An apology to Fab

Hello LAA,


I was very desapointed to read your reaction in the other topic - you were thinking that I insulted you or something like that - or thinking that I was the poster "anti-LLA" - and you took bad something that was not at all a critic against you, on the contrary; Maybe I explained me badly in my approximative english.


But when I read this other topic, I was glad to see that you have evoluated and have let your preconcieved ideas behind you.


"And I would like Fab to know that there are a lot of things that bother me about the French. However, I also deeply admire their culture in many ways, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them."

I think it is a good evolution, to try to understand things about other culture and other points of view.
If you want to know better France I will incite you to come to visit our beautiful country one day (I know that it is not so easy when you are not adult yet, but you are young and you have all time ahead of you)
Since then I know some site made for Americans to help them to understand the cultural things and cultural differences beetween us :

http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Features/French_or_Foe.shtml
http://french.about.com/
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/discovering-france_2005/index.html

The point is, that even from a cultural sense, America is not completely Anglo-Saxon.

"Anglo-Saxon" is simply an archaic way of saying "English", and Anglo-Saxon generally transcends the physical boundaries of England, and encompassess the English speaking, protestant countries of the world. But the term is used so frequently by outsiders that it has almost become bastardized.

Believe me, as Benjamin said, in many ways, the culture of America is far removed from that of Britain, and in many ways, the culture and attitude of the British is far closer to that of Europe's than it is to the U.S.

We aren't on the metric system. We don't use Celsius. Most Americans aren't even English in their origin. We don't drink tea, we drink coffee. We don't watch or play the same sports. Our cultural affinity is limited, and whatever cultural connection the U.S. has with Britain, it is surely less than that which is shared between most of Latin America and Spain.

American political perspective is wholly alien to Britain's, which is much closer to that of Europe.

America's culture and society had Anglo foundations, yes. But in the last two and a half centuries, much of that foundation has been eroded by additional cultural influences, imported by the immigrant populations, which for the first few generations, did not assimilate, but formed their own familial enclave, so that there was "little Irelands" and "little Italys", and "little Polands" and "little Germanys", and little "Mexicos", etc. These immigrant population's contributions to the country's culture, were eventually absorbed into the melting pot that is America in the subsequent generations.

To think of America as an entirely Anglo-Saxon culture, is about as silly as to think of France as an ethnically homogenous Gallic country.

LAA : « We aren't on the metric system. We don't use Celsius. »

Précisément !

"Précisément !"

Unless I am mistaken, Britain has since switched to these systems, and is now just like the Continent in that regard.

I had actually wondered whether Fahrenheit might be still used in Germany... but no. The only people I know here who still prefer Fahrenheit are older people. As for feet, inches, yards, pounds, ounces... don't understand it at all, I'm afraid!

LAA : « Unless I am mistaken, Britain has since switched to these systems, and is now just like the Continent in that regard. »

Oui, bien sûr. Mais ce n'est pas parce que le Royaume-Uni s'est "partiellement" désanglo-saxonnisé (encore que le système avoirdupoids est d'origine française) que les États-Unis sont devenus moins anglo-saxons, comme par magie.

Britian has abandoned the Anglo Farenheit/Metric system because it is no longer practical for a European country. America, which is a North American country, has not felt that necessity. Just another reason why American society is so distant from England.

I think when Greg refers to that "Anglo-Saxon way of thinking", he means the Anglo-Saxon preoccupation with business/money, and time. Anglo-Saxon people are very rushed in the way they approach things, while the French like to take it slow (manana syndrome) and savor the quality of things. That is just one aspect of the "Anglo-Saxon" mentality.

« That is just one aspect of the "Anglo-Saxon" mentality. »

I'd say that the same goes for the Germans and the Swiss (amongst others).

Yep, that's true. It's not limited to the Anglos.

LAA,

I wouldn't quite be sure about the mañana syndrome amongst the French. I think this is rather a characteristic of southern Spain and the southern half of Italy. And of course, it applies to most of Latinamerica, with few exceptions in some regions within few countries, for example, northern Mexico (please don't dare to say that it is because of the vicinity to USA because you will make a big mistake and will expose yourself to the laughter of more than one here :-)), southern Brazil, Chilean Santiago area.

Yeah, the man~ana comment was more of a joking matter. But do you understand what I meant by the French "taking their time"?

I don't know about Northern Mexico though. I have family in Sonora and Baja California, and I can certainly say that the pace of life is much slower there compared to bustling cosmopolitan American cities like New York and Los Angeles.

People in the U.S. often make fun of Mexican-American families because we're habitually late to appointments, family gatherings, etc.

Salut Greg,

Dommage que tu t'en souviens pas!!
Mais tu viens de me dire aumoins les paroles clé(¿?).

Je crois que mon français est très "basique", mais après d'avoir lu ton opinion je suis fièr d'être réussi à écrire tout ça sans aide de dictionnaires ni traducteurs.... quoique il faut bien le practiser plus souvient!!!

<<America, which is a North American country>>

Sincerely this is so annoying ! Why all of you insist in calling America to the U.S. ? America is a continent, why is it so hard to understand ?

Aldvs,

I'm sorry if this offends you so much. There is no reason it should. In the U.S., and many other countries, America is used interchangeably with the United States, as the country is called the "United States of America".

The people of the U.S., are not called "usians", or "usianese". They are called "Americans", because the name of their country is "America".

Many regard Australia as a continent, but it is also a country. But New Zeleanders don't object to calling citizens of Australia, Australia.

In English at least, the term Latin America is used to distinguish between the people of the U.S., and the Latin peoples of North and South America.

In English, we don't call them, "Americans". We call them "Latin Americans".

So I think it's a matter of language.

<<In the U.S., and many other countries,>>

Possibly it is used outside of America (I'm refering to the continent) but they don't care since it doesn't affect them. And possibly is used by people in Latin America but it's just an imitation of the English way because believe me, nobody sane will say "I will make a trip to America" to refer to U.S.

<<America is used interchangeably with the United States, as the country is called the "United States of America". >>

So before of the term "United States" existed, what "America" is ?

Just imagine this, in the continent of Europe there's not a country called England but "The United Kingdom of Europe" aka or "interchangeable" with "Europe", then nobody else in that continent can be called European anymore. Although the Spaniards, Dutch, French, Swedens, Polands, Greeks, etc. don't agree. Simply they are not just Europeans but North, Central, South, Latin, Germanic, Slavic or Mediterranean Europeans because "Europe" already "owns" such "name". Now, a "European" in the Antimoon forum says: "Europe is a North European country". Does it sound correct to you ? Don't you note the ambiguity here ? It's more than obvious that there's something wrong around.

<<Many regard Australia as a continent, but it is also a country. But New Zeleanders don't object to calling citizens of Australia, Australia. >>

Australia is the name of a country of course, in an insular continent called Oceania. I can't see why New Zealanders would object that.

http://www.countriesandcities.com/continents/oceania/countries.htm