is it possible

[dfward]

i read that a Miami Dolphins player who is due to play at Wembly on sunday did not know that english was the native tougue in London or that London was in England. What an appaling reflection on U.S.A...... IS IT BECOMING 3RD WORLD IN EDUCATION..... at least we know where New York and Washington are

[4GS]

I was just about to post the same question

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1 290248,00.html

[pinkkitty]

when i was in Amsterdam i met a nice Canadian Couple who had no idea that Wales and Scotland were separate countries. And that Great Britain was part of Europe. When i told them it was, the woman of the couple asked which State Britain was in. I had to explain to her that We're a nation of 4 countries, and we don't have States here. duh.

[4GS]

They don't have States in Canada either, they have Provinces

duh!!

[Louisa 69]

There was something similar to this posted a few weeks back about americans being stoopid. I was surprised that alot of them didn't know their geography.... Makes you wonder when George Bush gave the order to invade Iraq,... if they got the right country :))))

[pinkkitty]

i didn't say that Canada had states. I said that a canadian person didn't know Europe was made up of separate countries, not states. actually.

[rabbitygirl]

A few years ago I spoke to a customer in the US who asked me about the fog. I asked what fog. She wanted me to confirm that we Brits are constantly feeling our way thru thick fog. I assured her that was a long time ago and laughingly asked if she thought city gents still wore Bowler hats too.
She said yes and was genuinely surprised when I corrected her. I assume she had been watching a lot of films made here in the 50s and 60s.

[jno]

well, if you watch a rugby league match you'll think Great Britain is a single country; if you watch rugby union you'll think it's three (or maybe four if you watch a Lions match). The boundaries between what's Scottish, say, and what's English are changing all the time; nor is Scotland run on exactly the same basis as Wales. So don't blame foreigners who can't quite figure it out. As for English being the native tongue, try travelling on the tube and see if you hear any.

After all, if they showed you a US map with just the state boundaries drawn in, how many could pick which one is Wisconsin?

[delboy3]

Re: the article:-

"He's black, so I'm sure he's not from London".

In for another surprise, this guy.

[Gromit]

It is probably not a good idea judging all Americans on the education failings of one of its sports stars.

It would be like the rest of the world thinking we were all like Wayne Rooneys. A very talented athlete, but he might struggle with the Times crossword.

[annavc]

I studied at an American university for a year. I was twice complemented on my good grasp of the English language. Once when in conversation with a number of people including a couple of other Brits and a few Americans, one girl, after looking puzzled for a while said "so do you guys speak English in England then?" - I replied "no we speak Swahili" to which she looked even more puzzled. And these were supposedly intelligent university students.

While backpacking round on Greyhound buses (with the dregs of society) a young women with 4 small children asked where I was from - I said Great Britain, she asked if the bus went there. When I explained that it was on the other side of the ocean she asked what an ocean was and then pointed at a river we were driving past and asked if that was an ocean.

While on holiday in Poland a few years ago we visited Auschvitch (sp?). There were a number of American tourists there at the same time and when the guide explained that people were kept in different huts - e.g. Jews, Gypsies, Poles etc. She asked where the Italian huts were. When told they were on the same side as the Nazis she protested that no way her ancestors would have been on the side of the Nazis and said the guide was talking rubbish before storming off!

Just a few of many examples I have showing the failings in US education. Having said that there are a great deal of extremely intelligent Americans as well and some of their universities are among the best in the world.

Having originally come from Scotland, sometimes when asked where I was from I would say Scotland which was almost invariably met with a comment such as "oh yeah, I know all about Scotland and the Scotch people, I've seen Braveheart"!!

You've got to love em really!

[China Doll]

I struggle with The Times crossword sm@rt @rse!

[sp1814]

True story - me and couple of mates went on a three week fly-drive around the West Coast.

Now, this was about three weeks after the death of Princess Diana, and on the second day we met some girls on the beach and got chatting to a group of girls.

One of them, upon hearing our accents said, "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear the news that your Queen has died".

All around, our jaws dropped into the sand. "What??? The Queen has died???"

"Yeah...you must've know about it surely? Queen Diana was such a lovely person..."

I think it was at this point, my mate Chris came up with the phrase 'as dumb as a box of hair'.

[sp1814]

Sorry - I should've said 'West Coast of America'!

[4GS]

pinkkitty
sorry, that came out wrong, I meant that if Canada has Provinces then Canadians of all people would know that not every country has States

[flip_flop]

jno - I could tell which state was Wisconsin.

Mind you, that may just because when I was growing up my father use to have a parlour game whereby me and my siblings had to name all the states, state capitals and recognise them on a map of the US.

[Gromit]

China Doll

I should have said He might struggle colouring in the Times crossword.

Satisfied?

[China Doll]

Much better.

Thank you for your compliance. You should do that more often.

[Gromit]

Yes mistress,

sorry mistress.

[flip_flop]

North Dakota's state capital was my favourite.

We were a simple, easily amused family!