One interesting comment I heard in a few of my interviews was the idea that comparing things is very “American.” This was not the subject of any of my interview questions, but a remark on the phrasing of my questions.
I asked, “What is your favorite thing about NYC?” “What were some of your biggest cultural shocks?” “How would you compare NYC to Paris?”
The response I often received in return was: “I never really think to compare. It’s very American to think of things in terms of superlatives or comparisons.” Apparently, it is not as common to instinctively compare things as Americans typically do. I was surprised upon hearing this because it is not something I really noticed. But after hearing this comment the first time, I began to realize that I did, in fact, encounter having difficulty getting an answer while asking a superlative question to French people I met while I was studying in the country.
One interviewee noted that when she looked on English Wikipedia pages, she noticed that in the introductory blurb, there was usually a line describing how the person or thing was/is the best at/of something.
This cultural difference was one not obvious to me at all, but which I found intriguing. Why do Americans like to emphasize superlatives/comparatives whereas the French do not?
