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

[China Doll]

Very wrong and nasty mental imagery there m'dear.

[dfward]

i have been to the west coast of america and i really like the people but i think their geogrraphy is a bit lacking............. surely everyone knows the capitals.... london.. new york...toronto.... zurich..... sydney.... HA HA HA HA

[China Doll]

To be honest my geography is dreadful so I really wouldn't like to pass judgement on others. I'm not entirely sure I could point out Norwrich on a map of England.

[amsterdammer]

The British are not so clever.Watch the Weakest Link sometime! There are people who think that Cornwall is in the East & Norfolk in the West of England! Americans are no more ignorant than other nationalities!

[amsterdammer]

PS. You also spelt Wembley-- Tongue-- & appalling incorrectly!!

[China Doll]

Wouldn't suprise me....I'm a dreadfull speller.

Would you like to join a football team?

[andy-hughes]

Because we embrace a large amount of American culture, we subliminally imagine that we 'know' Americans, and they 'know' us. So, a few basics -

Eighty per cent of Americans don;t possess a passport, and massive numbers will live and die without even visitng the neighbouring state, so we shouldn;t be too hard on them for not knowing what we assume to be basic facts.

OK - let's turn it round - how old are you if you are in ninth grade? I consider myself an educated person, and I have no idea - do you?

Add to that the fact that a lot of American sportsmen get scholarships to college because of their athletic ability, not their academic skills - a wonderful fotball player may not read at all, or think about the world around him, or even be interested. The same can apply here - line up the Man Utd. team and give them a basiv facts test - see how well they perform!

Oh, and for the record, yesterday, when I tolm my eighteen-year-old daughter that I was wending my way through lancashire because I had been diverted off the MY after an accident, she asked me where Lancashire is!

Let's not be too quick to judge others shall we?

[bimbo123456]

That's tongue dfward, not tougue. Plus, appalling has two lls in it. Personally, I have no idea where Washington is!!! and consider myself to be fairly well educated. Let's face it there are thick people in every nation if everyone was clever imagine how dull life would be. No Becks, Jordan and Peter Kerry Katona etc.

[WoWo]

"The British are not so clever.Watch the Weakest Link sometime! There are people who think that Cornwall is in the East & Norfolk in the West of England! Americans are no more ignorant than other nationalities!"

With respect, having just spent two weeks in Barbados which showed the American Version of the Weakest Link I can confirm whatever view of the English people on it is, they are about 100 times more knowledgeable than the Americans.

[amsterdammer]

China doll, I would not pick you up on your spelling- Ive become used to it! Put me down for ultra right winger, Its my favourite position!

[stewey]

Once, at the viewing platform of ther CN Tower in Toronto which overlooks Lake Ontario (quite a large lake). I overheard a British women ask the guide "Is that the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean?"

[trakcab]

reference :-
oh yeah, I know all about Scotland and the Scotch people, I've seen Braveheart"!!
it's not only Americans think Braveheart is a history lesson some Scots do.

[brionon]

WoWo -I think they choose the Weakest Link contestants from the dumbest applicants,though. Don't you ?

[VillageVicar]

well, the mind does boggle at times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlGnaHWVLDA


I once was chatting with a friend as we rode in a lift in Atlanta and a woman turned to me and said 'Y'all have such luvely voices, how long did it take y'all to lurn tah speak English?'

I smiled politely and explained that it was now part of our national curriculum to teach English to all children. But I don't think she understood what I said.

Bless her socks!

Fr Bill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?vkLXRVvA6T9k

Meeting Americans

[buildersmate]

My best story on a similar vein.
Small town in central California, enter the local Diner to be greeting by the waitress with "Where are you guys from". We say "United Kingdom" (we don't say England anymore as it is assumed you are from New England). "Hey - you on vacation - how long you been here" "Three weeks". "Gee, you've picked up the language real quickly".
I rest my case.

[Aprillove]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtXCs0Wqs9Q

Enough said!

[spudqueen]

Appalling - but are Brits any better - look at Jade Goody.

I too could pick Wisconsin out of a map of the US and tell you its state capital (Madison), but then, for fun, I play the geography games on this site http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

I think it's because I don't want to be like my Mum, who thought that New York was the capital of the US and when I once mentioned the ice age in passing (no, I can't remember what I was talking about!) she said 'what ice age'? So I explained that thousands of years ago Europe was covered in ice, which was a mile thick, as far south as London, and she thought I was joking.