American Reacts to Europeans Answering Geography Questions
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2024
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"Some of these people may not speak English as their first language"
NONE of these people speak English as their first language
Imagine americans doing a similar test but in a foreign language.😂
I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught onto this completely mind blowing comment of his...
Same thought exactly
I dunno mind, I think the dutch learn English alongside Hollands.
@@vincentvega9863 everyone in Europe learn English at school, but is our second language
"Name 4 capitals Worldwide that have 4 letters.. in your Second language."
Yeah, that can be tough. Missed Rome as I got stuck with the Swedish spelling in my head: Rom.
@@Aztetos Like in German. I would have failed with Prag, also.
Yeah, I instantly thought of Rome and Kiew. After thinking about it I got Oslo but then I was stuck 😂
There's a port city next to Pisa, yes that Pisa. The Port is located in Livorno, but on English maps it's called Leghorn. How f-ed is that 😂
@@davidt.5513 I got Oslo and Lima then went blank. Completely missed Rome and have just remembered Riga exists 10 mins later
Wait a minute , they get 20 Euro to answer hard questions but Americans get a 100 for getting simple ones right ?
Yes. Because US dollar values are made up by Companies where on EU out cost of living in in check by SOCIALISM
The world is unfair 😢
It's to make them feel better, you know a participation award
€20 is worth more than $100 ...
@@Muck006 No it isn't lol.
'"some" of those people might not speak English as their first language' - almost no one did. Which makes the questions involving specific questions about names and letters so much harder, because the countries and cities often have other names in their native language.
Multilingualism is the norm in the western world.
Monolingualism is the norm in USA.
Aye. These are mostly not questions about geography at all, they were questions about English language.
Not really. For example, Rome still has four letters in Italian, "Roma". The real issue comes when the languages are using a whole another name for a certain State or city. For example, India's real name is not India, but rather, "Bharat", or again, "Zhōngguó" as China's real name. So, naturally, only a native could understand and answer these questions. We're lucky we have the ability to at least agree on international names XD
@@sbadigliodallanoia3963 in German it's "Rom". Other names for cities and countries are also similar, but not exactly the same as in English. I don't know the English name for every country on earth, much less the names in their native languages.
Exactly but that just adds to the fun
when they ask american's questions: where is china?
when they ask europeans: so what is the population of sweden?
incorrect u missed it by 3 people.
Where is China? I don't know, near Canada?
@@loremasteringwion9930 Is it in Australia?
@@spugelo359 No, it's next to the country of Africa.
😂😂😂
Let's not forget that for most of them, the question is asked in their second language, which adds a bit to the difficulty.
Yes but they are university students in an international students organization event (All of them are interseted in other cultures). If you ask the same questions at the exit of a supermarket you will not have the same answers.
Yes, you could say the same about many people from the US though.
@@skasteve6528literally how???
@@kustow.967 Sure but a question in your native language is always easier to answer on the spot. I for example wouldn't think of Rome(a) in an instant as the answer to a capital with 4 letters since it's spelled Rom in my language, Swedish, my first thought was Bern, but not sure if it would count as it ain't a "proper" capital, also Doha ain't 4 letters in Arabic so yeah. The question should have been can you name capitals that have 4 letters while using their English names which at best is your second language, which compared to stuff like "name a country that starts with a U" they ask Americans is quite a bit harder...
@@Rick_Zune Exactly. I wasn't thinking about Cairo for example, because I'm french and in french the name is "Le Caire", 6 letters.
So it takes a little more time to switch your mind to "how do they write that city in english?"
It is even harder when english is not your native language. In german Rome is written "Rom" for example.
Well exactly, all yanks have to learn a foreign language, which they usually grasp to a reasonable extent.
Same for swedish. Rome in swedish is also "Rom"
We, in the Netherlands, say and write Rome, in saying: with the emphasis on the m, Ró-Mè
There's always the native language... Roma. And if you can't come up with that, then maybe Oslo.
@@martinpoulsen6564 Yes. I thought of Roma, Oslo, and Riga.
"can european answer simple geography question". "simple", yeah right 😅
Well, the questions weren't that hard.
@@KeesBoons geography isn't my strong suit, but I find those questions quite specific, and you have to answer on the spot, in another language. So yes, I'm gonna say that's not so easy
@@estebandit0They weren't really hard if you watch or read news on a daily basis. I've got every single one. Even though the last 4 letter one was tricky for me because I have to find them in English and not my native language.
,,Tell me the name and adress of the Major of Malaga''
@@BlueFlash215 maybe that's just me. I've always sucked at geography
Holy shit. American's got questions like name 3 continents, and Europeans get these? Some of these are nasty in front of camera, under time pressure.
Is it even the same guy asking?
Yeah, most countries in Europe invest heavily into public education. America kind of inherited the English system where you get a decent education at a private school and the unwashed masses at the public schools are not educated very well. Depending on where you live of course, some areas do invest in public education, but a lot of cities dont have the money for it. Which is also a difference, most EU countries fund public schools from the federal budget, not from the county or municipality or whatever.
I never liked geography much in school but I can at least name the capitals of all countries in Europe and that was enough to get the 4 4 letter capital cities question right, Oslo, Riga, Kiev, Rome was my answer.
And through an interest in history and learning by reading wikipedia articles Ive been expanding my geographical knowledge of other continents as well.
I think because Americans are so focused on their own country and culture, which is understandable because the USA is very large, with many diverse cultures and geography and the cultural hegemony that the USA has had since ww2, that there is less incentive for Americans to take interest in other places organically and learn about them. So its not just about the schools. In the EU you wont get very far in life only knowing stuff about your own country and speaking one language. Even to work in my own country at a decently paying job, knowing at least passable English is mandatory.
I'm wondering if the guy asking could answer "simple" questions like that if he had not all the answers
@@daniel-marcinkowski Of course not, throw him back "give me 4 capitals with 7 letters" and see how he would have fared 😂
@@TheSuperappelflap Thank you! Its not just sq miles its also population. The US has 333 million people and ALL of the European countries together are about 700 million. (not the EU that's 449). If you ask a cattleman from Extremadura or a Latvian fisherman, or a Romanian miner these questions, they won't be able to answer either. And the European investment in public education is extremely recent (like post WWII) Most of the ancestors of the 333 million Americans fled Europe because they had no opportunities in Europe. Before 1900 most Europeans lived their whole lives within 50 miles of where they were born, it was the future Americans who were the risk-taking world travelers.
Most of them don't speak English as a first language. The first guy from Turkey failed the first few times because he didn't understand the question. Once he did he nailed it.
Yeah me too. I thought they had to be European countries: Iceland, Finland....um....
I was also going through the lands - Deutschland, England, Scotland, Nederland, ...
The answer with the -stans fits in, I think that part of the name means the same.
@@Cau_No In this case you would have to say Germany and it wouldn't count ;)
I was initially going with the ones ending with "land" as a first idea.
@@Simon_Says England and Scotland also wouldn't as they're both part of the UK.
