Can anyone tell me, why the people in USA are so under educated compared to the Europeans. The most Europeans?

Question

The most Europeans speaks at least two languages and often several.

Answer 1

I think that the main cause is this: the USA's history=200 years, the Europa's one= 2000 years.It means a lot, isn't?

Answer 2

It depends on where you are in the United States and how you define education. Here you seem to be saying that the ability to speak several languages indicates a high level of education. Well, the US has a population of almost 300 million people and the distance from Los Angeles to New York is almost 3,000 miles. South of the US is Mexico, and north of the US is Canada. Most Americans speak some degree of Spanish and French but for the most part it is an English speaking country.

You compared the average american with the average european when it comes to language speaking abilities and I don't believe that is a fair comparison. Europe is an entire continent that consists of many different countries each with their own native languages and customs. I am from Alabama, and the entire country of England would fit within the borders of my home state. Because of the vast array of languages dispersed over a relatively small area, it would seem only natural that europeans would know several languages - it would be a necessity to know more than one language if you ever planned on travelling out of your home country. The United States is so large, and people are generally similar enough in language and customs that it isn't necessary to learn much more than standard English.

Having said that, I do not believe that the US educational system as a whole provides the quality of education that it should. But it is not necessarily because of language. It can be more attributed to politics and to a social structure that is increasingly opposed to critical thought.

Answer 3

US schools are not regulated by the government, as in each state has different funding and classes. Poorer communities have worse teachers or less materials (books, computers, etc.) There is also the problem with priorities. In CA, at least at our school, they decided it was more important to give money to the sports than to start a French course, so all there was was Spanish, not even Spain-Spanish, but Mexican-Spanish (yes, there is a difference).

It also has to do with the American mentality. School is for socializing for many people. Also, we learned tons of American history, and like one year of European history. There is a complete lack of understanding of other cultures. It is mostly the peoples' fault for not continuously fighting for better schools and higher standards, but it is partly the politicians' fault for insisting that all public schools are equal.

Its sad, that is why we are trying to get citizenship in an EU country, so my son can have a decent education and half a chance in this world.

Also, the language thing... kids are lucky to start learning a second language before highschool in the US which means it is much more difficult once they begin.

I don't understand why the other people answering seem to be so offended, its an honest question. Not to mention almost everyone I've met here, under the age of 60, speak at least three languages near fluently. It really is quite impressive.

Answer 4

Well, well, well! One certainly does have to have a little chuckle after reading through the various answers that have been offered to this question. What a xenophobic bunch you are!

The mere fact that the average European spends more on books and has the higher per capita spending on personal computers than the good ole US of A, should tell you something. Oh and that I frequently find Americans have the hardest time answering or getting right even the simplest questions about the rest of the world should suggest to anyone that you would be better served climbing down from your lofty perch of self assumed superiority. You may discover that there is a whole world out there, with a lot older cultures and a hell of a lot more to give than a Big Mac!

Answer 5

I'm European and in our school we have our native language to study plus other two at least, most of the time they are English and Spanish. Even the History in our school programs it's more complicated, I live in USA and I see the difference between my knowledges and my husband's.
About the language I think it's just because an English native language person just thinks that knowing English it's good enough anywhere he or she will ever go. This is not wrong though.....

Answer 6

Equating the inability to speak more than one language to the intelligence of an entire nation is ludicrous. Now, if the state I live in was adjacent to a state where only another language was spoken, there might be reason to learn that language. However, all the states around me speak English. The country that borders the USA to the North speaks English. I have to travel thousands of miles to reach someplace that does not speak English. Do I want to learn another language? If the day comes when I need to learn one, I will.

Answer 7

The knowledge of more than one language for Europeans is dictated by the need. This has already been addressed by several people here, including the fact that language is not everything ,nor the only gauge of the level of education.

When we look at resources, I think America is second to none.The problem is probably in the system or the culture. America, in my opinion, is a "feel good" society. We have heard about this term or concept. I tend to agree with this. I think it is because of a sensitivity to preserve rights, maybe individual rights, and to not impinge on someone else's rights, that this feel good culture came to be. People have the "need" to be praised for their effort and even if the effort is not that great or even mediocre, there is a hesitancy to criticize or demand more for fear of offending the individual and damaging him for life. If you compare school hours here to other countries, our hours are much less. This determination of hours spent in school is in consideration of other
needs of the American student, family, etc. Homework is definitely less. For example, Fridays are no homework days to give kids time to play and other stuff. In other countries, Friday is the time to get those huge homeworks/papers/study for a coming test on Monday precisely because it is a weekend- you have more days available to study. There is also so much emphasis on sports which is not bad because participation in these activities gives you certain life skills. It should be emphasized though, that the student's main job is to be a student. I think there should just be a concious effort from everybody to want to change things for the bettter and a humility to recognize the deficiencies in the current system/setting and most importantly, attitude. There are humongous stuff available to the American student compared to students from other countries. A lot of hoopla too is to blame everybody else, esp the government. It is time to focus on what I, myself can do to make things better. It is not too late. I'm sure there are efforts in this direction as the result of this downtrend is already becoming visible. One of the best schools in engineering, if not the best, is in India. I was shocked to learn about this. But i can believe this.
American higher education though is a different story. I believe it is still up there but, the question is , are people going in that direction. I believe in the greatness of America, that is why a lot of people want to come here and even die in the process. Let not the God given resources be put to waste.

Answer 8

Well, if you include Asian Americans as part of the educated in America (and I do include them,) I would say many are very well educated (even better than Europeans.) I teach violin to many of these kids and they take advantage of every opportunity offered to learn. They take honors and AP courses. After school, they go to language classes, tutuoring and SAT prep classes. They take music lessons which has been proven to help kids become smarter. They also take classes on Saturday. A lot of them do not get summer vacation. They go to summer school most of the summer or take more intensive enrichment courses.
As for some other parts of the American population: we have people coming here illegally and we gear classes at school towards them and throw a lot of money at the problem. We have a lot of people on welfare, and for many of these family survival is the priority, not education. We have many discipline problems in the schools because parents are not raising their kids and often fathers are absent. The schools are left to try to teach the kids to be good citizens and to be scholars at the same time. We also have more holidays from school than most other countries so we have less instruction time overall.

Answer 9

Because it's not required to take a second language in schools and Americans are so smug, they just expect everyone else in the world to speak English. The Mexican culture was well established here in California before the Americans came. And despite efforts to wipe it out, the culture has flourished .

Soon California will be over 30% Hispanic. And people still stubbornly refuse to accept it as a major part of California's present. It is ignorant and arrogant that teaching Spainish is not a requirement in CA. schools. No, I do not speak Spanish well, but I I try.

Answer 10

Of course Europeans speak at least two languages. Look how many different countries with different languages surround you. Who are Americans surrounded by?Mexico and Canada. By the way alot of people around here where I live speak both Spanish and English. You assume alot without getting facts.

Answer 11

To learn a language, you need more than a textbook and a classroom. You need to be immersed in a population that speaks the language. It is hard to get that in the U.S.
For example, if I wanted to learn French, I'd be on my own. Who speaks French here in Oklahoma? Who could I converse with?
Most of the European languages (i.e. French, Spanish, Italian, Portugese) are similar, their histories are intertwined, and they are geographically close to each other.
The United States is in the west, farther away from the action. Hope this helps.