The article "Bemused in America" really gave a foreigners view of America first hand. There are so many things we do and words we say that make no sense at all. Someone from Europe could learn perfect english, but still be recognized as a foreigner because they are not used to our cultural norms. The article mentions five categories of cultural difference, but I think one of the most important is language. The English language goes so much beyond grammar and meanings of words. Its implication and figures of speech and sarcasm that other people may not catch on to. For example, the author uses the phrase "passing away" as a great example of strange english. Any American could tell you that means to die, but to a foreigner not familiar with these phrases, trying to piece together a meaning from "to pass" and "away", it is nearly impossible. The author made a fool of himself asking when the person that passed away would be back. Also phrases like "piece of cake" are huge curveballs to people who learn english as a second language.
Mores and folkways are so different from country to country, its very important to learn cultural norms before visiting, because its possible to insult somebody without even trying.
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I Think that we as Americans think nothing is out of the ordinary. We go day in and day out thinking we are. the german person who came to american thought we were a weird country and people just because of the way we talk and act.
ReplyDeleteYeah Geiss, those expressions are really interesting differences. Even within English there are so many strange differences. You can look up the differences between British, American and Australian English - they are funny and surprising.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you say, especially that last statement. We made not think our culture is all that different, but we really are more different than we think.
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