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I grew up in Montreal and have been in the states for going on 5 years. Just curious as to what differences and similarities you noticed in dating/relationships after you moved here. In Canada, there aren't any huge differences. Only true difference I would say is that Americans are a bit more uptight. Other than that, I've noticed that being fluently bilingual(English/French) is something that's not very common here and many(especially women) don't come across someone that's fluent in French very often. I read an article that only 1/4 of Americans can so much as have a conversation in a second language and the number of fluent bilinguals would obviously be less.
For those who come from other countries, share your experiences.
This is more of a culture argument than a dating issue.
Americans are taught in the mind set of "we're #1," and therefore, the rest of the world doesn't matter. It is only the true travel bug scholars that take the time to learn a second language as they intend to be out of country at some point beyond the cliche Caribbean spring break. America does not emphasize education enough, and language is not emphasized in the education we do receive. My sister is fluent in English/German, but it wasn't until she opted for a 1 year exchange student opportunity that she was even taught how to converse in German. The previous 4 years of language in high school was barely the tip of the iceberg.
Now, the problem I have in the dating world, as a young woman (early 30's) - I gravitate toward the worldly men (Amercians that are educated and travel bugs) as they are more interesting with the ability to have an intelligent conversation. But, they are out of my league due to my own deficiencies with travel experience and/or college degree and/or exotic language skills.
I find it sad how many people hate on Americans. I'm from Canada as well, I lived in B.C. and Alberta in my youth. My father was American and my mother was Canadian. I came to the states because I fell in love with Colorado while I was down there for some competitions.
To me, both countries are identical.. I don't really see a difference unless you go to the bible belt states. People from other countries seem to watch the news and make assumptions from that. I've travelled all over the world, all over Europe and South America, I met just as many crude uneducated people in those areas as I have in Canada and U.S.
Getting good use out of your passports in Europe is much easier than it is in North America. Most people simply can't afford to travel. First word problems, People who fault others for not traveling are shallow and pretentious in my opinion, I can't stand that attitude. If you live in bigger cities in the US there are tons of well traveled, educated people enjoying life. Just like any other country.
If you go to small two horse town you run into people who hold old fashioned views, but are generally more polite at face value with the very people they claim to despise. It's mostly a coffee topic for those republican wingnuts honestly. You only hear the loud ones from both sides.. the majority of people are fairly level headed in my experience.
It's whatever though, keep on hating = )
Most people in the western half of Canada only speak english as well, it's not crucial to life like it is in Europe or Quebec! If you ever go to S. Texas, CA, or AZ you'll find that quite a few white americans there speak spanish, even uneducated ones.. It's because you need to in order to make life easier.
It's like owning a lawn mower if you have a yard.. you need it! If you're in a city apartment you don't need a lawn mower, so why would the majority of people get one? It mostly comes down to geography rather than education..
Last edited by MarshallV84; 03-21-2014 at 07:55 PM..
The only major differences I have noticed involve religion and politics. People have strong opinions and will speak them, love and die by them and make life choices by their political and religious convictions.
Other than these two things...I've not noticed much if anything different
This is more of a culture argument than a dating issue.
Americans are taught in the mind set of "we're #1," and therefore, the rest of the world doesn't matter. It is only the true travel bug scholars that take the time to learn a second language as they intend to be out of country at some point beyond the cliche Caribbean spring break. America does not emphasize education enough, and language is not emphasized in the education we do receive. My sister is fluent in English/German, but it wasn't until she opted for a 1 year exchange student opportunity that she was even taught how to converse in German. The previous 4 years of language in high school was barely the tip of the iceberg.
Now, the problem I have in the dating world, as a young woman (early 30's) - I gravitate toward the worldly men (Amercians that are educated and travel bugs) as they are more interesting with the ability to have an intelligent conversation. But, they are out of my league due to my own deficiencies with travel experience and/or college degree and/or exotic language skills.
In order to become fluent in a language or anything close to it, you need to immerse yourself in it. 4 years of high school, you only learn the basics and maybe put together some sentences. But as far as dating, I haven't noticed much of a difference. But I was also 18 when I left, so I didn't get to personally experience much dating back in Canada.
I grew up in Europe, and the life style is a bit different., I'm glad that I had the experience, but looking at my cousins, it wasn't for me. Though some things just stick with you
Canadian here as well, although I spent a considerable amount of my childhood in the USSR.
I speak five languages, three fluently and two, enough to get by quite well in those countries.
I lived in the US for five years and I noticed quite a few differences. Americans are more uptight...look at the brouhaha with everything from a wardrobe malfunction to same sex marriage.
Politics are far more divisive in the US as well; very much so.
As far as dating goes, however, it's probably about the same.
Asian here. Well I never dated in my country so I can't compare. I will say though that a lot of my country men have this impression on Americans as very liberal, low in morals in a sense that they have no prob being intimate with the person they are dating. Since my country is predominantly Catholic and conservative, it is a given we are not ok with pre marital sex.
When I came here though, I was surprised how conservative they are, well, most of our impressions came from American movies we watch of course.
Just saying that my impression before I came here was totally wrong, while some Americans do what I thought of them when I first came here, I would say they were in the minority. Just like in my country.
There are liberal people in my country too meaning engaging in pre marital sex and all that jazz but they are in the minority.
I do agree about Americans not being bilingual. My husband actually envies me that I am bilingual. He did try to learn my language. He downloaded a rosetta stone of my language but gave up he said it's too hard, LOL.
As to dating, since I became a serial dater thanks to online dating, I can say most of them are respectful. In fact the few that I have unpleasant experiences with are not even Americans, most were Italians not showing up on the date and the worst of all who touched me inappropriately when we were watching a movie in a theater was a fellow Asian - an Indian. I'm Filipino.
I do agree about Americans not being bilingual. My husband actually envies me that I am bilingual. He did try to learn my language. He downloaded a rosetta stone of my language but gave up he said it's too hard, LOL.
As to dating, since I became a serial dater thanks to online dating, I can say most of them are respectful. In fact the few that I have unpleasant experiences with are not even Americans, most were Italians not showing up on the date and the worst of all who touched me inappropriately when we were watching a movie in a theater was a fellow Asian - an Indian. I'm Filipino.
It's harder to learn a new language as an adult. The younger you start, the better. I learned English and French simultaneously growing up and am fluently bilingual as a result. But with dating, I have found that having a French name and speaking it fluently has been a huge asset.
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