@@Cau_Noland fits also, Poland as well
The language issue in this is mostly that countries have different names in other languages so if asks for the letters in the country names or city names you have to think of the English name and ignore the ones in your first language.
You're right 👍
True but I think all of the 4 letter ones are spelt the same in English as in the native language (except for Rome/Roma, which still has 4 letters).
@@michaelfink64Not at all, in Slovak and Czech Rome is Rím/Řím.
@@michaelfink64 Rome in German would just be Rom. So instead of 4 letters it's 3. If you only know the german version you cannot use that as an answer. And theres different native languages as well. Not just 1. And they all may use different Words for the Same city. Köln - Cologne - Keulen - Keln - Colonia... etc :D
Liege , Luttich , Luik. Tsss.
The reason Antarctica is the driest IS NOT because all the water is frozen, it's because it does really have the least precipitation of any kind of all the continents. There's very little snow or rain there.
The snow storms tend to just be wind picking up snow that was already there. There's very little outside H2O added or removed from the area.
This while other continents get plenty of water evaporated from the oceans fall on its land to then have their rivers transport said water back to the oceans.
You are a legend and correct 👏👍
Yes, ‘dry’ refers to precipitation. But the reason we care about that classification is because it determines whether and what kind of vegetation can be found here and whether there is drinking water available for humans. But for Antarctica those two aspects don’t really matter, in the sense that having more or less snowfall doesn’t affect these two points: nothing can grow regardless and there is plenty of drinking water available regardless, if a human has access to heat.
@@aphextwin5712 That does not make any sense, and I read your comment three times.
@@bastian6625 When we talk about the driest regions in the world, this is often in regard to that these might be too dry to sustain a human population. In regard to the availability of food as well as drinking water.
In Antarctica, the lack of precipitation does not result in a lack of drinking water, and also is not the reason for the lack of food sources (away from the shore). That is what makes it different compared to most other dry regions.
@@aphextwin5712 I still don't understand your definitions as dry areas are definitely not defined by lack of human resources or vegetation. (But also agree that the guy in the video should have somehow defined what exactly he means by "dry".)
On the English language subject.
I was asked by an American, why we don't speak a European language in England.
😆😅🤣
Yes, Welsh is a beautiful language
It's literally in the name! Bizarre.
Amazing
the correct awnser to that is: because my grandpa won the war.
Growing up in Europe we had a Geography class in school. The teacher would call one of us to the front of the class and ask: You're sailing from (origin) to (destination). Without looking at the map name every ocean, sea, straights, and landmasses you will pass along the way. When I moved to the US as a teenager I was amazed that, not just kids, the adults couldn't even find their home state on the map, never mind their home town.
In Germany we started with a map and the outlines of the 16 states and their capitals and then added all major rivers and mountains. Must have been in the 5th grade. Next was the same but for whole Europe.
@@Staniii2360 OMGZ, what year was that the 50s? sounds like the dark school my dad grew up in :)
@@surterswe did thisin the Netherlands in the nineties (1990-1999). Even had to draw the card of Netherlands ourselves, the provinces, the capitals rivers, lakes, largest roads, large cities, name the seas and islands.
But guess what. I can drive from the Netherlands to Brasov/Cluj-Napoica without a map. I drive trough Germany on the Autobahn without using a map. I know what road numbers and cities to follow for my destination. How? I used a map going somewhere the first time. I just look up the large cities along the Autobahn upfront and off we go.
haha yep I remember that. I loved it. In Ireland, we had to know the how to do this on different map projection with lat/lon in primary school. (Polar Stereographic, Mercator projection, etc) They left navigation by stars to senior school. Much more fun than English or Irish Class having to Dissect J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Julius Caesar's!
in estonia in one point we had to learn every country on continent and their capital city... America was pretty easy but Africa was hard... then again now I dont remember any of them to be honest... but it has been OMG like more than 20 years since I was in school as well.
"Some of these People might not speak english as their first language"... All of them...
Btw.: these were not really "simple" questions. In no way comparable to those in the US videos.
If he were to ask the questions in the US video, poor guy would be homeless.
I feel that they weren't simple, but they weren't hard either. I got most of them sitting in the comfort of my own home. If I was stopped and asked in the street though, I'd probably do much worse, before we even factor in the fact that for most of these people, English isn't their first language.
On the other hand, these are exchange students in the Erasmus Programme, not random people from the steet.
Yeah, but you can study Math in Erasmus and not Geography so...
@@alexia2189 The point is that they are university students, probably above average, and willing to travel.
And LOL this is common knowledge. Knowing basic facts about other countries doesn't make you an expert in geography.
A great difference with the us version is that this guys ask what the correct answer is when they fail.
Another great difference linked to this one is that the interviewer say it’s false when it is… in us ones, they keep the guys believing they got it right
A great difference with the US version is that this guy takes into account the fact that English might not be their first language (like the first one)
American version of "name two capitals on northern coast of Africa" would be "name two capital cities".
They wouldn't have a clue, many think Africa is a country.
I went with Algiers and Tripoli because the question was capitals on the north COAST. Cairo is not on the coast. Oh and I'm American.
They'd answer something like Houston and San Francisco
@@seanposkea me too! I’m Dutch but I accept this as a point to the USA, as you commented first 😉
So, you're asking Americans in their native language, but not the Europeans...
Because he needs the views... & the video is a jab at the Americans
The following are real questions that are asekd in the US:
- What country is the Queen of England from? - Canada
- In what country is the Great Wall of China? - Japan | Texas | Europe
- Showing Clocks and asking what time it is - wrong answer
- What is 15% of 100? - 75 | 35 | 50
- In what country is the panama canal? - Spain
- when was the US founded? - 1800 b.c. | 1200 | 200 b.c. | 1658
- How many Moons does the earth have? - 4 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 30
- Who fought in the Mexican - Amercian war? - Philipines vs. I don't know | French revolution | I don't know
As a European when i was like 12 in school we had to learn basically the whole world including all US states and the capital cities in each state. All countries in Europe + America north+south and their capital cities. For many weeks we practiced this so that in the end we have at least some basic geography knowlege...
We even had to know the main rivers on that continent and find them on otherwise blank map. And when I say blank, I mean there weren't even borders of the countries, just outline of the continent and the rivers.
When our geography teacher was in a good mood he let us play "Stadt, Land, Fluss" ("Categories" game), where you have to list cities, countries, rivers etc. starting with a certain letter. Learning can be fun :)
@@saya-mi
Rivers were worst
@@saya-mi Spaniard here. I only remember Mississippi-Missouri basin and St.Lawrence in North America right now. But I was 11 when I learned those, 42 years ago.
I think Ohio was a river but wouldn't be able to properly locate that in a blank map nowadays. Ah... yes. Forgot Rio Grande/Rio Bravo defining the border of Texas and Mexico.
@@meltdown6165 We were playing it also during breaks, just because it was fun :)
It's a compliment to Europeans to ask those hard questions, and those easy questions that Americans get wrong anyway, is the opposite!
