In many beginning Japanese classes, 来る【くる】 and 行く【いく】 are presented as "to come" and "to go," respectively. Dictionaries generally also define them this way. However, every once in a while in more advanced classes, teachers will mention that this is not actually the case; these words are used differently in Japanese than their English (pseudo-)counterparts.
I cannot for the life of me remember the proper way to understand the differentiation between these verbs, past "come" and "go," a fact which is most embarassing.
Can someone please explain how these words are different than the English "come" and "go" in their usage?
Related question: Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Answer
As usual, I'll go for examples which should come in handy. Check the emphasized words. (The translations are not natural, but it's not the point here.)
Sample 1
Won't you come visit me in France?
フランスに来ませんか？待っていますよ！Yes, I will go to France. We will go see the Arc de Triomphe.
はい、フランスに行きますよ。一緒に凱旋門を見に行きましょう。Great. Mark came last summer already.
良かった。去年の夏はマークさんが来たよ。
Sample 2
Will you come/go to John's party tonight?
今晩、ジョンさんのパーティに行きますか？No, I won't go to John's.
いいえ、行きません。Paul is not coming/going either.
ポールさんも行きません。
Sample 3
Come here!
来てください!Yes sir! I'm coming right away.
はい、すぐ行きます。
Summary
Tarou is at place A, Jun is at place B. Tarou calls motions towards A as "来る". Tarou calls motions away from A as "行く". Tarou calls motions towards Jun as "行く".
行く/来る is from-here/to-here relatively to the person who uses the verb now. (I suddenly have a doubt for a situation like "will you visit me at my new home when I moved to France". I think "来る" would still be good, because it's still about the narrator being reached.)
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