Americans

[SiN]

Are there really people like these over there or what?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE&feature=related

[Pape]

Sadly, yes most are. To put it in perspective for you, they never even taught us what the capital of Canada is....

I had a neighboor that was a teacher in a elementary school here, she didn't know how many states the United States had :(

[Fry36]

I think there are people like that everywhere. And you gotta remember that show isn't done live. They don't just put up the first answer they get. But yeah, there are morons like that here. Unfortunately in some places here, the moron population is more dense.

[Bosanac]

I wouldn't call them stupid, still. They just don't care.

They all have their own world they live in, and the rest is non-existant. It is sad, but.. what are you gonna do

[Wabbit]

:Pound:


HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


GOSHHHHHHHHHH CAN THIS PPL ON THE VIDEO BE MORE STUPID AND SELFCENTER??

[SiN]

Its a real shame they dont know anything thats going on in the world....i just cant believe it.....

[Wabbit]

Hahahaha......and brits dont stay behind...c'mon, between that vodeo and the brits video the only hard qustion was about the manufacturing british car!!

[Pape]

Well the more educated Americans usually know a little MORE but still below world stanards..

[SiN]

I love the bit with the map, they dont even know where any country is :lol:

[Wabbit]

Hahahah that so freaking true!!!

North korea in australia......c'mooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnn :Pound:

What a generous world!!!!

[ItalianBoy]

Brits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_mkwB9ayK4&NR=1

France:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhlERjW0bhw

Notice the answer on the LIFELINE! PATHETIC!


I wouldn't generalize a country of 300 million people for few idiots on a stupid Brit video. And I agree they dont get taught much here in elementary school when it comes to Geography, but the colleges are the best in the world. So shut up.

[Straycat]

How many States in America can you name and their capitals?
How many Presidents can you name?
What year did the US become independent?
What's America's favorite past time?
Name some lakes in the US?
Rivers? Mountains?
How many political parties are there here?
Religions?


Why would we know about other countries when we have such a big one
to learn about. :sad:

[el Turco]

A high school junior did not know there was a country named Turkey. And in my Spanish class, out of 20 people I was the only one who knew who Che was.

[autobus]

Idiots, that's why I hate them,
look at them president

[ItalianBoy]

Idiots, that's why I hate them,
look at them presidentYou and the others hate them because they own you. ANd after this post and the video I posted of the French... you should only be quiet.

[Pape]

How many States in America can you name and their capitals?
How many Presidents can you name?
What year did the US become independent?
What's America's favorite past time?
Name some lakes in the US?
Rivers? Mountains?
How many political parties are there here?
Religions?


Why would we know about other countries when we have such a big one
to learn about. :sad:

:lol: oh common, thats embarassing to the USA, I bet the European population would extremely outscore the Americans on even a simple test like that :lol:

The fact is there is pretty smart people in the U.S. as in every population but the fact is that there is such a abundance of STUPID people here. Most of them are usually lazy and complain why immigrants take their jobs while they don't want to work, and the other huge part of the population is the black community which is usually highly uneducated. I think this can all be blamed for the ridiculously easy and democratic education system that the country has. Also the teachers from K-12th grade are usually so unmotivated to have to show up to work and can't wait till time passes. This is probably because it is one of the easier things to graduate with a diploma for...

[Bosnian Unit]

She is hot, but........

http://online.wsj.com/media/missteen_art_200_20070913153939.jpg

Miss Teen South Carolina

Question: Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the United States on a world map. Why do you think this is?

Miss Teen South Carolina: "I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh...people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education like such as South Africa and, uh, the Iraq everywhere like, such as and...I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., err, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our...

Editor's note: It was painful typing this dialogue.

[Bosnian Unit]

For George Bush, it was a gaffe waiting to happening.

The similarities in sounding between Australia and Austria led Bush into an embarrassing blunder down under.

The US president thanked Australian premier John Howard for visiting 'Austrian troops' in Iraq.

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/09_01/BushHoward1PA_468x453.jpg
Bush thanked Australian premier John Howard (right) for visiting 'Austrian' troops

There are no Austrian troops there, although Australia has 1,500 military personnel in the region.

He continued his blunders by then confusing the organisations of APEC and OPEC.

Talking at a business forum on the eve of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney, Mr Bush also told Mr Howard: "Mr Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

As the audience laughed, the US president corrected himself and joked: "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year."