The other landlocked Latin American country must be Paraguay.
Correct
I know it was a guay.. but i guessed on uruguay. Maybe should go for the - guay countries for countries that end with the same 4 letters.
@@matsv201 I think there aren't any beside Paruguay and Uruguay,
The sound is not so good in that video, I didn't hear him say Bolivia, and there were more answers I missed. (but it could be me)
@@JacobBax yea. That is a pity. It would be a slam dunk othervice
@@JacobBaxParaguay & Bolivia
"Its not even about who's really smarter, it's about education"
iwrocker 2024
Intelligence and education kinda goes hand in hand. Without one the other ain't worth so much.
Americans don't want education for their children because they are afraid their children might become "woke"...hahahaa..true story
Yeah, thought that was pretty hilarious. Think we can assume some causation here, at least to some degree?
@@johan.ohgren I absolutely do NOT agree on that. Intelligence is purely a measure of how good you are at solving rational problems. Education does make you score higher on IQ tests, but that is mainly because you get more experience in those types of tasks.
Some of the most intelligent people i've met have had low education level and I've met plenty of college graduates with fairly low intelligence. Especially in humanities where the education does not have much to do with solving rational problems.
There are 5 olympic rings for the inhabited continents like he said (The Americas ; Europe ; Oceania (Australia) ; Asia ; Africa), but, the different colors of the rings (green ; black ; yellow ; red ; blue) are there, because, they're the most prominant colors among the flags all around the world !! There's not a single flag of any country that doesn't have, at least, one of those colors on them !!
The irony is north and south america are actually separate continents with own tectonic plates and Asia and Europe is One continent that should be called Eurasia
@@friedrichmatthies6065 The Issue with that is that Asia actually has several tectonic plates, India is separate, and when you start including the Islands in SW Asia, it gets WAY worse!! In reality there are no functional definitions of 'Continent' that actually work, asides from a political construct! Which is why a lot of countries teach that there are different numbers of continents.
“I’m from Italy but representing Nederlands…” makes totally Italian gesture.
Yeah the gesture made him.
Yeah some weird stuff, like the guy from Netherlands representing Munich...
@@S3nn4h Hes a Dutch guy who studies at Munich University...they represent their uni.
The Woman from Sweden doesn't sound swedish.
Capitals on the north coast of Africa are Rabat, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripolis. Cairo is not on the coast.
Thanks, I thought I was going insane haha
I think the question was intended to mean capitals of countries on the north coast of Africa, rather than capitals actually on the north coast. At least that's how I interpreted it.
Indeed.
@@Sorarsethat’s how I interpreted it as well
I think they meant capitals of countries on the North Coast. Rabat is kind of questionable if they mean the location of the city because you could argue than it is on one of the west coasts.
Geography is taught as a distinct subject for a minimum of five years for each pupil in most state schools in Europe. When I sat my Welsh A-levels at age 17, my Geography exams were three x 3 hr exams, incl.: domestic geography, my choice of any three continents, plus cartography, geomorphology, and natural geography. My oldest son "graduated" from a US high school and didn't do most of these until studying geography and economics at university in Canada.
I doubt it’s like than in Wales anymore.
They don't teach geography in US High School?
Not in France. Geography is taught alongside History sharing approximately equally the 3 hours time dedicated per week during all school years.
I thought it was only to O levels? After that the student chooses subjects?
True for Greece. They start at age 10 with geography and stop at age 15.
When you ask an american the simple question of naming another country in the world, they still start listing american states...
Or say Africa!
@@davecoop9579 Canada!
@spugelo359 Well done, a rare correct answer
Yeah, that's probably because most European countries are smaller and less populated than most American states. Galway to Moscow is about the same as LA to Boston.
@@seanposkea Not a relevant excuse, is it?
The Olympic flag was designed by Pierre de Coubertin; it is a white flag bearing the symbol he designed in 1913 of five interlocking rings of different colors (blue, black, red, yellow and green). The International Olympic Committee once claimed that each color is associated with a specific continent. Coubertin denies this: they were chosen because every country's flag contains at least one of these six colors including white. The five rings also symbolize passion, confidence, victory, ethics and sportsmanship.
Absolutely right ! And I have the chance to live in France next to the historic castle and domain of the Coubertin's family. 😁
The problem is that 3 of the colors are also associated with the 18th century model of race which already had become problematic in Coubertin's time, and is now considered completely unscientific.
Damn, I was going to make a joke about French and white flag if color white wasn't included 😂
There is no ring for Antarctica, not because there are no athletes there, but simply because when the Olympic symbol was introduced, Antarctica was not considered a continent.
Also since there's only a handful of people born in Antarctica, it would be easy to qualify for all the sports though.
Anyway most of those born there have Argentinian or Chilean citizenship... there's no independent nation on the continent.
Plus everyone there is a citizen of a country elsewhere.
no, simply put....they represent the inhabited continents
@@oldasfolk-km1ov *permanently inhabited continents
@@fusssel7178 not when they were made. Its a reflection of all of the colors of the flags of the inhabited continents.
Notice how all these people speak English so well when English is only the native language in The UK. Some might say even better than a lot of Americans.
Americans do NOT speak English 😉
English is NOT the only 'native' language - Welsh predates even the arrival of the Romans by around 800 years and when they arrived, Welsh/Brythonic was the main language of Britannia. When they left, just over 400 years later, Welsh/Brythonic was STILL the main language....
@@tacfoley4443 English is only native in England.
@@tacfoley4443 He meant that English is only native in UK and not in other European countries.
Unfortunately you're not quite right on that one. Irland and Malta also have English as a native language.
wow this is on hardcore difficulty. kudos to those getting everything right
Yeah and sometimes having a language barrier put it in hardmode some more.
@@enlightendbel We EU-citizens don't really have a language barrier, we speak multiple languages.
@@Stijn5 except that if you're educated between ages 6-18 what the names of countries and cities are in your own languages, it's still not easy to just come up with the English name for them.
I'm Belgian, even in my own countries there's plenty cities that have a rather different name in Dutch than they do in French (and different again in German and English) and only a small percentage of people will know more than 1 of the top of their head.
@@enlightendbel I'm Belgian too.
@@Stijn5 Dan zou je beter moeten weten Stijn. Speaking a language and answering non-standard geographic questions about the length of words for example, is not the same.
I am a 65yo Aussie and left school when i was 15 and i got most of the questions right . The Europeans did really well considering English is probably there 3rd or 4th language. Ask American to spell there name and most will stuff that up . I have worked with people from all around the world and Americans would have to be the most clueless
Unfortunately I think young Australians are trying their best to reach that same level as US. Nadir comes to mind.
fun FACT: europeans are smarter and more educated than americans.
I notice a difference between Canada and the US. Canada tends to study world history and geography and the US is more American-centric.
In the US, it's the same world as in world series.
State propaganda is more effective that way.
