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Dealing with Racism | ||
Tags: Cultural Identity | Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5422 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 9 of 14 14 April 2010 at 8:44am | IP Logged | ||
I could see this kind of stuff happening here in America too... Or just laugh in his face and tell him how stupid he is or something. Edited by Johntm on 14 April 2010 at 8:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Skantz Newbie UkraineRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5342 days ago 5 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian | Message 10 of 14 14 April 2010 at 11:19am | IP Logged | ||
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I occasionally experienced some anti-American jeers and heckling when I was in Germany - mostly from drunk teenagers - but in general my experience was very positive. Most people were interested in speaking to me and impressed that I was trying to learn German, (and I got a couple of free drinks out of it, too).
In Ukraine, it's been overwhelmingly positive, I'd say. My terrible Russian, or rather the fact that I speak Russian badly, has made me a lot of friends. Americans and Westerners in general are still a novelty here, maybe? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5481 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 11 of 14 14 April 2010 at 3:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Sort of... but my experience with Eastern Europeans is that they're all just really amazed that you'd bother even learning a few words in their native language and always want to teach you more. They always just seem so full of life. Granted this is a sweeping generalization but I've found this with most any I've met. Case in point, I know a guy from Belarus that I work with, and randomly one day I just felt like saying privyet, which could've been a bad/good decision because he spent the next 30 minutes trying to teach me more. (I was at work so... yeah...) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5556 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 13 of 14 14 April 2010 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | ||
I guess race and racism can mean different things to different people. Taking these definitions from a dictionary, I use the word "race" here in the sense of: "a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc". And I use the term "racism" in this thread to signify: "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief". Whether you like to call this "prejudice", "bigotry" or "racism", it's up to you, they're just words really. The important issue is that it's just not acceptable in the 21st century, we know so much better than this, and we're right to condemn and decry this type of behaviour from the very rooftops whenever people are hurt and damaged in this way in society. I always try to stick up for people and give support where I can to combat this (I wish I could do more sometimes), and I admire those who have the strength and sense to change and challenge this type of prejudice, and help make communities a safer and happier place to co-exist. We have so much we can learn from each other, so very much, and bringing communities closer together and making the effort to get in touch with the myriad of cultures within our own society can only bring about harmony and better understanding for all. The main point of my post was not to argue the definition of "racism", but simply to put up a thread where other people who have experienced similar attacks or difficulties can find some comfort and know they're not alone, and to assert once again that there are lots of lovely people all around us, and just because a few bad eggs try to make life miserable for us (for whatever personal reasons), this does not reflect in any way upon the country or the large majority of the rest of these good people. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all the members here who have offered kind words of support and advice. You're all brilliant, and I really appreciate this. Edited by Teango on 14 April 2010 at 6:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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