"No wonder there are Republicans............."

[DFW]

Last night, I went to the reception desk of our hotel near Chicago, and asked about transportation to the airport for today I noticed the woman looking it up had a slight accent, so I asked her where she was from. She said, "Bosnia," and then proceeded to explain to me where Bosnia was. I stopped her in mid-explanation, and told her that there was no need to explain to me where Bosnia was. I knew exactly where Bosnia was, and the even spoke a few words to her in Serbian. Her jaw dropped and a big smile broke out. She then told me I was the FIRST American she had met at the hotel who knew where Bosnia was, let alone spoke any of her language.

I thought to myself, OK, hold on here. Just a generation ago, Bill Clinton was offering support by the armed forces of the United States to quell some of the violence in her country. And here I am, at a hotel frequented by business-types, and a woman, fluent in English, who has obviously been asked MANY times where was from, has never once met an American who had the slightest idea where Bosnia was.

Mamma H. Mia, what DO they teach in our schools, what DO they report on the news here?

I shudder to think, after four years of Trump's devastation of State, who must be staffing the Europe desk at the State Department these days. I think the janitorial staff probably has a greater knowledge of the world than the suits and ties manning the desks by day.

[LakeArenal]

1. Most don't know all the capitals of their own states.

A relative of mine thought Costa Rica was an island of Mexico.

Not sure if it’s ignorance or just lack of interest beyond their own sphere.

[EnergizedLib]

4. It'll only get even worse

If these freaks on the other side get their way.

[LakeArenal]

5. They want teachers who don't know where Bosnia is too.

[paleotn]

12. Agreed. My better half had an old collegue...

A relatively bright, masters prepared RN who was surprised that there are actually separate countries in Africa. One of the most diverse continents on earth. I about fell off the couch. Said RN was also surprised that Italians don't pronounce the name of their capital the same as we English speakers. Holy crap! Don't blow her mind with Nederland and Deutschland.

It's not that their dumb in most cases. They simply don't care.

[lambchopp59]

2. I have to admit I don't recall all my countries anymore

Even after countless recital lessons way back in junior high, and write-in tests I aced every time. I was shocked to see how poorly the "average American" did on street reporters giving spot quizzes on unlabelled world maps. Jesus the one who couldn't even identify Australia had me reeling how stupidity reigns supreme these days.
I did a bit of brushing up, now at my ripe age of 62, after discovering I blanked out some places doing the same. I guess middle school was a long, long time ago.
Then I recalled I still have the same dyslexia that often switched Iraq with Iran's places somehow in my puny brane. Oh if only I had the berry good brane like TFG...

[FB47243]

3. Forever

Seems like forever since I recall my country too.

[paleotn]

6. It's taught, or at least it use to be. Certainly still is in private secondary schools....

The problem is, most Americans simply don't care. We've never been a terribly curious people overall. Particularly about what lies far from our borders.

[Lonestarblue]

7. If most US citizens had to take the test for citizenship, they would flunk.

I have taken a sample test, and it is not that difficult, though it does require you to remember which quote comes from which founding document. We have a crisis of education in this country because too many people just do not want to learn. They’re content to get by with jobs at Walmart or the local fast-food joint—and I’m not knocking those jobs because they are an important part of our economy. What I’m knocking are the people who refuse to acquire better skills for higher paying jobs and then get angry because they think they don’t have what they deserve—what the world owes them.

[hunter]

16. WalMart? Fast Food? An incurious twit can be President of the U.S.A.! Just look at Trump.

Anti-intellectualism has always been a problem in the U.S.A..

There are business leaders who make more than a million dollars a year who are just fucking venal and stupid.

So are some of our most "successful" politicians.

They celebrate their ignorance.

All they needed for success was the right connections. often through their parents.

Hard work doesn't always pay off in dollars or prestige, but sometimes it helps.

[mcar]

8. We don't learn, we don't teach

If it's not about this country, we, in general (not all of us) don't care.

Now we're taking even that away. SMDH

[Wednesdays]

10. Indeed...

compare what they talk about on the US network news, versus what they talk about on BBC for example.

[yardwork]

9. It is pathetic. Years ago the MSM dropped their foreign correspondents.

Americans are deliberately misinformed. It's tragic.