Australia has never been a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.


http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/09_01/BushHoward2PA_468x322.jpg
George Bush confused APEC and OPEC in front of laughing Australians

[Bosnian Unit]

You say Slovenia, I say Slovakia . . .

When a state governor pursues the job of commander in chief, the issue of experience is raised.
Recently he ( G.W.Bush ) confused the nations of Slovenia and Slovakia and referred to the people of Greece as Grecians instead of Greeks !

[Sema]

HAHA! Grecians! Rofl!

Straycat, you say it's because you have so much to learn about your own country. Most kids I know couldn't name all 50 states. Last year I was one of 7 kids that got all the states+capitals correct. About 400 kids took that test. I know more about American and World History than my teacher. People here ask stupid questions, but are serious about them.
We have German exchange students and a couple of people have asked them if they have cars in Germany..... One of the kids parents that asked that question drives a BMW....:faint2:
One kid asked me why I wasn't black. And when I asked him why I should be, he told me this...."Well, it's just that most Africans are black, so I thought you would be too." He thought Bosnia was in Africa.
Just today, I heard two girls in my American History class debating which is the state, Pennsylvania or Philadelphia.

Not all are like this though, some are really smart, and 3 kids from my school are going to Harvard this year, but most just don't give a crap about anything, and just "get by".

[Straycat]

Not all are like this though, some are really smart, and 3 kids from my school are going to Harvard this year, but most just don't give a crap about anything, and just "get by".

You can blame the stupid parents then. They should make sure their kids are
getting a good education. The government keeps taking away money for
school unless they have a good football team and then they get lots of money.
The priorities are messed up.
A lot of this knowledge isn't used in everyday life. If your a mechanic you don't need to know what countries are in Europe or Asia. It's all about what your interested in and what you choose to do in life.

[Pape]

You can blame the stupid parents then. They should make sure their kids are
getting a good education. The government keeps taking away money for
school unless they have a good football team and then they get lots of money.
The priorities are messed up.
A lot of this knowledge isn't used in everyday life. If your a mechanic you don't need to know what countries are in Europe or Asia. It's all about what your interested in and what you choose to do in life.

Theres the problem! Most Americans want to do the "minimum" to get by in life and are just not interested in too many things because they think they can just pay others to learn about that for them. To me you really aren't any kind of a person if all you know is math, physics, history, or biology , or etc.. in life. You have to know about every subject and you have to be a well rounded person. When you are well rounded you will be better at what you choose to do in life and you will learn it better because you will have that past experience...

I think this problem probably stems from all the stereotypes that you see in the American society which gives it its uniqueness and well this stupidity. Just like that classic thing you see in American movies, poor kids sit at once lunch table, rich kids on another, football players on another, basketball kids on another, goths on another, etc... I don't really understand this and I could never put myself into a position where I am suppose to be some robot in a society that only performs a particular task...

[Bosanac]

I agree with Marko here, it's the whole mentality Straycat. It's not their parents, it's the media. The movies. The magazines. They don't know any beter. It comes down to priorities, I think. They, as you pointed out, just don't care. Every non-American has a desire to know what's around them, where they are. Americans don't have that desire. Why would they? In their society, it's an unnecessary knowledge. Very self-centered. That's why on the internet you'll see pictures like for example, a huge ugly bottom with an American flag on it. I saw it a few weeks ago, I thought it was very fitting.

[Straycat]

Theres the problem! Most Americans want to do the "minimum" to get by in life and are just not interested in too many things because they think they can just pay others to learn about that for them. To me you really aren't any kind of a person if all you know is math, physics, history, or biology , or etc.. in life. You have to know about every subject and you have to be a well rounded person. When you are well rounded you will be better at what you choose to do in life and you will learn it better because you will have that past experience...

I think this problem probably stems from all the stereotypes that you see in the American society which gives it its uniqueness and well this stupidity. Just like that classic thing you see in American movies, poor kids sit at once lunch table, rich kids on another, football players on another, basketball kids on another, goths on another, etc... I don't really understand this and I could never put myself into a position where I am suppose to be some robot in a society that only performs a particular task...


