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What is Americans attitude to foreigners?

Tomorrow said:
I think I can understand why you'd think that.
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Totally pleasant people, if a little chatty in a queue.

But, I really can't stand the "Just gimme a call" or "Stop by anytime" lines when they're not always genuine. Those phrases have a much different meaning over here, as in people are insulted if you don't stop in/call if they're spoken.
 
acidfast7 said:
queue
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Whoa, I heard that Americans don't know what "queue" means.
Americans stands in line. British people stands in queue 😛

Btw, how do Britishers feel when they come to USA. I guess they don't have any problems in communication (british or american english...but it's still english) but have you ever be the witness to the situation when American could not understand clearly Britisher?
 
No one will notice that you are a foreigner unless you go advertising the fact. You will be fine. Have fun.
 
Moriquendi said:
Whoa, I heard that Americans don't know what "queue" means.
Americans stands in line. British people stands in queue 😛

Btw, how do Britishers feel when they come to USA. I guess they don't have any problems in communication (british or american english...but it's still english) but have you ever be the witness to the situation when American could not understand clearly Britisher?
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All I usually hear now is "British English" and in several other languages the word is borrowed 😀

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Tomorrow said:
I think I can understand why you'd think that.
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You're missing the point again. Americans have a terrible signal:noise ratio. Ever listen to an American cell phone conversation (gotta spend the minutes I guess.) The thing I appreciate about the Germans is that speak directly with no niceties, Swedes don't speak so often and with great signal:noise ratios. Americans also have a penchant for exaggeration, which can be entertaining, but not so useful during serious discussion.

Conversations in American English are often more superficial and less direct on a word-per-word basis.

In fact, the sentence "I think I can understand why you'd think that." is a perfect example. No information content whatsoever. You either understand or you don't.
 
Moriquendi said:
Btw, how do Britishers feel when they come to USA. I guess they don't have any problems in communication (british or american english...but it's still english) but have you ever be the witness to the situation when American could not understand clearly Britisher?
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The only "Britisher" I could never understand was that silly Dick Van Dyke character with the horrible Cockney accent in Mary Poppins. 😉 😀

OP, you sound positively "American" in your worry over visiting a "fer-in" land. We are the great melting pot of the world. Sure, you can face pockets of ignorance and xenophobia (and everyone, stop bashing the South...typically people are friendlier there), but that can happen anywhere. You are more likely to be an object of curiosity.

People make a habit of trying to stick out here. Just don't wear a football jersey and get a lobster sunburn and no one will spot you as a Britisher from afar.
 
Never had a problem as Brit in the US except from officials. Airport, police, anything official and they seem to have a real holier-than-thou attitude. They seem incredibly over the top, ignorant, bit stupid and hugely irritating. I had times when I couldn't work out if they were being serious or acting something out of a bad TV show.

Watch yourself on the roads too - they have a few funny road rules at traffic lights and the police love to pull you up.

Many places I haven't been in the US - like the bible belt areas, but I hear from friends recently that the Southern hospitality wasn't very hospitable at all, those same people really loved San Francisco. Two Asian friends that recently finished a tour actually said SF was their favourite part of the US>

My sis lived in LA for 5 years - people there were lovely, but again the general impression is that it's very superficial in terms of behaviour and pursuit of a lifestyle. Everything is for show. I found it a little creepy, but I read into things a lot in general.

I couldn't live there personally, but I'm very different to my sister (she's very extroverted, models and loves walking around with her small dog). I prefer whining about politics and am very cynical. Love rain and snow. As a side not - there's quite a few Polish in LA. Sis even shared a pad with a Polish couple for a while.

Overall, from a traveller's point of view I'd say US ranks pretty high in terms of the natives being friendly and welcoming. Not as high as say China (which treats you better than their own), but maybe a bit higher than the UK, and certainly higher than a lot of mainland Europe.
 
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Moriquendi said:
Hey,

I've never been to USA (probably it will change soon) but I've heard many opinions about americans attitude to foreigners.

How americans perceive foreigners?
Do they treat them as "someone worse"?
Do they tolerate foreigners' culture?
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The first thing you must know is that most Americans only speak English. If you don't speak English, you may find it difficult to communicate.

However, other than that, Americans are generally very hospitable and kind to foreign visitors. The United States is a nation of immigrants, after all. Every visitor is, in a way, seen as a potential future American.

You may encounter a few rude people, but don't let them ruin your visit.
 
Moriquendi said:
Whoa, I heard that Americans don't know what "queue" means.
Americans stands in line. British people stands in queue 😛

Btw, how do Britishers feel when they come to USA. I guess they don't have any problems in communication (british or american english...but it's still english) but have you ever be the witness to the situation when American could not understand clearly Britisher?
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YES! When I moved to the US from the UK with my wife who had a broad Scottish accent at the time, the hotel maid, of hispanic extraction, could not understand her at all. "You no speak English?" My wife had no problem deciphering the maid's English, however.