[OMGWTF]

11. In 1983 I moved to Cleveland from Seattle for my husband's job.

I joined a women's softball team and a teammate asked where I was from. I said "Washington" they thought I meant DC. I said "No, Washington state." They replied, "There's a state of Washington?" Oy fking vay!

[Rebl2]

14. Oh my

I know some state capitals and my own.

[JanMichael]

13. It is stunning know how little most Americans know about the world.

I mean stunningly little

And I imagine as time goes on it gets even worse than it was before. Maybe when there were only three channels at least the major things would work its way through people's brains.

Now it just depends what web 9.10 or 9.20 or 10.30 or 50 * 50 is telling them what they want to see.

I'm about ready to just accept some sort of associate AI to just take over. I give up.

[xocetaceans]

15. "Who...?" is a good question given that Trump made Richard Grenell ambassador to Germany,...

...and Grenell proceeded immediately to do as described in this excerpt from the Guardian:

(This article is more than 4 years old)
New US ambassador to Germany under fire for rightwing support

Politicians accuse Richard Grenell of breaching protocol over interview with Breitbart

Philip Oltermann
@philipoltermann
Mon 4 Jun 2018 15.14 EDT


German politicians have criticised Donald Trump’s new ambassador to Germany after he said he wanted to “empower” anti-establishment rightwing forces throughout Europe.

In an interview with the far-right news outlet Breitbart over the weekend, Richard Grenell, who has been in office for less than a month, said: “I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders.

“I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.”

In Berlin, the foreign ministry asked him to clarify the comments and politicians criticised him for a perceived breach of diplomatic protocol.

...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/new-us-ambassador-to-germany-under-fire-for-rightwing-support

Anyone who calls for a strengthening of the European right - especially someone who is the US Ambassador to Germany and, therefore, on some level (at least, by his/her ability to qualify for that post) should absolutely know better due to history - is a complete and utter idiot or a tool of fascism.

Grenell (in a normal world) should have been recalled to Washington on account of his behavior and replaced immediately. However, the Trump Administration's appointments (and their legacies) are those about which one needs to be worried, and he was one of those. Hopefully, the Biden Administration has been able to make changes to improve things.

Aside from that clear worry, though, I don't think most citizens of the US travel very extensively internationally or are deeply acquainted with multiple foreign languages, but travel is expensive as is language acquisition.

[thucythucy]

18. An old joke told by my European friends:

What do you call someone who speaks two languages?

Bi-lingual.

What do you call someone who speaks three languages?

Tri-lingual.

What do you call someone who speaks only one language?

American.

[xocetaceans]

19. There is some hope now with the internet. It might change things for the better if the aspects of...

...the internet that peddle misinformation can be withstood.

Just the other day, I listened to some quick lectures/presentations on Flemish. Having access to examples of the actual phonology of a language makes such a difference! It is significantly better than just being able to read words on a page. It would have helped so much, if such a thing had been available fifty years or so ago.

It was fun to listen to these:

https://www.youtube.com/user/FlemishForDummies


But, yes, I have heard that joke as well.

[thucythucy]

17. According to David Halberstam there wasn't a single "expert" on Vietnam

at the State Dept. in the 1940's, '50's and well into the '60's who actually spoke Vietnamese.

In fact, all through the 1950's Vietnam was handled by the French desk at State.

And I remember it being reported that GW Bush didn't know there was a difference between Sh'ia and Sunni Muslims.

I have a book somewhere in the attic called "Ronald Reagan's Reign of Errors" in which some of his whoppers were listed.

Of course, all of this ignorance was overshadowed by the towering edifice of ignorance and BS that is TFG.

[former9thward]

20. She must not have ever been to the SE section of Chicago.

That is where all the Serbians live. I am surprised that she has not run into any of them.

[Kali]

21. I just found out there is a Bosnian restaurant in Tucson

who knew?

https://www.alisahrestaurant.com/

[ecstatic]

22. It's by design. Every other country makes learning about world news

and other countries and languages a priority. Maybe there was another period in our past like what we're going through now where they decided to suppress certain topics from discussion in schools and in the news? I will say that I did take world history and several years worth of foreign language classes in school, but the context wasn't there. I had no idea that our democracy could fall. That possibility was never once brought up at any point and it never occurred to me. I thought everything here was built in stone and permanent and it wasn't until 2016 that I learned otherwise.