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Most Infuriating Myth about your Country? | ||
Tags: Stereotypes | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
| ilcommunication Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6692 days ago 115 posts - 162 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 169 of 177 15 August 2009 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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New Jersey (aka Dirty Jerz, aka the New Jerusalem) has quite a reputation in the US, so I'd like to add to the previous post:
NJ is known for "guidos", Italian-esque macho-dudes who work out all day, wear "wife-beaters" with gold chains and slick back their hair; Jersey Girls, on the other hand, are supposedly obsessed with tanning. There are definitely guidos and Jersey Girls (especially on the shore), but they're a minority of course. People from New Jersey are thought to be loud and fond of vulgarity. In my opinion, I suspect that it's partially because we're surrounded by New York City and Philadelphia (not the most polite of populations), which makes attitude something of a necessity. In addition to the mob, New Jersey has tons of government corruption. The recent scandals that saw a handful of rabbis arrested for some graft scheme confirmed this one to an extent (to say nothing of our last governor). A lot of these posts are pretty funny...maybe I'm crazy, but I think sharing stereotypes helps us better understand each other somehow.
Not to throw gasoline on a potential fire, but FARC really shouldn't be classified as a terrorist organization as they meet the general definition of an army: they wear a distinctive uniform, they carry their weapons openly and they adhere to a functional chain of command. Due to this, FARC combatants are entitled to be treated as POW's (not criminals), etc. according to most international agreements. And on FARC's supposed brutality, the fact is that the whole conflict is brutal, and only blaming FARC is one-sided when you look at the crimes of the Uribe regime. If I recall correctly, more trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia than any other country on earth, and FARC is definitely not the group killing them. Edited by ilcommunication on 15 August 2009 at 6:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| densou Senior Member Italy foto.webalice.it/denRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6132 days ago 120 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Italian* | Message 170 of 177 15 August 2009 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
Just addressing someone as (full native) Italian, the offence should contain all that (I'm not saying it on purpose, it's the mere truth). I'm sorry for NJ, lad :( Edited by densou on 15 August 2009 at 6:32pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| MegatronFilm Triglot Senior Member United States peligrosa.tumblr.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5938 days ago 130 posts - 275 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 171 of 177 16 August 2009 at 8:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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It's probably already been said before for US, but I hate the myth that where all really stupid and we only speak
english. Sure, there are some really stupid people in the US and our educational system is not the best, but we're all not stupid and some of us US natives have learned other languages. I've spoken to people in other countries that don't believe me when I tell them I'm american. They think I'm from somewhere else because I try to speak their language and I have some worldly knowledge. Its really insulting to assume that everyone has a low IQ and is monolingual. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 172 of 177 16 August 2009 at 6:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I can see how that's irritating for you. Although the myth has some basis in reality it surely isn't true for everybody. Some of the best secondary schools and universities are in America. I have no trouble at all believing that you are a talented polyglot and an intellectual person.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| pmiller Account terminated Groupie Canada Joined 5674 days ago 99 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* | Message 173 of 177 17 August 2009 at 9:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
I got the geography down, I just can't tell the difference between you people - you all look and sound the same to me (except those who speak something close to RP, which is actually intelligible.) And for the life of me I don't know why there is still so much hatred over ancient ethnic/religious conflicts when you guys are so very alike each other anyway. And does anyone actually believe any of that religious/nationalist stuff anymore?
Yeah, this is very cool indeed! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| pmiller Account terminated Groupie Canada Joined 5674 days ago 99 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* | Message 174 of 177 17 August 2009 at 9:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm against censorship and would like to see your offensive commie map.
Aren't Swedes known as 'blockheads'? Why is that? EDIT: No multiple posts please. Edited by patuco on 17 August 2009 at 11:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 175 of 177 17 August 2009 at 10:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think the whole myth about Americans being ignorant (which is really not that prevalent - honestly it's just not) is really as simple as this:
1) There are ignorant people EVERYWHERE. 2) There are a LOT of Americans (300 ish million of y'all vs 4.5 million of us), so if X % of any given population could be called ignorant in the way people sometimes think Americans are, there will be more such people than in a smaller population. Likewise in a larger population than that of the US there would be more. 3) Americans speak English (and travel) so these people can be identified by foreigners who also speak English. Not the case for ignorant people in other countries, who might be able to get away with it more because of communication issues. I have yet to meet one of these ignorant Americans, each and every American I know is a decent and discerning person... Liz 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| pmiller Account terminated Groupie Canada Joined 5674 days ago 99 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* | Message 176 of 177 17 August 2009 at 11:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you Lizzern - you are very kind to Americans. But I think there's another explanation for this stereotype: jealousy and rage.
The simple if maddening fact is that America is big, it's rich, it's powerful and it's important. Much of this seems to be changing very rapidly, but it's been true for the last 80 years or so, and it's still true even now. And this simple fact just pisses a lot of people off, because THEY want to be the center of the world. Europe was until very recently. Before that China was. Before that, India and the Middle East. All these people believe they should still be number one, but they're not, and it causes jealousy and rage. So what do they do? Well, they call names. They claim intellectual superiority: "You may have some money and power now, but you're stupid!" OK. Whatever. I'm sure your people are all geniuses. Another defensive mechanism is to claim moral superiority: "You're bigger and stronger, but I'm RIGHT and you're WRONG". OK. Again, whatever. Your people are all saints. You can see both of these mechanisms at work in Korean culture. Korea is a relatively small country wedged between 4 massive ones: China, Japan, Russia and the US. They'll never be completely in control of their own destiny. They'll never have the numbers, much less the power. So they turn to education like nobody else - South Korea has the highest per capita number of PhDs in the world. And they turn to "morality". Back in the old China-centric world, it was Confucianism, which the Koreans took to extremes unknown anywhere else. Today it is Christinsanity. You haven't met a Christian until you've met a Korean Christian. They make American Baptists look liberal. Western Europeans and Latin Americans, on the other hand, turned to Communism, or Marxism if you prefer, to feel morally superior to richer, more powerful America. It's interesting that people who actually live under Marxist regimes come to very different conclusions about America. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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