Although there were some similarities between my first two interviews, the overall experience and response were different. In my first interview, I began by explaining the project. Because the interviewee was curious as to why I decided to study French, I did a little explanation. From there, we naturally progressed into an informal conversation of our experiences abroad and our opinions on various topics. As a result, she ended up answering a lot of the questions just through conversation. The questions that weren’t answered, I asked directly. This was a method I wanted to try because it allows for more personal responses. The questions would merely serve as a guide. Overall, I felt this was very successful for my project and enriching for personal reasons.

My second interview was a lot more structured. I also began by explaining the project, but then we went straight into direct Q&A. This might be due to the much shorter amount of time I had for this interview, with other possible factors. I received direct and straightforward answers, which is very useful for collecting information. I still felt that the answers were personal because the questions call for personal answers in general. But one noticeable difference is the lack of themes popping up during the interview. In my first interview, the interviewee mentioned more ideas as she saw them related to herself and society. My second interviewee focused more on specific details.

Both interviews were successful. These experiences also helped me refine my questions. Even the questions that were not answered proved to be very useful in showing common French attitudes in comparison to American attitudes. One specific example is when I asked: what do you like or dislike the most about NYC? Both of my interviewees remarked that they don’t typically compare, either intentionally or because that’s how French culture has raised them. The first interviewee even pointed out that she noticed it’s a cultural difference. Americans like to compare and use superlatives whereas it’s not common in France at all. However, one difficult part of the aspect is getting personal anecdotes and locations. It is difficult to come up with exact moments and places on the spot. Therefore, I am still keeping in contact with the interviewees through email.

Some interesting themes, which were brought up in my interviews, that I would like to explore are:

• the idea of “otherness”
• differences in friendship and making friends
• lack of tendency to compare in French culture