American Kid in the V&A

[Cheeky Monkey]

Overheard by CM in the Victoria and Albert yesterday.

American boy, who must have been eleven or twelve pointing at a donation box by the entrance that read: Please Pay £3

"Mom, what does this mean? It says 'please pay' then some weird letter."

 

[bhaexpress]

Overheard by CM in the Victoria and Albert yesterday.

American boy, who must have been eleven or twelve pointing at a donation box by the entrance that read: Please Pay £3

"Mom, what does this mean? It says 'please pay' then some weird letter."

Another prime example of the American education system.

 

[Simster]

Overheard by CM in the Victoria and Albert yesterday.

American boy, who must have been eleven or twelve pointing at a donation box by the entrance that read: Please Pay £3

"Mom, what does this mean? It says 'please pay' then some weird letter."

It's all relative though. Of course, most British kids would recognise it as a pound sign, but how many of them would recognise it as the old letter "L"?

 

[ezzoud]

And these are the ones enlightened enough to get a passport and see the rest of the world! Doesn't say much for the rest of them does it?

 

[Gary Leeds]

What part did he have trouble understanding? Was it the word "please"?

I bet if it said "BIG MAC £3.99" he would have had no problem understanding that

 

[Mellotron]

It's all relative though. Of course, most British kids would recognise it as a pound sign, but how many of them would recognise it as the old letter "L"?

That's not the right comparison at all. The right comparison is whether a 12 year old British kid would recognise a dollar sign. They ALL would.

 

[daveinprague]

He was like, that's a weird letter, and I was like, you know! and he
was like, that's awesome, and I was like wow

 

[Simster]

That's not the right comparison at all. The right comparison is whether a 12 year old British kid would recognise a dollar sign. They ALL would.

I did think that myself, but concluded that the comparison you highlight is not fair either. You are right that a British kid would recognise a dollar sign, but they are far more prominent in Britain than the £ in the USA. Firstly, there are LOADS of countries that use dollar signs, and secondly the dollar is above the 4 on a British keyboard. How many Brits would recognise a yen sign or a €?

 

[MattBackHome]

Agreed - it's a shame for the kid, but I suspect you'd find equivalent 'black holes' in any education system around the world. And the fact that Mom has taken him to the V&A shows at least an attempt at edification. Good on them, at least they're doing something.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

At least the American kid was in another country's museum so presumably attempting to learn something of our culture and history - when many US citizens perspective of the world is at best rather limited and often skewed by Fox News.......

On the other hand I wonder how many UK tourists bother to visit museums in the US? But then I recall the line from Bob Hoskins at the end of the 'Long Good Friday' about the contribution of the Germans to the world compared to the US - ''a little bit more than a hot dog''....

 

[bhaexpress]

What is so odd is that the Americans effectively invented the Internet (it used to be a military network originally), they also make far more use of TV than most and yet they are the most insular people you could ever meet. I can understand easily why not that many Americans travel abroad as they live in a vast country with a lot of things to see (spread over a wide area of course) but any Englishman can tell you that our accents are usually mistaken for Australian, despite the fact it's nothing like it.

 

[NMH]

We can ridicule the US, but WHY should they know what our currency is at that age?

Do you English all know every currency in Europe, and every sign?? Why not, you think the large country of USA ought to know our secluded little island group - why should you not know Greenland's currency, Iceland's, even Gibralta's?
What was the currency of Lichtenstein? The language perhaps?
I'm only taking about Europe there, what about other continents, should you know all about them?

It's too easy to talk about dumb Americans, but they have a lot to know about a country the size of our continent - while they might be closer to the truth if they said we were pompous about our nowadays far-less-significant kingdom.
Of course there are under-educated there who think "America's the biggest country in the World" and have no clue that one island in the World is about the same size as the contiguous USA.
Yes we are speaking English - but how many speak it well, or know more than how to grunt in this language? No, it's not ARE language or THERE language, as I have often read on HEAR

Do you expect all Americans to come fully educated about a little country half the size as California? Isn't THAT in itself a bit DUMB?