Imagine if Canada studied what Canada did in Canada
Americans go to war to learn geography.
You mean the US is even worse than Canada? 🤯
The first question is so dumb. Most people in the video are not native English speakers and the names of countries in their languages are different than they are in English. So asking them to name countries which end with the same letters in English is just stupid. In Bulgarian for example most European countries’ names end with -ия (-ia) For example, ГерманИЯ, ВеликобританИЯ, ЧехИЯ, ФранцИЯ, РусИЯ, ИспанИЯ, ШвейцарИЯ and so on. The only exceptions are Belarus (Беларус) and Lithuania (Литва).
irregardless these questions were way harder, whether english is your native language or not, or if you speak it fluently or not, comapred to the questions Americans get, these are WAY harder. I think considering, the people in the video crushed it.
Yeah it's like asking for two European countries ending in 'land', If you asked the citizens of Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, they wouldn't naturally consider their own country, as they use a different name. The citizens of Scotland (or Alba) & Switzerland (Or Suisse, or Schweiz, or Svizzera), I guess it would depend on who you asked. Greenland could count but although it is culturally European, it's part of North America. So the only answers are England & Germany
@@skasteve6528 Ísland does still end in -land though.
i think stan countries are mostly universal in a lot of languages. the capital cities were much harder for me i could only figure out Oslo
i first could only came up with kiev, oslo and roma than i kept thinking of more and somehow vienna came up in my mind, but thats how its called in english but it their own language its just Wien. so i basically got it right but in 2 different languages tho
3:50 It is especially hard because it has to be 4 letters in English instead of his mother tongue - they are not always written the same or as they are written in the country's own language(s).
15:10 How do you define "oldest country"? San Marino is the oldest republic, allegedly founded around 301 AD. Its current democratic-republican constitution was written down in 1600 AD. Egypt exists since around 3,200 BC, but was not the whole time independent and has changed its governmental system multiple times. The oldest Chinese dynasty goes back to 2,200 BC, but there were many changes, conquests and changes of the governmental system meanwhile.
That question throw me off too. So manny variables could be Egypt or China whatever you choose yeah.
@@alesksander Nah Egypt and China definitely don't have a contiguous existence as a country for anywhere near the time San Marino does. Being a part of the Mongol or caliphate empires doesn't equate being a country. You could maaaaaybe make and argument for Japan, but definitely not China.
For the first one, I don't think he specified the answer to be in english...
I was thinking of Sumeria and other babilonian civilizations, which are in modern Iraq. But I realised that wasn't the expected answer.
@@danvernier198 The thing is that the question didn't specify that the country had to have had an unbroken existence as a state in order to qualify. Based on that, I think (e.g.) Egypt would have been a perfectly plausible answer.
I’m portuguese, wen visiting Lisbon many americans see the Tagus river and the city of Almada on the other side. Common question “Is that África on the other side?”. Its ridicolus, dont they have the notion of were they are?
I went to Dubrovnik (Croatia) a few years ago, before going I explored the map of the region and discovered that I could visit Mostar in Bosnia and Sveti Stevan in Montenegro. So I did.
I doubt that an American had the same curiosity to explore the place he goes before actually going there.
Spanish here.
I don't understand why people don't research about the places they are going to visit. I'm going to Romania in a month and I have a list of "must see" places at Bucharest and Cluj-Napoc because there are my entry and go away cities. Now I know Moldova is a country but it's too a Romanian region, that had another region with Hungarian influences, they had a Mongol invasion years ago and one of the most important ecosystems of all Europe. I travel to see beautiful things but I don't want to seem a complete idiot while talking with them. Reading about the places you visit is important to not offend your hosts.
Do they really ask about Africa when visiting Lisboa? Oh my god! Doesn't people open a map before going places? Because I can understand if they go to the Southern part of Portugal (well, I don't really understand but at least is nearer Africa) but Lisboa is on the central shore of the country.
Lisboa is at my "I want to go" list because my brother worked at Santarém and he said the region is fantastic. The food too if you watched closely his waist. Any pointers? pretty please?
i dont travel a lot but i have been over seas a couple of times. i always look at a map, try to learn a few helpful words and get to know some of their customs. edit also some of their history. if u go someplace new why wouldnt you try to learn about them
@@vanesag.9863yes, tour guides say that’s a common question asking if the other side of the river is Africa.
I’m sure you will love Lisbon, althoug its always full of tourists. You hardly ear portuguese on the streets.
I’m from Santarém and live in a city nearby.
If a plane lands on the Azores and not Scotland an American will never know. If a plane lands at Weeze and not Düsseldorf everybody but the American knows it.
I think you could even put Americans in Japan and not Greece and they will never know.
I have cousins living for over a decade in the usa and they are totally years behind on everything. Optional biology at 15 years old is teaching my mandatory 10 year old stuff. Partially.
They had less English grammar at 17 than i had at 13.
@@vanesag.9863i once stood on the east coast of La Palma and we could see the next Island.. look, the usa said the American. I told him we were standing with our back to the west and that America was in the west. His next guess was Asia. So i told hem we were watching Japan. And he went all in..
It actually was a miracle the Americans were able to go all over the world in world war 2.
Dude, I answered almost all of the questions myself without checking. Ngl, kinda feel proud of myself.
Poland representin'
USA questions: "Name five Kardashians!" (< naming four of them)
EU questions: "Name fifty island lying north above the aquator!" (naming ninety of them and get's stopped)
same, same, ... but different! XD
Fifty islands above the equator is easy.
I think I have visited more than that.
South of the equator I would struggle.
Not sure if Mauritius is south of the equator for example.
Name five Kardashians: Dukat, Garak, Marratt, Mekor, Corak
"names 239,057 islands in Norway"
@@kromeboy the Obsidian Order would like a word with you...
50 is a lot actually. I live on a Greek island, so I think I could name about 30 islands in the Mediterranean quickly and then Harris, Lewis, Skye, Langeoog , Wangeroog, Helgoland, Sylt, Oland, Iceland , Ireland, Britain, Greenland and then it'd get more difficult, because in Asia I only know Hokkaido and Macao and around America only Ellis island and Maui.
So I'd only get 46, because I don't think he'd accept an archipelagos like Orkney or Philippines, he'd want you to name every single island by its name.
It's a pretty difficult question.
"this are cherry picked, the worst, funny questions" - 😳 wft, this are hard questions
😂😂😂
They have an additional difficulty level - foreign language. For one I think country / cities names in my own language so Turkish guy was right in my language because countries ending with "ia" are indeed more letters (3 in my language). Hi from a country that does not use a Latin alphabet 😊
Indonesia is actually a transcontinental country (the whole island of Papua is in Oceania and indonesia owns the west part of it)!
She looked uncertain when she answered so he lied to her in a self-assured way so he wouldn't have to pay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You can make up for lack of knowledge by just talking confidently.
With respect to everyone finished college in USA is equivalent to finished high school in for example Croatia.While traveling I have realized it was important to know some geography or history facts and it was easier for me to blend in and talk to people.I‘m truly grateful.