A lot of what you say makes sense, but college costs a lot of money.
The caste system is every where, not just in schools.
Young people don't
have the maturity yet to know what they want to do in life. Some will go to college and drop out and join the military. Some will stay home and work on the family farm. Others will go to a big city and become part of the big corporations. You can't generalize people.
The young teen beauty pageant girl mentioned has probably been concentrating on her looks all her life because she was told you can make
a lot of money with your looks. But looks don't last.

[Bosanac]

You don't have to go to school to educate yourself, at least to a degree to know where most Countries are located. So when asked, to not look like a complete dumbass.

[Straycat]

You don't have to go to school to educate yourself.
I agree, but when your young a lot of pressure is put on you to decide what you want to do the rest of your life. Sometimes you make the wrong choices.

[Bosanac]

I agree, but when your young a lot of pressure is put on you to decide what you want to do the rest of your life. Sometimes you make the wrong choices.


It seems that making a wrong choice is associated with the American blood. Besides, most people on that video are past their mid twenties.

[Sema]

Don't the kids that want to learn have the same pressures as well? It's all about how you handle it. You can be responsible about it, or you can be ignorant. Ignorance is something I hate a lot, and the US is full of it, maybe too much. When a kid in one of my classes found out I was Muslim, he asked me not to blow up the school. It's stuff like that that needs to be taken responsibly, not with blatant ignorance. Most kids have the fact that America is the best, the greatest, and everyone else isn't worth a penny, which is why the don't bother to learn about anyone or enything else.

[Straycat]

It seems that making a wrong choice is associated with the American blood. Besides, most people on that video are past their mid twenties.

I guess you've already decided that all of us American's are stupid so I
won't bother commenting further.

[Italianduke]

Ask 10 silly questions to a person and probably he will answer wrong atleast once.
This happens with everybody because there is nobody who has a total knowledge.

Ask 10 silly questions to 50 people and you have 50 silly answers. Mount the silly answers and you have your video about how stupid american/british/australian/italian/german/dutch/spanish etc population is.

Then of course there are extreme cases, i've been in USA for 2 months and i was laughing to death when a girl, seriously, asked me if in Italy is legal to rape girls. That girl was studying in college...
Or when the mother of my ex girlfriend, a woman who works for an important company and gets 60.000$ a year didn't know where Rome was, they tried to trick me about what is the capital of Texas, but unluckily for them i knew it lol. Btw i admit i have a quite important ingnorance in American geography..

[Wabbit]

Now havent this become interesting, eh?

C'mon ppl just cause a few ones r idiots doenst mean that they all r.

There r idiots all over!!...now if 50% of americans r very close minded thats their problem, not the worlds problem, so "lets them be"...I've met ppl from all all all over, and none of them was able to tell me where in a map is Argentina, not only americans but australians, british and many other europeans, asians, etc.

It all depends on how much u wanna know, and how much do u wanna be someone in life, cause I can name u all the countries in America, all in europe (with their capitals) all in Oceania (cause there's moere than australia and nz there) and somes of Asia. But thats only cause I like to know and learn about different things...and I have chose not to be another ignorant.

It calls cultural knowledge, and not many ppl r interesting in knowing whats going on with the rest of the world. How many of u have ever said, 'why should I care or know that, if I dont live there?'

Thats life and thanks God we r not all the same :)

[Andygers]

^ Well said rabbit!!! There are some pretty damn smart people over in America.

[SiN]

Wow rabbit, thats the most i have seen u type since u been here :lol:

[Wabbit]

Hahaha well Sin, when Im inspired Im inspired!!

:D

[1bosnian]

i cant believe how stupid those people were on that video..how could you not know a country that starts with a U and u live in one and then you go and say yugoslavia...just pathetic

[SiN]

I agree, thats so low!

[Fenerliyim]

honestly i dont find it a big of a deal that they dont know this.

theres people like this all over the world, and these videos are edit to just show the ignorant ones. Who knows how many people were interviewed just to get that many clips.

anyway in the usa they dont teach geography in school, at most they teach u is the state names and capitals thats it.

only reason i know countries is cause my parents got me a globe when i was a kid, one of those interactive ones and ofcourse soccer.

[Fry36]

Soccer is a big factor in my geography knowledge, too. In fact, thanks to this beautiful sport, I got a B on my geography midterm last year in college. :D It was a question about the cities of Ukraine and Shakthar Donetsk got me enough points to hop from a C+ to a B. :) Well if it wasn't multiple choice, I might have answered it as "Shakthar" and probably confuse the professor to no end...

