Do you realise that even what seem the most basic facts are not taught or understood the world over?

Question

i realized our unique national perspectives have an influence on our understanding of the world. but it wasn't till a recent interaction on ya that i came to know the most basic kinds of things we learn in elementary school are different. a question referred to the americas as being "one bloody continent." the person was clearly referring to the land masses i learned as south and north america--2. her(?) response to my answer asserting that it was not"one bloody continent" was an insult. wanting confirmation that the brit was an idiot, i researched and discovered you guys evidently view it as simply america --one continent including everything from canada to brazil and everything in between. in fact, the very definition of what a continent is is in dispute. not to mention that when i post on the uk ireland ya site that my perfectly good yankee spelling is "corrected." wouldn't it be interesting to compare grade school texts to see other differences in what we are taught?

Answer 1

I thought they considered all the world as theirs.

Answer 2

lol. . . .I think the confusion is kinda funny. America really is NOT "one bloody continent". And me as an American, consider the US as "America". And together with Canada and Mexico as "North America". Who cares about South America. . .. lol we call it just that.

I don't correct Yankees' spelling or British spelling. . .both seem right to me. :-)

Answer 3

Being English and currently living on the relatively minor land mass known and Great Britain I can actually assure you that the British girl (assuming I have the right end of the stick here) is actually an idiot. At school, even us Brits are (or at least were, I finished at high school in 1996) taught that over on your side of the pond there be two continents. Namely North America which consists of Canada, U.S.A. and Mexico and all those smaller countries which coexist on the little bit in the middle. South of this lies the continent with the rather apt name of South America.

I prey that you didn't apologise for bringing her rank stupidity to light.

So here is the magic bit you may like to hear. In England we are, or at least should be, taught that there are 7 continents.

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Australasia

Europe

North America

South America

Anyone who doesn't conform to this should be bludgeoned to death or sent to room 101 for immediate re-education!

Answer 4

Well, obviously grammar and punctuation are not universal!

Answer 5

I think it would be very interesting to compare. I also came upon that when I traveled Europe how people thought that America meant the both continents and not the USA. I got so fed up with the confusion and having to try and explain to people who did not want to listen. I ended up just saying I was from California after that.

There was also allot of things they learned about America that was just down right wrong in my opinion but the saying "I learned it in school" just kept on coming up.

So if there are so many things different about what is being taught in schools who is the one actually right?

Answer 6

Welcome to the real world . You will find that almost every everything is relative and subject to interpretation.

I'm sure the UK version of the American revolution is a bit different than the USA's ,Just as the US civil war is referred to as " The war of Northern aggression" by the South .

It all has to do with you point of view .