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#71
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Following up to chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy To keep a low profile, speak softly, eat everything without making a face and NOT start every sentence with "In America...". That's a stereotype, maybe, but not reality. You should have met my ex- the quietest-spoken American (or any nationality) in the world! I'll put up any Spaniard against any American for speaking loudly, I don't think Americans speak that loud, they get that reputation from (a) compared to Englishmen and (b) making "howlers" at the wrong time, which *seems* loud and of course with other nationalities, goes uncomprehended. -- Mike Reid Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk" |
#72
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Following up to Gregory Morrow
I see plenty of foreign tourists here in the States. Except for their language, they are absolutely indistinguishable from Americans... I reckon you have a fair chance of distinguishing an Italian from a Brit on dress. -- Mike Reid Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk" |
#73
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Following up to EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)
One of my favorites is the backpackers note not to wear jeans in europe sinde you will be identified as an American. On my last few trips to europe it seemed everyone was wearing jeans! I've certainly seen "designer" jeans on plenty of young people in Paris and Vienna and Brussels! (Jusging from the variety of languages I overheard them speaking, they were definitely NOT Americans.) Jeans have been popular for at least 30 years, how do these myths carry on so long? I didn't even realise they were supposed to be American when I was young. -- Mike Reid Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk" |
#74
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Following up to Gregory Morrow
Well these days I figure with everyone in the world clambering to learn English why on *earth* would I ever even bother with wanting to learn some difficult and eventually fairly useless foreign tongue? Well, (for Spanish) because once you get off the beaten track of the tourist bus, you find out its a myth that everyone speaks English now. Police, shop assistants, taxi drivers, mechanics, even waiters in places where there are no tourists, don't speak English. If English does become universal, it wont be in my lifetime. I like this thread, its increasing my motivation to learn more Spanish. -- Mike Reid Walk-eat-UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site Walk-eat-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap Photos of both "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk" |
#75
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"Magda" schrieb: ... ... Europeans don't generally judge Americans monolithically though. They do - but never to the face of an individual. The usual construct is "everyone, with the exception of everyone I know personally." G inge |
#76
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The Reids a =E9crit : Following up to The Rev Gaston In our local bar on Saturday, a drunk was gesticulating at us and making remarks about George Bush. He was quite amiable, but quite deluded, snce our table consisted of two Italians, a Greek, and a Brit. I assume he was deluded about you, not Bush? One or the other. I don't think he was drunk enough to think that Bush is Italian :-) G; |
#77
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The Reids wrote:
Following up to chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco 24h offy But if someone is going to hate you for making language mistakes, they won't hate you any less because you're an American. IOW, it will be probably be obvious you're not a native speaker. If you can speak the language "pretty good" why would you worry about someone hating you for a few mistakes? I really wouldn't waste your time worrying about making an impression on that kind of person anyway- there are few on the ground. Plus I think I am very different from what people expect from an American. What do people in Europe expect from an American? I think we expect Americans to be poorly informed on non US issues, They probably are, but I don't know that Europeans are always well versed on international issues either. in a rush to see major sites rather than holiday, be rich and be conservative on food, wanting steaks all the time. On my recent holiday in various central European countries, I saw plenty of European tour groups rushing around to see major sites! Lots of Spanish tourists in particular. I doubt that Americans are any more conservative on food than anyone else. They have plenty of variety of food in the US! We expect them to have had a lot of dental work and have big toothy smiles. There is truth in that stereotype, IME. Oh, and right wing in politics of course. Yes, again, that's true. The US Democratic Party would strike most Europeans as being right of centre, never mind the Republicans. We are surprised by those who speak Spanish. Ah, you haven't been to the US then! I don't know what the statistics are, but when I meet an American who does speak another language, it's often Spanish. -- David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk photos at http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer |
#78
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"Juliana L Holm" wrote in message ... Magda wrote: ... On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 20:09:01 +0200, Mxsmanic ... wrote: ... ... Age is not an impediment to the acquisition of additional languages. ... ... Yes it is. Younger people learn much more readily than older people. No, it is not. If you really buy this urban legend, I pity you - in a few years you'll think you are "too old" for many things. I'm 49 and headed to Germany for two months of language training. A couple months ago there was a report in the Washington Post about older folks learning language. It is true that we learn language differently than children do, but not at all true that we don't learn as well. indeed, learning throughtout life seems to be the most reliable way to decrease your chance of getting Alzheimers! Apparently nicotine is a better way. |
#79
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"The Reids" wrote in message ... Following up to EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) One of my favorites is the backpackers note not to wear jeans in europe sinde you will be identified as an American. On my last few trips to europe it seemed everyone was wearing jeans! I've certainly seen "designer" jeans on plenty of young people in Paris and Vienna and Brussels! (Jusging from the variety of languages I overheard them speaking, they were definitely NOT Americans.) Jeans have been popular for at least 30 years, how do these myths carry on so long? I didn't even realise they were supposed to be American when I was young. Where do you think the word denim came from ? :-) |
#80
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Ingeborg Denner a =E9crit : "Magda" schrieb: ... ... Europeans don't generally judge Americans monolithically though. They do - but never to the face of an individual. The usual construct is "everyone, with the exception of everyone I know personally." G Don't you mean "construe" :-) G; |
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