Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

[gelman66]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Yes Canadians are polite, its true. In some ways I'm stereotypical Canadian that way. Its one of those things I think coming from a cold climate you have to rely on others, so you have to treat them well. We have to a strong group cohesion otherwise you won't survive (at least not in old days). In other words when its 40 below be generous and kind to others because you never know when you might need their help.

[Medusa]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Just throwing this out there.

Wolverine and Deadpool are Canadians.

[Jembru]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Yes Canadians are polite, its true. In some ways I'm stereotypical Canadian that way. Its one of those things I think coming from a cold climate you have to rely on others, so you have to treat them well. We have to a strong group cohesion otherwise you won't survive (at least not in old days). In other words when its 40 below be generous and kind to others because you never know when you might need their help.

When I was living in Japan and working in a multi-nationality environment, besides the 2 British girls I lived with, and before I started making Japanese friends, all of the people I chose to hang around with were Canadian. They were by no means the largest demographic. It was about 50% people from the US, 50% people from anywhere else. Yet for some reason, all of the people who were fun to talk to, who showed me kindness and made me feel at ease around, were Canadian. Having had a similar experience during my time in Germany (although my closest friends were made up of mainly Germans and an Irish guy that time), I concluded that Canada must just produce a high percentage of people on my wavelength. If what you say is true, then maybe it was the fact that we were all far from our homelands and in some way 'in it together' that made these people take me under their wing and make me feel at home.

If I weren't so intolerant of the cold, I'd love to move to Canada one day!

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

You folk talk about huge countries... here we're more parochial.

'Do you trust her?'
'Not likely! She's from Aberdare!'
You get my drift...

Or...
North Walian 'Do you speak Welsh?' (probably would be asked in Welsh though)
South Walian 'Of course.' (ditto for answered).
North Walian, 'No you don't! You're a Taffy!' (Almost certainly in English).

[Medusa]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

I'm not sure what you said. But I agree.

Latinos sort of understand that. Here you get many different South Americans, North Americans and such speaking one language: 'Spanish'. But you can talk to an El Salvadorian and tell she's not Mexican. In fact Los Angeles Mexicans born here speak Spanish with a distinct accent. Enough so I can spot if you are Mexican born here or a Mexican born in Mexico.

Usually it's because Born and raised in Mexico speak 10x faster then American Mexicans. And those from LA speak with a different tone and pace as well. Of course everyone else just calls us beaners. What's really funny is that Mexicans are North American. People tend to forget that.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

I'm not sure what you said. But I agree.

Latinos sort of understand that. Here you get many different South Americans, North Americans and such speaking one language: 'Spanish'. But you can talk to an El Salvadorian and tell she's not Mexican. In fact Los Angeles Mexicans born here speak Spanish with a distinct accent. Enough so I can spot if you are Mexican born here or a Mexican born in Mexico.

Usually it's because Born and raised in Mexico speak 10x faster then American Mexicans. And those from LA speak with a different tone and pace as well. Of course everyone else just calls us beaners. What's really funny is that Mexicans are North American. People tend to forget that.

I knew it. Latinos and Welsh are one and the same! Come to Wales, all of you!

[Medusa]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Oh oh. I have examples!
This is Edward James Olmos. A very popular American/Mexican actor.
He was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents.

This is a guy in Mexico:

And dreamy Antonio Banderas speaking Catalan while Salma Hayek speaks Spanish from Mexico:

All sound different and can be placed geographically by their slight differences.

(I'm AWAKE! Sorry for boring post on Spanish)

[Näre]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Its one of those things I think coming from a cold climate you have to rely on others, so you have to treat them well.

I wonder how the Finns have survived then! (I'm pretty sure that we're amongst the rudest people on Earth.)

Wait now I know: each one of us has an axe in a cupboard. (Last autumn I took part in a course in Sweden and there we had a group discussion thing where different groups told about their stereotypes about Finns, Swedes and Russians. The Swedes said that every Finn has an axe.)

[DanieMarie]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

You folk talk about huge countries... here we're more parochial.

'Do you trust her?'
'Not likely! She's from Aberdare!'
You get my drift...

Or...
North Walian 'Do you speak Welsh?' (probably would be asked in Welsh though)
South Walian 'Of course.' (ditto for answered).
North Walian, 'No you don't! You're a Taffy!' (Almost certainly in English).

