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Once in a while, I hear this brought up a lot, especially when a major news media outlet mislabels a country on a map, or when American students are compared to others.
But do you think this is really fair? Is this stereotype really true, if you compare Americans to the world? I can see how maybe well-traveled Europeans who are surrounded by other nations know more about them than citizens of a bigger country that travels less on average, but I find it hard to believe that the majority of Asians or Africans know that much more about world geography than Americans, considering that many countries still don't have as much schooling. How about to other Western countries?
No, I don't think Americans are particularly bad, maybe a bit worse than Europeans, Australians.etc, but having said that, when I was in uni my group had trouble finding FRANCE on a map of the world. One girl thought it was Greenland. I had to point out France to them.
You should see how bad so many Latinos and Asians are that I've seen. They make Americans look great. However, why do people care so much?
I haven't come across too many Europeans, so I can't really tell you there. I can understand why Europeans would put more emphasis on geography though, because of how their countries are situated. United States is a lot more isolated and leaves us not as worried about the countries around us. I bet most Europeans wouldn't be able to find mississippi and missouri on the United States map. Why would I even care?
Compared to Europeans, yes, very bad. A lot of Europeans could at place Afghanistan or Tunisia on a map. Compared to Asia, no, many Asian people I met can't even place Mexico on a map, despite the fact that Mexico is f*cking massive
Compared to Europeans, yes, very bad. A lot of Europeans could at place Afghanistan or Tunisia on a map. Compared to Asia, no, many Asian people I met can't even place Mexico on a map, despite the fact that Mexico is f*cking massive
Hey, this big stupid American knows where Afghanistan and Tunisia are on a map too....
And I've met many a European who thought that on their trip to the US, they could visit NYC, then take a two day road trip (stopping at interesting sights along the way) and be in San Francisco or Seattle on the third day. And that's no lie.
For the first-world standards, Americans are probably really bad at geography.
But probably Africans are even worse anyway.
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