[Wabbit]

Then football rules!!:D

[ZabbaZibba]

i knew all the answers but who really cares
Anybody can b stumped by easy questions at anytime. Have you ever had times when you knew the answer to something but couldnt remember it?
yeah...me too.

[SiN]

No i actually havent, they were some pretty easy questions...

[Wabbit]

Why I always tent to agree with valda and academico??.....hahaha :D

[ZabbaZibba]

No i actually havent, they were some pretty easy questions...
I wasnt talking about those Questions....So there you have it....yes you have.:sad:

[Wabbit]

Uhhhhhhhh caliente (said with an anglo accent)

[Andygers]

Then football rules!!:D It certainly does :)

[Albita]

Is the official language in Latin America..Latin? True or False.
anyone with half a brain could answer that..
seriously.

[DelijaZauvjek]

Is the official language in Latin America..Latin? True or False.
anyone with half a brain could answer that..
seriously.


Latin language has been dead for thousands of years... but suprisingly....half of the americans would answer true....trust me I've asked them and almost pissed my pants more than a 6 month old baby from all the laughter.. :lol:

[Bosanac]

We shouldn't make fun of them, people. Come on, where is the humanity?

:)

[SiN]

b-rabbit can join one of those people :) He thought Pakistanis were in conflict with the Jews :D

He mixed Palestine with Pakistan :)

[PAO_HELLAS]

It is true that the educational level of the average American is generally much lower than the one of the average European (especially in geography), but I have to say that this video is an exaggeration as it has a comical purpose. It is easy to make a video like this for any country. I mean collecting the silly anwsers together - you would take some silly anwsers no matter the country the survey would take place.

[nb-legenda]

americans are ignorant...

[Wabbit]

b-rabbit can join one of those people :) He thought Pakistanis were in conflict with the Jews :D

He mixed Palestine with Pakistan :)

Hahahhaha I know!!! I got in today to edit that post!!!!!!!!


Hahahahhaha I thought.-...'man I am stupid' but like I said before stupid ppl is all over :D

[poutismalakas]

americans are ignorant...

PLease explain how we are ignorant???


Also that video is BS if you notice they kept coming back to the same people! How many people did they go thru who could answer their questions before they found those people??

From the earlier post.
How many States in America can you name and their capitals? 1 state capital Sacramento CA

California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Idaho, Ohio, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Minnisota, Michigan, S. Dakota ,N Dakota, Virginia, W. Virgina, Maryland, New York, Penn, Montana, Delaware, Maireland, Mass, Conn, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Missouri, Georgia, Florida, Lousiana, New Jersey,Illinos, Wyoming, Utah, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennisee, Roude Island, N Carolina, S Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin46 States!!! That is all I can think of off the top of my head! HOw many can you enlightened people can do???

How many Presidents can you name? Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Truman, Eisenhoower, FDR, Taft, Hoover, Wilson, Ted R, Grant, Lincoln, Adams, JQA, Jefferson, Jackson, Washington

What year did the US become independent? 1776 when the Declaration was signed BUT It was 1783 when the war ended

What's America's favorite past time? Baseball

Name some lakes in the US? Erie, Superior, Mich, Hudges

Rivers? Mountains? Miss, Missori, San Diego, Mt Mckinnley

How many political parties are there here? 2 main but

Religions? NO official State Religion

I love how so many of you juts love to trash the US and it's people!

[Saraj Fanático]

Some people sure accept this as proof that all Americans are dumb. I wouldn't say so though, many Americans are missing out knowledge about geography, science, math etc.. but not all.

[nb-legenda]

-97% Americans use credits. Credit cards don't exist in Europe.

-Americans drive too many SUVs, mostly women, and crash. Women in America are so ignorant with their bigass SUVs. I swear to god I saw a 16 year old girl driving a tank of an SUV!

-lol name a country with U... already I had 3 countries in my head before the guy finished asking the question: Uzbekistan, Uruguay, United States and the stupid 40 year old says Yugoslavia

[Centarfor9]

well this video stuff can be done with any country in the world

British are also NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_mkwB9ayK4&feature=related)

I've been to many countries and I have ran into lot of interesting people - we all have our positives and negatives.

