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Re: CHAT: The [+foreign] attribute

From:Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 17, 2002, 21:09
Christophe Grandsire wrote:

> Well, most Americans wouldn't either to my knowledge, while most
Europeans can
> situate Paris and Prague. Also, Paris and Prague are country capitals,
not St.
> Louis nor Chicago, so you cannot compare (indeed, asking a French
person to
> situate those towns would be like asking an American to situate
Bordaux or
> Nice).
Hmmm... Bordaux is something like in the Atlantic just North from the Pirinees... not real sure. Anyhow Nice is in the cote d'azur: the French mediterranean, close to Cannes and Monaco. Now, who dares locating Medellin, Maracaibo, Guayaquil or Arequipa?
> To give a better example, how many Americans are able to correctly
situate
> Washington, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Beijing? Those are towns an
educated
> European is supposed to be able to situate (although I admit many
won't :(( ).
> > It's not anything against Americans, it's just to give a good
reference point.
> Nobody will deny that world geography is better taught in Europe than
in
> America :))) .
I once was supposed to know all the capital cities, and all seas, gulfs and peninsulas in the old world at school (previous year was the same with the Americas), and I was quite good at it (at least before the test). -- Carlos Th

Replies

Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Pavel Iosad <pavel_iosad@...>