$ should actually have two lines through it - which is originally a combination of 'U' and 'S', and was endorsed in the late 1700's by congressman Robert Morris with simply 2 lines through the 'S'.
Now, why doesn't my stupid keyboard show two lines through it? Which stupid mofo endorsed ONE line through the 'S'??

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

No you wouldn't expect kids to know every currency NMH, but this family were visiting the UK, and as pointed out above, are obviously fairly educated/cultured to be taking their kids to the V&A, which made it all the stranger imho.

 

[bhaexpress]

I wouldn't class Americans as dumb, I'm sure man for man they're no thicker than us. I do know though that they are not as well educated as a rule. My ex Step Daughter sounded dumb but in fact she was quite smart. What she didn't have was a halfway decent education. Granted the education system in that part of the US was the second worst nationally but I've seen this in other areas. Teachers are much more poorly paid than here and they tend to have to deal with bigger classes not to mention interfering parents who won't hesitate to call a lawyer if they disagree about school policy. My step daughter got her G.E.D. in six weeks at an external college as she dropped out at 16. It would have taken her two years if she had stayed in school.

 

[NMH]

No you wouldn't expect kids to know every currency NMH, but this family were visiting the UK, and as pointed out above, are obviously fairly educated/cultured to be taking their kids to the V&A, which made it all the stranger imho.

Hmm, so if you go to New York City and visit a museum at 11 years of age - are you there to LEARN ....or perhaps you arrived knowing everything at the door? :>/)

 

[magoo]

What would Diana say

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Think you'll find Americans tend to use # when referring to the pound and not £, although I could obviously be wrong.

 

[NMH]

I wouldn't class Americans as dumb, I'm sure man for man they're no thicker than us. I do know though that they are not as well educated as a rule. My ex Step Daughter sounded dumb but in fact she was quite smart. What she didn't have was a halfway decent education. Granted the education system in that part of the US was the second worst nationally but I've seen this in other areas. Teachers are much more poorly paid than here and they tend to have to deal with bigger classes not to mention interfering parents who won't hesitate to call a lawyer if they disagree about school policy. My step daughter got her G.E.D. in six weeks at an external college as she dropped out at 16. It would have taken her two years if she had stayed in school.

Okay so you can slice two puddings made by different companies and see different ingredients, and either will be judged by the eater.
Victoria and Albert, Guggenheim, Tate, Met The World is a whole lot of puddings, tasted by a whole lot of eaters!

Look at yourself - how much do you KEEP UP with the news of the World? Is it even all truth and can you assess an opinion from truth?
Is the WORLD even made up of countries..... or are those just lines on a map on a planet?
Great, if you watch Al Jazeera, read the Chicago Tribune, discuss many topics among your associates from Argentina, Tunisia, Fiji, Australia, Russia, Somalia.....

We have an easier time examining an American because we *almost* have a common language.
Certainly I have felt like I didn't share a language with some when walking along London Road!
It's tougher to criticize anyone speaking a different language of course - especially when in their country where they know the ropes and you don't.

'Just putting forward the alternative way to look at fer'ners before you all get get carried away thinking "they're all stupid".

Americanisms have more than 'crept' into the English language too, incidentally. You should check it out while the getting's good.

Have a nice day

 

[NMH]

Think you'll find Americans tend to use # when referring to the pound and not £, although I could obviously be wrong.

Which Americans - South or North or Central, and if North - does that refer to English speaking Canadians, or include French Canadians too?
:whatever happened to the wink smiley?:

Most everyone (sic) knows that the # sign is aka 'the pound sign' on a keyboard or telephone - and any confusion might be caused by the lack of a £ sign on a US keyboard!
# prefixes a number, and is usually used in place of the very word; "number".

Good one though LB

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I did think that myself, but concluded that the comparison you highlight is not fair either. You are right that a British kid would recognise a dollar sign, but they are far more prominent in Britain than the £ in the USA. Firstly, there are LOADS of countries that use dollar signs, and secondly the dollar is above the 4 on a British keyboard. How many Brits would recognise a yen sign or a €?

This is i think a fairer assessment of the exchange. it's easy to bash yanks, but the child was inquisitive enough to ask about it.