yves Saint Laurent Parisi- enne, Cacharel Amor Amor, Yves Saint Laurent Opium, and Lancôme Trésor. As you can see, these names are definitely French. 12. Fashion: Through the leader- ship of Louis XIV, France gave birth to haute couture, a term that according to Wikipedia is prote cted by law in France and is defined by the Paris Chamber of commerce. During his reign, France became the dominant political and economic power in Europe. Now, France has emerged as the fashion capi- tal of the world and we see the French influence of in both men’s and women’s fashions in the American culture. 13. Business Etiquette: Al- though the American business culture typically calls for busi- ness casual attire and focus on a Curie made major contri- butions to our understand- ing of radioactivity that has many applications such as for radiation therapy. b. Louis Braille contribut- ed the “Braille” system to help blind people read. c. René Cassin won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution of the United Nations Uni- versal Declaration of Human Rights. As you can see, the French have made major contributions to international culture, language, cuisine, lifestyle, and business throughout the United States and world. fast-paced busy tempo, it is im- portant to be aware of French/ American cultural differences in business – especially when do- ing business with French com- panies in the US. The French protocol is based on dressing up, an unhurried flexible “lunch hour,“ using terms of endear- ment in conversation, and tak- ing time to get to know associ- ates to build trust. The general etiquette is more formal than much of the American business culture. 14. Famous contributions from the French: Although many, below are a few of the well-recognized French and their contributions to our life- style and culture today: a. Marie Curie and Pierre The Rothschild Corporation is ex- perienced in project and change management, facilitating meetings, team building workshops, consulting and soft skills training to help organi- zations maximize teamwork and ef- fective communications. They listen to your needs to focus the outcomes on your target goals. Susanne Rothschild The Rothschild Corporation, Consulting, Leadership Skills Training and Project Management (see ad previous page) iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net 39 45