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>>>Thank you for clarifying this. I thought (mistakenly) that in french as in Russian there is the same word for "please" and "you are welcome".
>>
>>Like the German "bitte" and, I think, the Dutch "uistubleift" (sp?)
>
>When I was stationed in Germany I would say "Thank you" and they would respond "Please." It took a little while to get used to, but I've talked about several times to describe the way people learn foreign languages.

In French "s'il vous plait", and German "bitte" is used both when you ask for something and when you give something, as opposed to English "please" and "there you are"

That is why you will find many people learning English saying "please" when they give you something