Even when she went shopping, she often had a hard time when asking where the milk or bread was. Many of my UK colleagues found similar instances, if to a lesser degree. This was in the NYC area.
 
There is much prejudice toward the "South" and southerners in general but I've found it to be one of the friendliest and accepting places in America. They don't call it "southern hospitality" for nothing 🙂 And yes, southerners are talkative with friends and strangers alike, it's part of the southern charm (I think its called social interaction and friendliness). And - gasp! - they often chat with perfect strangers while in a queue. Oh my! They don't keep a stiff upper lip. Wot!

On the other hand, I've found the Northeast to be one of the most rude and intolerant. If you say "Good Morning" to someone in Boston, New York or almost any area in the NE - expect them to look at you as if you've just sprouted another head from your neck.

The rest of America is friendly in general. Come to America and enjoy yourself! You'll be glad you did.
 
The South can be very friendly, hospitable, and polite if you fit the proper demographic... of course that can be said of anywhere. The key here is that Southerns do have better public manners then in a place like say Minnesota where they will let the door slam in your face at the mall. 🙂
 
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acidfast7 said:
But, I really can't stand the "Just gimme a call" or "Stop by anytime" lines when they're not always genuine. Those phrases have a much different meaning over here, as in people are insulted if you don't stop in/call if they're spoken.
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This I can understand. I've had many conversations like that. "Oh, let's have dinner sometime! Call me!" "Absolutely! I will!" and we both walk away and both parties have absolutely no intention of calling or setting up dinner.

Or if one does, the other party gets all flustered and tries to find some polite way of saying "I didn't actually mean it." Like, "Yeah, I'd love to! But gosh, I'm so busy... I'll call you when I'm free, OK?"

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I smell bad? 🙄
 
As an American living in a foreign country where foreigners are not exactly embraced…

I sincerely believe it would be far easier for me to be a foreigner in America than as the American foreigner where I am now.

Foreigners are always foreign; strange. But because there are so many foreigners in the US, you're actually less strange in the US than the average foreigner in another country.

Stick to the coasts. You'll find a lot more openness to foreigners in coastal areas than in the Midwest, usually.
 
Moriquendi said:
Whoa, I heard that Americans don't know what "queue" means.
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Of course we do. Queues are what print jobs sit in while they wait for the printer to get to them. Anyone with a computer knows that.

Lines are what people stand in while they wait for the printer to spit out their job.
 
thejadedmonkey said:
If you speak english, I'll treat you the same. Heck, if you're not great at speaking english but trying, I might even be polite.

If you're rude to me, or expect me to speak *your language here*, I'll look at you, say "sorry I don't understand you" and walk off. At least show me that you're trying to speak english and I'll give you the time of day.
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LOL. As if any foreigner would expect you to know any language but your own! 🙄
 
flopticalcube said:
YES! When I moved to the US from the UK with my wife who had a broad Scottish accent at the time, the hotel maid, of hispanic extraction, could not understand her at all. "You no speak English?" My wife had no problem deciphering the maid's English, however.

Even when she went shopping, she often had a hard time when asking where the milk or bread was. Many of my UK colleagues found similar instances, if to a lesser degree. This was in the NYC area.
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A few years back we got chatting to a group of Americans while we were over in the Netherlands – they were from California if memory serves. A friend of mine had to translate what I was saying to them as they couldn't get their head around my accent. 😱
 
Americans sometimes have problems understanding non-American dialects of English. For example, most can understand the Queen's English (stereotypical "British" accents from the movies), but might struggle otherwise. Cockney is one example that I still can't decipher to this day.

One thing that you'll notice is that Americans *tend* to like Europeans a great deal. Deep down, we all know that most of our ancestors came from there. You'll find many that are fascinated by an accent that isn't very common (your Polish accent, for example).

Don't be dismayed if someone looks like they're scowling at you when you speak to them. We do the same thing to other Americans when we can't hear them. It's not meant to be offensive, rather we're just trying to focus a little more and slow down your words in our minds.
 
blevins321 said:
Americans sometimes have problems understanding non-American dialects of English. For example, most can understand the Queen's English (stereotypical "British" accents from the movies), but might struggle otherwise. Cockney is one example that I still can't decipher to this day.
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And it's funny because that accent (received pronunciation) is only actually spoken by around 2% of the UK. But because of it's geographical neutrality it's used in movies and in mainstream media.

Shame, because the UK has so many interesting accents I bet many Americans haven't heard/wouldn't be used to.
 
By technicality, all Americans are foreigners.

I don't think any educated person minds persons from other countries (especially in academia). There are exceptions of course, such as the deep south and other areas of lesser educational opportunity, but chances are if you're just visiting you'll never see those less reputable areas.

With some notable regional differences everyone on the whole is typically nice. At the end of the day though people are people, regardless of where you come from-- you'll get all types with all different personalities.
 
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