Transcript

At your place, it's more like one, two, three, four.

Have you ever heard French people say "chez nous, c'est trois"?

They are of course talking about kisses. The kiss is the kiss you give when you say hello to someone, when you greet someone. When you turn your cheek.

I don't know how it is in your country, but in France, depending on the region, sometimes even the city, we can say hello with a kiss, two kisses, three kisses and sometimes even four kisses.

Today, I propose you a video a little more cultural. Many of you have asked me for videos where you can learn more about French culture, about daily life in France.

First of all, don't forget to support my channel by "liking" this video and subscribing, if you haven't already done so.

Saying hello or goodbye in France is a real ritual.

This custom can sometimes make foreigners laugh, especially Anglo-Saxons. I understand that they find, or that you find, if you are Anglo-Saxon, this custom a little strange.

The first question we can ask ourselves is: why? Why does the number of kisses to greet each other change depending on the region, the city?

Well, I don't have the answer and I don't think anyone knows. It's still a mystery why there are such differences in places that are so close.

These are just habits that seem to have taken hold. You also have to know that this is not something that is easy, even when you are French.

It's not exactly clear in your mind how many kisses you should give each other in different regions. Another question to ask is which side to start with?

In some areas, we start saying hello from the right like this and in others we start from the left, so in the opposite direction. And that can also bring confusion.

First of all, we are not sure how many kisses to do and then we are not sure either which side to start with.

For example, in Paris or in Brittany, we always start with the right, whereas in the south of France, we start with the left. And that can create some awkward situations.

If I usually start on the right and the other person on the left, we can end up facing each other and it can be very awkward for you, for example, if you are in a couple with a French woman and you want to say hello to your mother-in-law, it can be very awkward.

You may find yourself mouth to mouth. As I said, even the French don't know exactly how many kisses to give, where to give them. For example, in Montpellier, it will be three kisses. In some parts of Normandy, it will be four.

In Paris, it's usually two. It's so complicated that there's even a website that's been launched called combiendebises.com where you can find a map of France with the number of kisses that are given according to the different departments.

You can also complete this map according to the department in which you live. I will show you this site. I will put it in the description. We can read that this map will help us during our travels in France to find our way between the number of kisses.

And also to know whether to start saying hello from the right or from the left. There are regions, it is really clear-cut. For example, in the Drôme, it is where there is the city of Valence, I do not know if you know it.

We're at 91 % of people who say they do three kisses. Here, it's pretty clear, it's pretty simple.

We can see that in some departments, it is a little shared. You see in the Lot we are at 57 % two kisses and 33 % three kisses. Sometimes even in certain cities which are very close, for example in Nîmes we will do three kisses whereas in Marseille which is really not far, it is the department just next door we will do two.

If you're not sure, make it two, because that's usually the number that stands out the most.

On the other hand, if you go to Belgium, in the neighboring country, it will always be a single kiss.

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed this more cultural video and that it also allowed you to practice your listening comprehension.

If you liked it, of course, put a like and subscribe.

See you soon.