How the French Argue Well

Today's Tip

In France, a lively disagreement over dinner is not conflict. It is sport. The French education system trains students in rhetoric and debate from age 12. Disagreeing respectfully is a social skill, not a social problem.

Try This

At your next dinner conversation, take a position and defend it. Not aggressively, but with conviction. Ask others what they think. In France, "I disagree" is an invitation to a better conversation, not a declaration of war.

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