[CambriaFan]

The people in the video were totally ignorant about basic global knowledge but that doesn't make all Americans stupid... but it is true that as a country they know the least about other cultures. I'd guess this is due to the education system and mostly the self-important and close-minded media :sad:

I also watched the British video (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=w_mkwB9ayK4&feature=related) and although there are plenty of thick people here I feel I must defend us as a nation. The video was not nearly as embarrassing for us as it must be for Americans because:

The questions were MUCH harder

For example:
Q1: What is the Irish currency?.... its not specific enough!! There are 2 countries in Ireland - EIRE (Euros) and Northern Ireland (Pounds). Everybody asked gave one of these 2 answers so were therefore correct :)

Q2: How many colours are found in the British flag?...a totally confusing question!! The flag shown was the Union Jack which is the symbol of the United Kingdom, while the term "British" can refer to Great Britain or UK. Also white isn't actually a colour so 2 is technically the right answer :smoking:

Q3: Name a British car manufacturer.... how do you define that? The 2 best known British car brands are Rolls-Royce and Mini are both owned by BMW so are they German? But numerous cars from international companies are made here so are they British?

Q4: Who's the British prime-minister?...Ok so I can't defend the kid who said Bush :lol: but 2 out of 3 said Blair.

Q5: In which British city would you find the Wimbledon stadium?....its not a stadium - ITS A TENNIS CLUB!! Again he could have been refering to the stadium of milton keynes, a continutation of Wimbledon FC, whose stadium is outside the capital (unlikely but plausible ;))

Q6 & 7: How many sides does a square/triangle have?...point taken - they should have known this.

Q8: The one about overtaking the person in second...this is a trick question that is often used to confuse even intelligent people when answered quickly -its not a simple geographical question like those in the American one.

And even more importantly - LOOK AT THE PEOPLE ASKED!!! The American video asked more people - who were all adults. The British one asked kids, the elderly and people outside a pub...the results were not surprising.

P.S. I'm not trying to say Americans are stupid, just saying they are less globally aware than us :smoking:

[CambriaFan]

PLease explain how we are ignorant???


Also that video is BS if you notice they kept coming back to the same people! How many people did they go thru who could answer their questions before they found those people??

From the earlier post.
How many States in America can you name and their capitals? 1 state capital Sacramento CA

California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Idaho, Ohio, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Minnisota, Michigan, S. Dakota ,N Dakota, Virginia, W. Virgina, Maryland, New York, Penn, Montana, Delaware, Maireland, Mass, Conn, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Missouri, Georgia, Florida, Lousiana, New Jersey,Illinos, Wyoming, Utah, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennisee, Roude Island, N Carolina, S Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin46 States!!! That is all I can think of off the top of my head! HOw many can you enlightened people can do???

How many Presidents can you name? Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Truman, Eisenhoower, FDR, Taft, Hoover, Wilson, Ted R, Grant, Lincoln, Adams, JQA, Jefferson, Jackson, Washington

What year did the US become independent? 1776 when the Declaration was signed BUT It was 1783 when the war ended

What's America's favorite past time? Baseball

Name some lakes in the US? Erie, Superior, Mich, Hudges

Rivers? Mountains? Miss, Missori, San Diego, Mt Mckinnley

How many political parties are there here? 2 main but

Religions? NO official State Religion

I love how so many of you juts love to trash the US and it's people!
OK - you're right that people can't generalise and say all Americans are ignorant but those questions can't be used as a defence.

I could answer the last 5 questions and name about 30-40 states and 7-8 presidents but those are all questions about the US. You're clearly a pretty clever person but could you answer these questions about my homeland of Britain and Scotland:

How many counties of England or regions of Scotland can you name?

Name the 4 first ministers of Scotland since devolution in 1997?

When was the act of union?

What's the national sport of Wales?

Name some lakes, rivers, mountains in UK?

3 main political parties?

National religion of UK?

I don't know how many Americans could answer those and I wouldn't expect them to be able to...

[Xizor]

americans are ignorant...

Don't say that man, we're not all ignorant!

But there are many ignorant people here just like in every part of the world!

[nb-legenda]

90% people i asked in high school where Berlin is on the map, he couldn't even find the country Berlin laid on. yes i agree, the little 5% of educated people aren't ignorant but i know some stupid master degree college educated business people (mostly women) don't know anything about the world but they know all this technical stuff. it makes me laugh really :lol:

[Bosanac]

Today at work, I had a helper. I was his superior, so I had a right to mess with him. Anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to give this 'studied fact' a test-drive.