Yes, that is true. In highschool in Chile we learn many subjects that in the US are only taught at the university, like Psychology, Political sciences, Economics, etc.. We are also taught Geography, at least we learn all the countries with their capitals, and even all of the States in the USA!
@mariaangelicabrunellsolar7086 I went to a small high school (less than 400 people) in Kansas and we had all of those classes available (economics, psychology/sociology, geography (both Kansas geography and world geography), and something akin to political science called government. Some of these were required of everyone and some were optional, but we had them available and, again, this was a very small school in a rural area. Most Americans issues with geography are they didn't care enough to bother remembering afterward and/or didn't put full effort in to learning it to begin with.
And they have to answer in english and thinking about the english name of cities/countries etc.
(english/italian) Rome = Roma / Milan = Milano / Paris = Parigi / London = Londra / Moscow = Mosca / Beijing = Pechino
In Swedish Rome is called Rom, so it only has three letters. We would say Milano, Paris, London, Moskva and Peking. We use Wien for Vienna, which has four letters in German and Swedish, but not in English.
A lot of the reason the USA is bad at geography is that the media doesn't have news etc. from other countries either. Then it is not so easy to know other countries.
It`s a joke, right?
@@petr416Have you seen anything outside the US on the news.
@@petr416 there is a lot less international news coverage in the US, unless the US got a direct interest in said other country, usually either military or economically.
there are important world events happening that major US broadcasters simply dont cover.
@@srkares So if I understand it right, You blame TV News...
@@petr416 not solely, but if their major stations would cover more international news, that would help.
there is a fairly good video here on youtube about the difference between american and european (i think in particular german) news broadcast, by someone who moved to europe.
Landlocked countries in South America are Bolivia and Paraguay.
Had Bolivia immediately, but Paraguay was after a rather long pause :)
So I said, no thinking needed.
Out of those shown, no-one would have English as their first language. And the questions actually were pretty hard.
Okay, let's be honest here: These questions are not "simple" and those are not your average Europeans, either. The description of the video states this was filmed at the "Erasmus Generation Meeting", basically a meeting for the 900 biggest nerds (and I say that lovingly) Erasmus could find in Europe. "Erasmus" in this case is a student exchange program.
So... let's say the sample selection in this is heavily biased towards smarter kids.
These guys might be students, but the gerography teachings are the same for "normal" working people as u learn it at school only. You are right, that might not be comparable. Uni students tend to seek knowledge more than the average type of person.
@@lebost3469 You kinda missed my point. It's not that they're students or whether they're taught the same stuff as you or me or "normal working people".
Not every student is the same, and the ones in the video here pretty much are the Nerds™ in your generic high school comedy movie, 900 of them bunched together.
On top of that, we're talking nerds who like visiting foreign countries, because Erasmus is a student exchange program.
If you're going to ask "random" people in _that_ group, that selection will be heavily biased towards very smart kids with very solid knowledge in Geography. That's just not the "average European".
It's like going to a programming competition somewhere in Europe, asking "simple" Math questions and then pretending that that was the average Math knowledge of Europeans.
Pausing after the question: 1) anywhere ending with 'land' - England, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland 2) in Europe - Bern, Oslo, Kyiv, Rome 3) depends on whether its recognised or not but strictly speaking it'd be Africa thanks to South Sudan - in Europe it'd be Kosovo 4) London, Edinburgh, Cardiff - bonus is Belfast 5) Antarctica - don't get much rainfall there 6) again, it depends on what you're recognising as a country but with Spain and the Americas, probably 19 7) Bolivia and Paraguay 8) Tunis and Algiers - bonus is Tripoli 9) Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian 10) participating continents - hate it when the Americas are amalgamated though 11) depends on if you count if its existence has been interrupted or not but overall I'd say Africa thanks to Egypt 12) District of Columbia - where the for-some-reason-not-a-state motto is 'taxation without representation' 13) Netherlands - official is Amsterdam but seat of government is The Hague 13.5) Cape Town and Pretoria - think the former is official while the latter is government but not sure 14) Australia, New Zealand, Fiji - bonus would be Samoa POST-answers: think I did pretty well thanks to pub quizzes, Trivial Pursuit and a degree in History and International Relations but its vexing how many were conditional - like the Spanish-speaking and oldest capital ones. (I knew that San Marino was the oldest continuous state in the world but I assumed he meant oldest in general - especially irritated to have that count as wrong as a result.) I'd say it'd have been more reasonable to have stuck to Europe but ho hum.
3) yeah, I was thinking the same
1. I had Finland instead of Ireland.
7. I had Bolivia and was debating between Paraguay and Ecuador.
I live in England and didn’t even think of that. I went with the “stan” answers.
England and Scotland aren't countries, they are part of the UK, which is the country. You can swap them out for Finland, since you only need three according to the question. A fourth might be Swaziland, but it recently underwent a name change so might not count, and Somaliland, but that isn't a recognized country by most people. Greenland is not a country in its own right, but Poland and Thailand would also work.
European - "Name a country with 2 capitals", "South Africa".
American - " Name 2 countries", "..............?..................?..........."
South & Africa?
"Paris!"
@@dn3087 A country with three capitals
wouldnt the uk count as being a country with 4 capitals although its weird because its like a country made of 4 countries
Well i say Country and western and Alabama
Its very impressive that random people from all sorts of countries and are talking to each other and thinking about the question in a third language, us Brits and the Americans have it so easy, the world is learning our language!
Aaaaand, perhaps as much as 20% of english is from old norse! xD
Sorry for the plundering tho, kind regards from Norway.
@@inger4794 I don't think you need to apologise plundering from the country that is the cause for the most independence wars on the planet.
As a Brit, I can confirm that these are NOT tough questions. They are largely common knowledge. Perhaps not by the time you’re 18-21 as these kids are, or in your second/third language (particularly questions that involve English spellings). But most people I know in the UK will have known most/all of these or know enough to make reliable educated guesses.
9:42 These people are in the Netherlands. Unless they’re from an English speaking country (none so far), NONE OF THEM speak English as a first language 🤦♂️. Typical American world view 😂
Actually the event was in Romania
There is an alternative interpretation to the Olympic rings.
Since they are always shown on a white surface, you can choose any country's flag in the world and at least one of the colors will match the Olympic rings.
I heard it was Nazi propaganda for the Berlin Olympics, they claimed to have found 5 rings at the Olympic site in Greece.
Unless it's Qatar, which is maroon and white.
@@davcrav Maroon is a shade of red
I didn't even knew Cardiff is in Wales, its so often part of Doctor Who and even the spin-off "Torchwood" is based in Cardiff so i always thought its part of England.
Not to mention straight-up a capital. Damn.
Wow 😮
The Dr. Who think first dropped on me when he said Cardiff, should have gone the other way and known it. (Rose?)
When Europeans don't know they just say they don't know. Whereas Americans would have given a stupid answer 🤣
You know when an American starts their answer with "I wanna say ...", hilarity will ensue.