Haha true. In Germany we still have it on a larger scale, though. Like, you can tell when someone is Swabian or Bavarian or Berliner or Saxon and there are clear cultural differences between those places, but they tend to be pretty large regions of the country (I guess Berlin isn't that big geographically, but it's the capital.)

- - - Updated - - -

I wonder how the Finns have survived then! (I'm pretty sure that we're amongst the rudest people on Earth.)

Wait now I know: each one of us has an axe in a cupboard. (Last autumn I took part in a course in Sweden and there we had a group discussion thing where different groups told about their stereotypes about Finns, Swedes and Russians. The Swedes said that every Finn has an axe.)

One thing I've noticed: almost everyone in Northwestern Europe (so, Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Germany) thinks their own country is the rudest country in Europe. I guess one country has to be the rudest, but I find that it's almost never true. Like, as an outsider, I can't for the life of me understand why the Dutch think they're so rude and unfriendly. They're so polite and friendly! I've heard it from Danish and Swedish people as well, and I just can't see it. I can see how the Germans are rude and unfriendly, but I live here, so that would fit with the pattern...

[Näre]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

One thing I've noticed: almost everyone in Northwestern Europe (so, Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Germany) thinks their own country is the rudest country in Europe. I guess one country has to be the rudest, but I find that it's almost never true. Like, as an outsider, I can't for the life of me understand why the Dutch think they're so rude and unfriendly. They're so polite and friendly! I've heard it from Danish and Swedish people as well, and I just can't see it. I can see how the Germans are rude and unfriendly, but I live here, so that would fit with the pattern...

Yep, that's true!
Another reason would probably be that Finland is culturally a bit different from it's more 'continental' neighbours and the concept of politeness is also different: personal space and peace is really important here so it seems like people are "minding their own business" and ignoring others. Though I've noticed this kind of behaviour in other parts of Scandinavia too. (And there's some kind of national lack of self-esteem amongst Finns, we tend to speculate far too much how other countries see us.)
And I can't speak for Helsinki because it's a different thing!

Ironically, I see Germans as one of the most polite people out there! But I haven't been to Berlin, it seems to have a bit harsh reputation...

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Have to say the rudest group I've ever seen anywhere in the world is the American Tourist. Being American military and stationed oversea's we tended to try and blend in yet once a tourist came to the area you could spot them a mile away generally. Didn't matter if it was Scotland, Coastal Spain, Northern Italy the Black Sea region or in the Philliphines or Japan, it was always the same. Many times outlandish clothes for the area, the screaming voice which usually got louder as they insisted if they yelled louder the person they were speaking to would suddenly understand English.

Then the frustration and a bit of anger when someone else walked in and the person though here's another American. Don't know how many times I murdered a foreign language as I tried to speak in the host nations language. Yet for all of that the people were generally forgiving and try to help us in what to say, how to say it and frequently slow down so we could better grasp what they were saying. Many times it seemed using some broken English with us going so far as to ask us how to use a word or when as we each sort of belittled ourselves trying to speak the other's language.

Of course with the Scots it was a common language that separated us though we both spoke English. Can't say for the Welsh or even Brits as I only interacted with them on a limited basis. Still got some interesting looks when they'd say boot and i'd say trunk for instance. Still recall though in 1980 time frame "Fag" was a mind trip getting used to the idea of it being a cigarette and being asked for a fag.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Nationality Stereotypes (split from Atrocities thread)

Depends. I've worked in tourism and Americans can be extremely polite. They tend to be louder than other nationalities, which can grate people the wrong way, but they don't mean any harm by it. I'd say the only really major issue with them is that they can be a bit demanding as customers. The concept of customer service can be completely different in Europe (and varies within Europe) than it is in North America, but a lot of American tourists expect the same style of service they get at home. In Berlin, friendly service is a give and take sort of thing. You don't get friendly service unless you're friendly. If you're demanding, you'll get scowled at. A lot of people don't get that and complain about it.

Americans on bus tours and cruise ships tend to be horrible, but I find that true of almost any nationality. I think those methods of travel tend to attract people who don't really want to make the effort to respect the locals. They're not the worst, though. Party tourists are the worst. Again, nationality doesn't really come into play there. I see more European party tourists than American or Australian, though. I think Easy Jet and Airbnb fuel it.

Young backpackers of almost any nationality tend to be awesome.