I tell him all about it, about the news and everything. Like I said, I could mess with him. ;)

Start him off with an easy question, and ask him if he ever heard of Turkey.

He says, "Yeah". Than I ask him, "what is the capital of Turkey?"

He says, "No idea".

I tell him, "it's okay. Not a lot of people know that, do you know any city in Turkey?"

He says, "Nope".

I say, "Of course not. It's a middle-eastern country, very small".

Than I say, "Sorry, those questions were probably hard. I looked it up in the atlas a few weeks ago"

"Why don't you name me a Country that starts with the letter U?"

He starts thinking.. and thinking.

30 seconds go by..

He says, "United States!!!"


I practically yelled, "THERE YOU GO!"


He said, "That was a nice trick. I'm going to do that to my brother!".

I said, "Yeah. It was, huh?"

:D

..True story. :Pound:

[CambriaFan]

^^ :lol:

[Centarfor9]

I tried that

the answer I got was

Ukraine

I was shocked lol

[poutismalakas]

OK - you're right that people can't generalise and say all Americans are ignorant but those questions can't be used as a defence.

I could answer the last 5 questions and name about 30-40 states and 7-8 presidents but those are all questions about the US. You're clearly a pretty clever person but could you answer these questions about my homeland of Britain and Scotland:

[QUOTE=CambriaFan;923003]How many counties of England or regions of Scotland can you name?... I know of York, Essex, Kent, and Northumberkland counties off the top of my head.

Name the 4 first ministers of Scotland since devolution in 1997?...Sorry don't know any... Maybe it is because Scotland is not that relavent to World News. I do know of Bonny Prince Charlie


When was the act of union?...The only thing that comes to mind is when Scotland and England combined Monarchies into one Monarchy??


What's the national sport of Wales?...Well I would guess Soccer, Rugby, and Cricket?


Name some lakes, rivers, mountains in UK?...I know of the Orkney Islands, the Trent and Thames rivers, and no mountains sorry.

3 main political parties?... I only know the Touries and Labour parties. I have heard of the BNP party thought

National religion of UK?...Angelican Church? the UK is also a secular state so maybe the Church of England is nolonger the State Religion???


I don't know how many Americans could answer those and I wouldn't expect them to be able to...

SO how well did I do?

[nb-legenda]

He said, "That was a nice trick. I'm going to do that to my brother!".

I said, "Yeah. It was, huh?"

:D

..True story. :Pound:

poor guy...

[BRISTOLUK]

Since I moved to Canada, I have changed my thinking a little on this. I was always ready to take the piss out of some North Americans. I recall reading that something like 75% of US citizens didn't even have passports.

But I have an intelligent Canadian wife and two intelligent stepkids. They're bilingual and pretty well educated. Until they met me, they believed England, especially London, to be foggy most of the time. It was what they'd been led to believe.

I remember commenting to my wife (when I first knew her) about Americans getting mixed up with UK and England, like when speaking of Wales, England - believing Wales to be part of England. She said "isn't it?"

They know little of where many European countries are. I think a lot of it is not being exposed to things in the tiniest way.

You live in Europe and it's much more likely that travel will take you across borders. You experience different cultures and languages, even currencies differed. Greater travel in the US and you're still likely to be in the same country.

Even buying food in Europe can arouse curiosity about other places. Oranges from Israel or Spain, grapes from South Africa, Chile, potatoes from England, Cyprus, Egypt......

Here in New Brunswick I've not seen potatoes from anywhere other than this Province or Prince Edward Island and all the fruit seems to come from the USA.

In a perfect world everyone would be aware of other countries. It's easier, or more of an encouragement if one at least has practical examples of other places. Perhaps they get that less in the USA.

None of this prevented me laughing at the American woman on "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" who couldn't name the country north of the USA.:lol:

[Wabbit]

Hahahhaa great story Bos...man u r evil :p

Hahahhahahhaha

[CambriaFan]

How many counties of England or regions of Scotland can you name?...

I know of York, Essex, Kent, and Northumberkland counties off the top of my head.