Fun fact: In some countries in Europe, like Spain (where I'm from), foreign movies and series are watched totaly translated sometimes even the issue that goes on on the scene is changed to something that would fit in our culture and in other european countries they watch everything totally original with subtitles so they connect with those countries so much better and learn a lot about what's going on outside their countries. This also makes it easier to learn and understand other languages as you are more exposed to them and to how in each country peoples express themselves.
NO. San Marino is the 10th oldest country at 301 CE/AD. The oldest country on earth is Egypt at 6000 BCE that's 6301 years before San Marino. The country has never been unoccupied in this time and has never changed it's identity.
Exactly, San Marino is the oldest republic, not the oldest country.
Egypt has been conquered a couple of times. San Marino has stayed independent the longest. (Perhaps China could make a better argument than Egypt, but China split up at one point I think).
@@eljanrimsa5843 we should then try to agree on a definition of country. If you stop being independent you lose the status of country you prior had? If your borders change during centuries you reset the status each time? USA in 1776 are surely not the same as today. Unless we define the specs for counting the age of a country everyone is always right and wrong at once.
@@eljanrimsa5843 you think? =D There was a period of warlords ruling different parts, Japanese colonisation and a communist revolutionary civil war right one after another. Not to mention that for most of the history it was split in different sized kingdoms
@@houndofculann1793 I would count these turbulent times as discontinuation, because there was always a government in Beijing with the claim to rule all of China. I was thinking about the periods when the country was split up into different empires in the 5th and 10th century.
San Marino is the oldest republic in the world but not the oldest country!
It depends on how you define country. If it's the nation state it excludes monarchies in which the territory is defined by the monarchs inheretance.
I would have guessed Egypt.
Yeah, if you define a country as a place where people live, it would be wherever the Great Rift Valley is (Tanzania?)
Yeah, I would think it's either Egypt or Iran (Persia)
@@PhiyedoughEgypt was conquered by the British, and the actual Egyptian state just was created after the WWII
An answer to the last one: Australia, New Zealand, France.
Good one.
France will always be a correct answer. They have territories everywhere (but Asia).
That's against the spirit of the question, but yes, it works in many cases. 😏
@@to_loww But there's no country that has the same 4 last letters.
You have Washington state and
Washington Da city, obviously.
DC, obviously 😉
Hahahah thats how i see it. Well almost. I always see it as Washington Da Capital. Hahahahah
@@johncenashi5117 District of Columbia because it's really Maryland. When they need a site for a Capital there was a lot of argument. Maryland said well there's this swamp we are not using. We don't mind it not counting as part of our state, we can use that as the Capital!
I watched a video where an American thought the DC stood for Dominican Republic 😂
While both originally were named Columbia. Then the state was renamed to Washington, but it couldn't escape the dilemma.
To be fair, these people are from the erasmus student network, all of them are, have been or work with exchange students and either have or work on a degree.
This is hardly representing the average european.
Exactly.. I was looking for a comment about this. A lot of the US ones are at universities though.. but I'm guessing it's mostly Bible colleges.
That is why the questions are extremely difficult though.
Well, they did up the difficulty level of the questions to account for that, though.
Your general question "Why would Europeans know what D.C. stands for? " is typical of America. Other countries in the world have more of a world view than Americans and do learn about other countries apart from their own. Hence it is not surprising to non Americans that people in Europe can answer some of these questions.
Exactly, we learnt about different countries, even back in primary school.
I can remember the teacher putting up different countries maps, and asking us to point out different cities, the capital etc.
I knew what DC stood for when I was probably about 7😂
The stans are a good choice, there's 7.
But the easiest option is naming those that end in "land", there's 12 of those.
Disneyland?
@@Itwasalwaysme_Noone Finland, Iceland, Netherland, England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand and finally Somaliland and Puntland depending on where you are in recognizing autonomous regions that want to split of from their host.
@@Itwasalwaysme_Noone and Graceland, Neverland and Wonderland ?? 😉😛
@@enlightendbel Netherland doesn't exist. The name for the country in English is the Netherlands. The last 2 are very disputable to say the least. Even England is disputable as a country, but I tend to agree on that one.
@@enlightendbel "Netherlands" is the correct spelling in english.
USA, weak at geography, but they always manage to find somewhere to invade.
Really? British Empire? Belgian Congo? Italians in Ethiopia, French in Vietnam, Spain in half the world? Or say Russians in Ukraine just at random? How much territory has America "conquered" in the last 100 years?
@@seanposkea They don't conquer - they just invade, either with guns and tanks, or with McDonalds...
Those questions were REALLY hard!
This was a fun video! I liked that you also tried to answer the questions. I agree - they were pretty hard! You did well!
The question about the countries ending with the same 4 letters I can only answer in Dutch 😂😂.
There's a reason that you know many of these questions or at least can forward an educated guess. It is that you, unlike most Americans, are willing to educate yourself about other countries and cultures. The Vast bulk of Americans are the personification of ethnocentricity. While you are able to at least ponder these questions from an educated guess perspective I would wager than if you did a 'man-in-the-street' replication of these questions you would not get One single person that could answer, for example that Belfast is the capital of N. Ireland or know that Ireland was not a part of Britian and is an individual republic. I've always been impressed by your willingness, counter-intuitively, to explore the greater World.
I fail to see where it is counter intuitive. No man is an Island. We're all connected and someone might fk up on the other side of the ocean, but you're still going to experience the ramifications, regardless which flag you're waving. But naturally, having the attention centered on oneself, that experience is going to fly right by. At least until it hits physically, financially, physiologically or whatever. And even then, without being able to connect the dots... you're sorta shid outta luck.
@@martinpoulsen6564 Yes, Merci Martin. Counter-Intuitively was perhaps a poor choice of words. My meaning was that it is assumed and I personally believe , correctly, that the Average American is not willing or indeed interested in expanding their World-Perspective beyond how it directly affects them. I lived in the US for about 30 Yrs. in several states notably Michigan, Florida and California and while I can't speak to an entire Countrys` perspective it has been my experience that the overwhelming majority, even among fairly well educated people that most people are very culturally and ethnically ignorant. That said though, my comment was not meant as a treatise on American entnocentricity but rather a simple, if not verbose, compliment to IWrocker who , counterintuitive to my own narrow perspective, is willling and enthusiastically pursues knowledge beyond is sphere of referance. I applaud that.. Maybe I should have just said. Great job IWrocker, I admire your inquisitiveness... Yeah, Maybe I shoudl have just said that.... Nahhhhh!
@Rabid-Pinocchio I must have encountered some pretty spectacular specimens then... but then - since I'm the fkn foreigner, they probably wouldn't have engaged in conversation, which sort of negates the whole deal in some way. Your take on it is probably on point, and yes, I too applaud IWRocker for bringing a wider perspective in whichever field it may be.
It's so sad that Americans don't know geography. Not even their own.
