Do Americans learn in schools about other countries?

Question

I am surprised (though not anymore) when I hear that Americans do not know anything about other world's countries. They do know, though, a number of changes made to US Constitution, but they don't know where i.e. Czech Republic is. Thing that I dislike most is that many of them aren't even interested in other countries and don't know why they should "bother" with it. They think other countries doesn't matter because USA is the only country which has point and which is right. I am not a hater of anything, and I even don't blame the US citizens, but I blame the philosophy and politics which US had for a long time and still has, that they think they can do anything and that all the other countries are lame and worthless. What do you think?

Answer 1

yeah man you`re right they don`t learn about it and they don`t even care....i met some americans that don`t even know what Montréal is and when i told them it`s a big city in Canada they said that only usa it`s important....anyway Europe has the best scholar system!

Answer 2

Hi, yes..we Americans do learn about many other countries and cultures in school and college, but the main problem is alot of us forget after a while, and don't remember till something comes up in the news. There are many Americans who keep up with the world and it's happenings, but there are also those who would rather just keep to themselves and worry about what's near to them. I'm sure the country you're from has that type of people as well, like the rest of the world. Hope this helps :)

Answer 3

In college I learned quite a bit about other countries. I have friends from many different nations and have traveled to Japan, Canada, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Bulgaria.
I was fortunate to study abroad in Costa Rica and spent a month in Bulgaria with my friend's family. I love geography and earned a second major in Cultural Anthropology!
There are Americans that don't care about other countries and this is unfortunate. It is hard for many Americans to travel at times due to bills and various economical reasons. Many jobs in the US offer minimal vacation time and a pop culture based in materialism leaves many to believe "why learn" about others. I think the problem is a combination of factors.

Answer 4

20 Years ago when I was in school, we did learn world geography and learned about other countries. Not so much today. It is drilled into your head that the US is the best. You know, propaganda. I have only been to three other countries, but what history is there. Most Americans do not want to be bothered.

Nothing to do with liberals and ACLU, just the conservatives who continue to cut education funding.

Answer 5

I think the main thing is that what education we recieve about other countries is generally "optional". We can take a world history class or a current events class, but it's not required learning. I agree that a majority of people don't take an interest outside of the U.S. and that's sad. I also notice that many American's won't eat foreign food or try new things in general. But there are plenty of American's (like myself) that do indulge in understanding cultures and places outside of the U.S. But you also need to realize that much of the U.S. is run by people with a cowboy complex that stand by "all american" values and actively keep a closed mind to anything outside of it. How do you think Bush got elected? He's one of the biggest cowboys of them all.

Answer 6

We Americans learn about lots of different countries. in California we have not only American history but world history and you could learn lots about Mexican history as well. American learn about other countries when they are about 10 years old and about of people (most) have more than a basic understanding about the histories of other countries and how they shape are world. sure we don't learn about the history of the checks but we have info that we get tested on all the time.

sure our education is underfunded but the people you re describing or only a small part of Americans

[best answer!]

Answer 7

I think that you hit the nail on the head...but there are a good many Americans who still care enough to watch the news or take notes in their world cultures classes. for me, I love learning about different cultures because its really interesting to see the way other people live...the way other countries run. I'm still in high school, in America, but even as a teenager I hear other kids complaining that they have to learn about other cultures and how pointless it is. part of the problem is schools not giving enough options when it comes to learning more about other cultures (I would have been willing to go on and study in more advanced world cultures courses but they're not available) and part of it is the wanting to learn on the person's part. the adults who run our lives as kids need to do their best to stress how important diversity is too.

Answer 8

Actually, there is more being taught today in American schools about other countries than about the US. The liberals and the ACLU are not allowing US government or history to be the cornerstones that they once were...

This has been the trend over the last 10 years or so, so you need to talk to more recent graduates.

Answer 9

American High School students study world geography for one year and world history for one year. However, they don't truly study modern governments and cultures to any real extent. Contrary to what the "unclean" (or whatever his name is) guy above said, American students still study the history of the United States and of their state in particular year after year after year. They get way more repetition in their study of American history than world history.

The real problem, however, is that Americans simply aren't that interested in the world around them. This is partly due to our geographical size and location: we are a very large nation bordered by only two other countries. In France, if you travel for 10 hours in any direction, you are in another country. If you continue traveling in that direction, you will encounter several more countries before the week is through. Here in the United States, if I travel for 10 hours in any direction, I'm still in the U.S. In fact, I can travel for days and days and days in most directions and still be in my own country. Not so with Europeans. Hence, Europeans have a geographical advantage that makes it easier for them to encounter people from other countries that Americans do not have.

The rest of the problem is partly due to arrogance and ignorance. Some Americans feel that theirs is the most powerful and most important country in the world, and therefore that other countries do not "matter". A ridiculous assumption, I know, but there are those who think that way. And since overseas travel can be expensive, many Americans have never met someone from certain other cultures and therefore rely upon the world news and stereotypes to form their judgments about individuals from other countries. It's despicable, I agree. However, luckily, there are some of us in the U.S. who are genuinely interested in other countries and other cultures, and who do go out of their way to meet people from other parts of the world and to educate ourselves about the world around us.

Answer 10

I am American and we were taught about other countries. I remember in junior high spending a good amount of time learning about China, south American countries, Africa etc. I know for myself, my world geography IS bad. I figure I have no desire to go to the places so, why should I care where they are?

Answer 11

A wee tiny little bitty bit of world history is taught in American schools. I know nothing myslef about America's history, but everywhere else I know.

Only way an American learns about world history is by saying (bad F-word) American history, I want World history! And durning American history they have their world history book out. And study as hard as they can by themselves. Or they could learn it after high school is over, if they really wanted too.