You're right about those four - York(shire), Essex, Kent and Northumberland.
There are actually 47 english counties and 10 scottish regions but even I had to google to find the names of most of the English ones.

Name the 4 first ministers of Scotland since devolution in 1997?...

Sorry don't know any... Maybe it is because Scotland is not that relavent to World News. I do know of Bonny Prince Charlie

Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish, Jack McConnell and Alex Salmond. But I do understand your point - Scotland isn't exactly top of world news.

When was the act of union?...

The only thing that comes to mind is when Scotland and England combined Monarchies into one Monarchy??

The monarchies combined in 1603 but the Act of Union usually refers to the joining of the parliaments in 1707.

What's the national sport of Wales?...

Well I would guess Soccer, Rugby, and Cricket?

Its rugby, although they do play a lot of football and cricket too.

Name some lakes, rivers, mountains in UK?...


I know of the Orkney Islands, the Trent and Thames rivers, and no mountains sorry.

Well-known Islands: Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Skye (all Scotland), Isle of Man (self governing island between England and Ireland), Isle of Wight (south coast of England), Channel Islands (group of 8 islands that are closer to France than UK), Bermuda (Caribbean) and Falkland Islands (off coast of Argentina).

Important Rivers: Thames, Severn, Trent, Clyde, Tees and Mersey.

Biggest Mountains: Ben Nevis, Ben Macdhui, Braeriach (all Scotland) – top 10 mountains are all Scottish, the highest mountain outside Scotland is Mount Snowdon in Wales.

3 main political parties?...

I only know the Touries and Labour parties. I have heard of the BNP party thought

Labour and Tories are the main 2 – Liberal Democrats are the third. The BNP are actually a very small minority party but they get a lot of attention due to their extreme views.

National religion of UK?...

Angelican Church? the UK is also a secular state so maybe the Church of England is nolonger the State Religion???

The Presbyterian church is the main religion but is only recognised by law in Scotland as the national church (Church of Scotland). In practise though, the UK is becoming more diverse and multicultural so all religions are treated equally by parliament.

I don't know how many Americans could answer those and I wouldn't expect them to be able to...

SO how well did I do?

To be honest, you did pretty well :D but in general I think British people would answer the American questions better than Americans would answer these – that’s the point I was trying to make.

I don’t think that necessarily means we’re more intelligent, just that our media and education system focuses more on the wider world while American schools are always teaching their kids to recite the 50 states rather than knowing who’s prime-minister or leader of Russia.

[poutismalakas]

I don’t think that necessarily means we’re more intelligent, just that our media and education system focuses more on the wider world while American schools are always teaching their kids to recite the 50 states rather than knowing who’s prime-minister or leader of Russia.
I agree with you on that US school more on propaganda that we are the best, Ancient Greece and Rome and who is the current rival to the US!! Also the reason why I know so much more that average is because I have a History degree:ronaldo:

[Wabbit]

Man everyone's obsses..we should do an "exam" thread ¬ ¬

[Sema]

I don’t think that necessarily means we’re more intelligent, just that our media and education system focuses more on the wider world while American schools are always teaching their kids to recite the 50 states rather than knowing who’s prime-minister or leader of Russia.

Well, if the kids were being taught to recite the 50 states, why did they grow up and say that Utah was a country? Nah man, geography and history is a low point here. We're taught about the World Wars and how the USA kicked ass in it. And then we skip into communism and how Russia was bad, and USA kicked some more ass. And now we're talking about how the USA is kicking ass in Iraq. And then some math and gym class in between, :lol:

[CambriaFan]

^^ Maths then double ass-kicking :lol:

[Centarfor9]

Well, if the kids were being taught to recite the 50 states, why did they grow up and say that Utah was a country? Nah man, geography and history is a low point here. We're taught about the World Wars and how the USA kicked ass in it. And then we skip into communism and how Russia was bad, and USA kicked some more ass. And now we're talking about how the USA is kicking ass in Iraq. And then some math and gym class in between, :lol:
hey you forgot about "Manifest Destiny" :spit:

[nb-legenda]

lol, here in my highschool, it's optional to take Geography! puahaha :lol:

I know some that think Europe is a country that have graduated with a masters degree in UNC chapel hill university!!!!!

[Wabbit]

Hahahhahaa!!!!! in my school every single subject was mandatory..we had 16 ¬ ¬

Life's so unfair....hahah :D