14:00 Other fun fact about the Olympic logo: EVERY country on earth, has at least 1 of the rings colors on their flag.
You might like to compare with this:
"Can You Name a Country?" (6 years ago), and
"Can You Name a Country?" (4 years ago)
or this: "What State is This?"
by Jimmy Kimmel
Have fun!
Yes, college students attending an international conference in Europe vs tourists stoned out of their minds on Hollywood Blvd edited for the stupidest (aka funniest) answers. Yeah, totally the same.
As a European I can say that we hear about Washington all the time. Back in the 80's/90's people used to say "Washington DC" but I haven't heard that in years, it's always just "Washington" now.
Thats because elections are in November, But After the Boeing 737 MAX crashes, Washington State was in the news a lot.
i’m italian and i always hear washington dc.
As an Australian English speaker knowing District of Columbia is just something you learn through normal life.
and this" Reporter youtuber" is from Austria speaking German, English , Spanish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek and Dutch - just to mention
I don't think that is normal even for Europe, they few that could do that is some of the older chess geniuses that could 10--20 languages.
@@surters Its a lot, but in the Netherlands in gymnasium you have to study Dutch, English, French, German, Latin and Greek for at least 2 years each, then you are allowed to drop a few of them. So yes being able to speak at a conversational level in 7 or more languages is quite a bit, but you dont have to be a savant to do it, just travel a lot and work and live in different countries and put effort into learning them.
My experience was that having studied Latin for 6 years its quite easy to pick up new words in romance languages, so that makes learning French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian like 50% easier already.
Let's be real, he can say a few phrases in Greek. I wouldn't consider that "speaks".
@@helgaioannidis9365 I cant judge but regarding other languages I saw him speak with natives
@@avitalsheva I speak Greek and I saw him speaking Greek and he only knows a few phrases.
0:33 - You're wrong, Ian, but I'll forgive you since you hadn't watched the video yet.
16:05 - Compared to many US americans who don't even know that their country has a capital...
Any chance Americans don't know the capital of Czechia or Croatia because they don't care? Like asking Kylian Mbappe if he knows the goalie from Carlisle United.
In the Netherlands, and I think other countries in Europe, we know what DC, as in Washington DC, means because we were taught that in primary school.
So I was surprised that this Bulgarian girl didn't know that, despite the fact that she is studying at university.
@marioprivacy9411 Primary school? I'm not too sure about that. But my guess is that at least 40% of the Dutch know what it stands for.
These are seriously difficult questions, but I think Americans would not even comprehend what he was asking. So the fact that these people got some of them right I say GREAT JOB!!!
I am English/Australian and I knew DC stood for District of Columbia, why wouldn't I?
District of Co...rruption.
Because English is your first language. Non English speakers wouldn’t naturally be able to figure it out as easily
Well done for knowing the UK. :) Did you know that there is a Washington CD? It was the first Washington and is in County Durham :)
😁
There´s a Washington in West Sussex.
In Australia I would say that most Australians would know that DC is District of Columbia.
Wonder how many would know ACT? (Australian Capital Territory)
Spanish here. I had "district" by pure logic. Not in my dreams would know Columbia because I studied Washington DC but I don't know why I studied México DF (distrito federal) and now recalled Ciudad de México. I don't know if it is cultural because we are attached to another Spanish speaking country like you are attached to another English speaking country or is because the country name is México and it's capital is México too and is a form of differenciation.
@@jimff5 Most Australians would know ACT, especially if you said "the A.C.T." Not so sure about overseas people, though. I'd guess that a lot of Australians might not know J.B.T., and many would argue that it's part of the A.C.T. (It's not, although a lot of governance is done by A.C.T. bodies.) I'd be very surprised if more than a handfule of overseas people knew J.B.T.
@@mrewan6221 I'm in Northern Ireland!
@@mrewan6221I'm American. I knew ACT, but I have not heard of JBT. I'm assuming it's within or adjacent to the ACT?
Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand, New Zealand, England and Scotland.
Guess you're answering the last 4 letters question? If so, why is the Netherlands in your list.
@@KeesBoons Holland then
@@KeesBoons My guess would be that the Netherlands is also known as Holland in many places (though it is just one of the provinces, I think? not sure, not from that area and never been there either.) Or perhaps he disregards the "s" at the end because the country name is in plural?
@@TuNn1r Holland has been used as a "nickname" for the Netherlands in the English language. Holland these days is the territory occupied by the provinces of Zuid- and Noord-Holland (South & North Holland). Don't think the United State of America is a thing, neither is Netherland.
@@KeesBoonsthat's a good question - it doesn't end with "-land". Shouldn't be on this list
I am from Bulgaria and this girl is not representing me! I knew the answers of majority of the questions, not because I am from somewhere, but bebecause I love to know things. Einstein is smart not because he is German, but because he loves to know things. Americans are not stupid because they are from North America, the are stupid by default
I am really sorry Ian, but I just saw a video of a U.S. college, where they were asking "simple" questions. Like he was holding up an analogue clock, large hand on 9 and small hand almost on the 2. He asked them what the time is. None of them could read it. Most did not even get the numbers that the hands were pointing to. This is a "college". They also think Texas is "overseas" and Canada is a U.S. state. The reality is though that I am an Aussie and we have some pretty dense people as well. The education system is not exactly what it used to be. We have an intellectual void that tries to pass as a government.
Well done on getting the Belfast/NI one! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 It's sadly often forgotten.
It would have said Londonderry.
I learned it in primary school.
Back then they still had the Troubles, and I memorized it as needing to (alarm)bel(l)-fast in case of another incident.
San Marino is not the oldest country in the world, it is the oldest republic, he got it wrong, and the girl was correct (Egypt). He owes her money.
Absolutely, it's the wrong terminology, but no one should think San Marino in that context.
Yeah there are about 4 different ways to answer that question: Oldest archeological: Iran/Persia. Oldest continuous self-sovereignty: Japan. Oldest continuous culture: China, San Marino only works it its oldest "constitution" as in legal documents incorporating a state. A very vague and late (1600) way to define oldest.
Not being good in geography doesn’t mean that you are stupid, remember that.
To all the Europeans complaining about needing to answer in English, which may not be their mother tongue, the American reaction is... _"wanh wanh"_ in Rachel Zegler impression.
"We 'muricans saved yo asses from jerries back in forrrrty faaeev, you r'membeh that son! We knu 'nuff jiyaagruffy tuh land awn that frawg beeech which we renamed in glorious American as Omuhaa!"
These questions are in no way comparable to the US questions. The American questions are, for example, "Can you point to your nose?" or "What is your favourite colour?"
also he was not afraid too tell them they were wrong
Why would he? That's how these games about knowledge work. You play to learn, no?
@@helgaioannidis9365 Because when Americans are asked, he doesn't usually say they got it wrong 😂
@@spugelo359 oh 😲
@@spugelo359 what? why?
