england the usa's friend most yanks have not got a clue where england is are we really their friends?

Question

whilst on a visit to usa a yank said during in conversation that his brother lived near us in london, when asked where he said Naples!!!

Answer 1

Don't be offended. Sadly, most Americans don't know basic geography of our own country....

I loved England when I visited many years ago - London was just amazing, and Dover was as beautiful as promised.

Answer 2

This is more of a geography question. You have to realize that the United States is a HUGE country. In Europe, you could get in a car and go through a few different countries in one day. Naples and London are roughly 1000 miles away from each other. That is definitely a long distance, but thats only about half to one third of the way across the USA. It's long, but to an American, it's not THAT long. Plus the fact that once you get the long way across the ocean, Europe seems like its more densely situated than it is. This is not a matter of international relations, its just a little bit of distance generalization. It's not that he thinks that Naples and England are really close together, he just knows that they're not that far apart. That's a little more like the way we think about distances here. Don't be offended.

Answer 3

To be honest, when considered in scale to the size of the USA, Naples can seem pretty close to London.
It's about 1005 miles between London and Naples. Where as it's something like 2450 miles between New York and Los Angeles, for example.

Answer 4

ITS NOT THAT SUPRISING.i travel a lot for work and i find americans often have very limited knowledge of anything thats not american.

I think its social apathy and government encouraged dumbing down of America,dumb people are easier to manipulate.

Some thirty million adults in the U.S. do not have the skills to perform even the most basic tasks such as adding numbers on a bank slip, identifying a place on a map, or reading directions for taking a medication. Eleven million Americans are totally illiterate in English.
Only twenty-nine percent of Americans have basic reading and computing skills. One out of every twenty Americans lacks the ability to understand what is going on in the world or to develop an informed opinion for voting.

http://www.hermes-press.com/education_in...

Americans are far from alone in the world, but from the perspective of many young Americans, we might as well be. Most young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 demonstrate a limited understanding of the world, and they place insufficient importance on the basic geographic skills that might enhance their knowledge.

Young Americans answer about half (54 percent) of all the survey questions correctly. But by and large, majorities of young adults fail at a range of questions testing their basic geographic literacy.

Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003.
6 in 10 young Americans don't speak a foreign language fluently.
20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It's the largest country in Africa.)
48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It's Hindu—by a landslide.)
Half of young Americans can't find New York on a map.
These results suggest that young people in the United States—the most recent graduates of our educational system—are unprepared for an increasingly global future. Far too many lack even the most basic skills for navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events.

About the Survey

The findings presented are the results of a face-to-face survey conducted from December 17, 2005, to January 20, 2006, by Roper Public Affairs and Media, a part of GfK NOP. This study is the latest in a series of surveys commissioned by the National Geographic Society.

Answer 5

Yes, news flash, there are dumb people in America. Why do people only ask questions they already know the answers to, only to incite an argument or comments from someone?

Perhaps you should use that effort to compose an intelligent question. Although, I understand that may be difficult for you.

As for me, I certainly know where England is. Its next to Scottsdale Arizona isn't it?

Answer 6

He was speaking relatively. As in, his brother lives nearer to London than he does to Los Angeles.

Answer 7

Just beacuse you ran into one ignorant "yank" as you call us, doesn't mean we are all that way. Please travel around the US more. Britain loves us like a mother loves a rebellious child that comes homes and is a billionaire. Its not that we are friends, its just that we are the kid that Mama Liz will never forget about ...

Answer 8

comment based on a sample of 1?

Answer 9

yeh, they have no idea about their motherland, the country that founded america, ha! thats gratitude 4 ya!

Answer 10

.Are we really their friends? Not from what I see on here!