Personally, I do try to learn the local lingo (at least basic words and phrases necessary for travel) prior to visiting a foreign country, in part because it makes my life easier but also because I consider it to be somewhat rude not to, but I guess I'm in the minority.


"Reports out of the United Kingdom say many of its citizens believe US policies and culture are making the world a more dangerous place to live. Some Australians think we're dumb, obese and arrogant; they use the phrase, "Oh, that's so American" as a put-down.

Keith Reinhard, a former international marketing executive, says, American travelers are often at fault for such sweeping stereotypes. Too many have scarce knowledge of and little regard for the cultures and norms they encounter. All too often, they talk down to their hosts."

Taking the 'ugly' out of 'American' in eyes of rest of the world

Aside: Nice handle/location/membership. Live long and prosper. (My AIM name in highschool was mattuvok)

It goes both ways. On the one hand, it is helpful to learn the local customs and basic words to blend in when you're just wandering the streets or performing some extremely basic tasks (buying coffee, asking for the bathroom). It also demonstrates a certain degree of effort, as you said, to compliment the country and culture and move away from the stereotype of the ignorant American.

On the other hand, and I fall into this trap all the time as one who studied Mandarin Chinese for four years in college, depending on where you are and who you're talking to, there's a good chance that "they" speak English better than you speak the local language. In that sense, I've known people who are insulted when you try to speak to them in the local language/go out of your way to utilize their customs as opposed to just letting them be the ones to adapt. Frequently, in China as well as Europe, attempts (and my Chinese is perfectly decent) at speaking to a local in the language resulted in rolling eyes and a "How can I help you?" in English.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get completely fluent!

are the title of this thread and the text at odds w/each other?

"Do as the Romans do" and "When in Rome..." have slightly different meanings, yes. The title would've been more accurate using the latter. Not that it really matters. -xj

Yes, but I won't "do as the Greeks do".

[QUOTE=xj

On the other hand, and I fall into this trap all the time as one who studied Mandarin Chinese for four years in college, depending on where you are and who you're talking to, there's a good chance that "they" speak English better than you speak the local language. In that sense, I've known people who are insulted when you try to speak to them in the local language/go out of your way to utilize their customs as opposed to just letting them be the ones to adapt. Frequently, in China as well as Europe, attempts (and my Chinese is perfectly decent) at speaking to a local in the language resulted in rolling eyes and a "How can I help you?" in English.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get completely fluent![/QUOTE]

This has happened to me many times. I try to speak the language and they roll their eyes when I'm not pronouncing something correctly and they immediately go into their English mode. One waiter told me it's easier that way since he's busy.

Everything Roman is a copy of the Greeks.

Aren't they both parts of the same idiom?

I don't think I need to say more than "YES" here.

You can't get around the fact that U.S. foreign policy sucks.

However, I think most people around the world know that the U.S. government does not represent its people outside the U.S. - rather it only represents a few powerful lobbies and their usually distasteful demands. I'm thinking about large American corporations and Israel here, who between them pretty much determine who gets elected in America. So in my mind and I'm sure the minds of many, the actions of the U.S. government are easily separatable from the caracter of the American people.

I have found that most Americans are far more polite when overseas than the average international traveler outside his or her home country. Even when I was a youngster growing up in London, I enjoyed meeting Americans (and Canadians, who were the same as Americans to a ten year old) more than any other nationality, because they were so friendly, upbeat and appeared to be very willing to learn about other cultures.

Now wait a minute. I'm not a huge supporter or Israel or anything, but that seems like an awfully targeted comment. Israel's official 2004 lobbying in the US is a pitiful $1.1m as opposed to $8.5m by France, $6m by Canada, etc. Even counting unofficial lobbying, which has been estimated as high as $55m by pro-Israel groups in the US, that still would put the issue behind Fannie Mac, SBC and the National Association of Realtors.

Does the National Association of Realtors determine who gets elected in the US? No? Then don't attack one particular country lest people think there is something else motivating your opinions.

References:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby...t=topcompanies
http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby...ountries&co=il
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...ael/lobby.html

I think many people that Americans come into contact with overseas also believe that lobbies, including the Israel lobby are extremely good at influencing the outcome of many elections.

The Israel lobby has the advantage of having many media outlets that mirror and magnify their views, something the NAR and Freddie MAC don't have.

You are entitled to think that the Israel lobby is benign, but many of it's demands on American elected leaders do result in misery for many Palestinians and have in large part contributed to the state of affairs in Israel and Palestine. You may disagree with this connection but many around the world are alive to it. It adversely affects the reputation of your government and in some cases the American people, which is something the OP was wondering about.

Isn't it amazing that an innocuous question about the behaviour of Americans abroad becomes a lead in to a discussion along the lines of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Talk about hijacking a thread.....

If you go to Mr. Reinhard's (the author of the article I posted) website Business for Diplomatic Action , you'll see that the article was actually based on many research studies, including the Pew Global Attitudes Survey

(bolds mine)

Sad that someone clearly as well traveled as yourself would base his/her opinions on beliefs and stereotypes... I'm not even going to get into your last paragraph.

Do also remember that I started my comments with the statement "I'm not a huge supporter of Israel". It's true. I'm not. The government there has done some horrific things to people who didn't deserve any of it. But to connect that to such broad, offensive stereotypes as the ones you've listed is really quite unfair. -xj