13:29 The continent is called America, and yes, someone from Brazil or Peru is as american as any US or Canadian
Indeed! I see that even more educated US citizens do not know that the continent they live in is called America. They believe that's just the name of their country!
This really depends on the source/perspective as the definition has changed over time and varies from country to country. Some lump Europe and Asia together as Eurasia. Some lump North and South America together as just America. With Oceania, some separate out Australia and the islands are Oceania. Anyway, in terms of continental plates, North and South America are separate continents. If you consider Europe and Asia to be separate continents (when they are just one continental plate) but don't consider North and South America as separate continents, you're being either inconsistent or disingenuous.
@@jglotzbach3264Geography really does change over time and also leaves a lot of space for interpretations. When Kolumbus discovered America he discovered it as one continent. Europe and Asia were already set as two continents despite being one landmass, because of the ethnic and cultural differences. The United States had interests to change that, so they can deny other people from this continent to refer to them selves as American.
I wouldn't _only_ state that it's about education. I mean, in some way, yes. But it's also a generational thing. As in: When I grew up, I got a globe as a birthday present before I went to school. I'm pretty sure that I didn't request that (but who knows) and that it was an uncle who thought it important. So I asked my parents about many things about the globe, before I could even read the country names written on it. (I might also have partially learned to read when asking about the writing on it.) What I want to say is: It obviously depends on how parents or other relatives answer, when a kid has a question about geography. As we all know, kids' questions won't end, but whether a kid stays interested in geography or not, might be different if the first answer is either stupid/boring/wrong or on the other hand intriguing. Similarly, I had a kids' encyclopedia quite early on (when I _could_ read, obviously), and I remember how when I was interested in a topic so much, that the kids' version wasn't enough, I went to my parents' encyclopedia to look up the same subjects. And if both books' descriptions were too different, I'd ask my parents about it. They were honest with me if they truly had no answer to my question and asked me to ask my teacher instead. I think there's many things parents can do right and wrong in the education of the child outside of whether the educational system of the country you live in is good or bad.
I made sure my kids knew about plenty of countries, starting with identifying their flags.
Sure, but a good and egalitarian educational system makes up for differences. Ones parents might be hard workers or have other commitments and always exhausted, one could grow up in a family with lots of noise and not being able to do homework, parents might have some learning disabilities, be immigrants with a hard time helping with homework etc.
A good school system for all gives people equal opportunities and secure social mobility. I am from a home like yours, parents, aunts, uncles etc from academia and where interesting subjects were discussed and we had bookshelves everywhere. Not everyone grows up like that, and it's nothing wrong with it, they learn a lot about important things too. But academic knowledge needs to be the governments responsibility, not mainly the parents.
@@inger4794 That's a different point, and of course I agree that a good school system is a good school system, and 'merica is certainly lacking there. But: My parents _weren't_ from academia. My point is exactly that it's not required, but good parenting should enable the kids to learn. In a best case scenario, the parents then learn along with the kids who do the investigating.
@@fryke Yes, we don't disagree, but as a teacher myself (in Norway) I think it's very important that the school knows that theit most important task is to compensate for differences and give every pupil equal opportunity to get ahead, background irellevant to that.
@@inger4794 I understand, but I think that should go into a different or its own thread, as it doesn't directly have anything to do with my post.
We in the 80-es (in the Commie World) were taught there are 5 continents inhabited by humans, and then Antarctica (as an odd-one-out, technically a continent, but not from cultural viewpoint). The Americas we counted as 1, and Australia-Oceania went as 1, too. I think this was the "old" model of the world, functioning in the times when Olympic logo was invented. That counts for the 5 rings.
The interviewer actually get some things wrong wrong himself.
Antarctica is not the driest continent because all the water is frozen, but because it almost never snows/rains.
There are only 20 countries that have Spanish as an official language. Number 21 is Puerto Rico, which is not a country, but a territory of the USA.
Cairo is not on the (north) coast, the answer is: Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
Based on definition, the oldest country in the world is either Iran (earliest known government: 3200 BCE) or Japan (earliest self-sovereignty: 660 BCE). Both beating San Marino self proclaimed oldest country in the world title (301 CE) by a wide margin, either way the answer would be Asia.
Its the driest because it never rains and has no vegetation. It definitely snows there though. More so on the coast with little in the interior.
These are ESN (Erasmus Student Network) university students at a convention. They would have to be a little more "knowledgeable" than random Americans. They are also students on a higher level, than your regular college campus students in the US. Erasmus Student Network is an European exchange university student network, that offers European university students an opportunity to study or work in another European country. The five Olympic rings symbolizes the five INHABITED continents, and the Americas is counted as one. District of Columbia is taught in European schools in 5th grade.
Well, they also did the things at some Ivy League school in the US. And it wasn't like here.
The random Americans that get asked the questions are in general college students and they are getting the questions asked in their native language unlike these European students.
FYI, because on request by the UK, British students are no longer eligible for the ESN there for their are no native English speakers in the ESN.
"the UK is no longer an EU Member State. It has also opted not to take part as an associated third country in the new Erasmus+ programme 2021-27."
@@PDVismmost Irish are native English language speakers.
I have seen plenty of comparable videos on American college campuses that would make you weep for the future of humanity.
America: Name the contury at the South border of US
Europe : At the South border of US ,there is a Mexican city,Tijuana. At the douane of Tijuana,there is a guy,Juanito, who sells tacos. Thell me the names and birth dates of his family members.
1st question is easy...anything with 'land' at the end would be one: England/Scotland/Ireland/Finland. lol
I wouldn't have thought of it because in my mind, it's Angleterre, Ecosse, Irlande et Finlande. It's a really tricky question (but a fun one)
Iceland, Greenland, Poland, Switzerland
And you would have failed right there and then, because England and Scotland are not countries (using the default definition of countries recognized by the UN), despite the Brits calling them such. :)
@@someonesomewhereTR BS WE ARE countries. We have our own sports teams and Scotland has it's own parliament/flags and anthem. etc.
The king is king of England and Scotland. SO BS!
And it's OUR countries and WE decide if we are one or NOT not the likes of YOU! Edit: And who gives a flying F* what the 'un' thinks!
@@dalriada7554 But that's not English so it wouldn't fit in a lot of languages.
I don't know where this guy gets his knowledge from but San Marino is definitely not the oldest country in the world. Egypt, Iran, India and Armenia are the oldest countries in the world.
Actually he confused the word "republic" with country....San Marino is not the oldest country in the world, obviously...
@@ZZMJo Or used a European definition of continuosly 'recognised' country, which is also very fraught with error obviously.
@@chadjcrase Well, it doesn't need to be recognized, it exists since 361 AC.
@@ZZMJo Recognised as a 'republic' that hasn't changed since 361 AD, unlike every other 'country' in Europe. That is the point.
@@chadjcrase Oc it changed 🤦♂🤦♂and no it isn't....
meanwhile, americans get the question "how many moons do we have" and get that wrong. Make it make sense
America: - Name a country !
- I don't know, Africa ?
Europe: