This was posted by mountain annie in another thread:
"Well it must be Very Hard for a Brit to hide out here.. I would think that they would ALWAYS just stick out.. There are not many Brits here and they do not do languages or accents very well.. how can I say this.. they are not that culturally "adaptable" .. will always be so very very British forever"
Being a Brit I don't necessarily agree with this in that I speak 4 languages pretty fluently, each with the appropriate accent, would like to feel I have tried to adapt to the culture, and don't drink tea at 4pm every afternoon! Brits travel widely outside their own country, and second languages are compulsory at school, not that I am saying that everyone speaks a second language fluently.
It is hard to find accurate data on how many Brits live here, there was a thread on it on DR1 once but I can't find it, but I would would think there are a pretty reasonable number. All of the Brits I know here speak Spanish, many speak fluent Spanish, some not as good but they all do speak some. Having taught Spanish for a few years to expats of all nationalities, I would have thought that the statement would be more accurate for Americans, who tend to find it hard to lose their accent - Paydro rather than Pedro.
Anyway, not for this to develop into an international slanging match, I would just be interested to know if other posters agree with the statement, and which nationalities do you feel are more culturally adaptable?
Matilda
"Well it must be Very Hard for a Brit to hide out here.. I would think that they would ALWAYS just stick out.. There are not many Brits here and they do not do languages or accents very well.. how can I say this.. they are not that culturally "adaptable" .. will always be so very very British forever"
Being a Brit I don't necessarily agree with this in that I speak 4 languages pretty fluently, each with the appropriate accent, would like to feel I have tried to adapt to the culture, and don't drink tea at 4pm every afternoon! Brits travel widely outside their own country, and second languages are compulsory at school, not that I am saying that everyone speaks a second language fluently.
It is hard to find accurate data on how many Brits live here, there was a thread on it on DR1 once but I can't find it, but I would would think there are a pretty reasonable number. All of the Brits I know here speak Spanish, many speak fluent Spanish, some not as good but they all do speak some. Having taught Spanish for a few years to expats of all nationalities, I would have thought that the statement would be more accurate for Americans, who tend to find it hard to lose their accent - Paydro rather than Pedro.
Anyway, not for this to develop into an international slanging match, I would just be interested to know if other posters agree with the statement, and which nationalities do you feel are more culturally adaptable?
Matilda