Influence of American culture

[wesleyanne]

Hi all :)

I am writing a paper for a professor who's really curious about exactly how much we as international students feel that studying or living in the United States have changed us. So, I do have some questions that I have, specifically for students studying in the United States :) Would really appreciate any feedback and some quotes from y'all would be good too. You can also digress from the questions and write anything regarding this issue :) but here are some questions to get this started:

Do you feel that being in the United States has significantly changed your communication skills and behaviors?

If yes, in what ways do you feel that your communication behaviors, both verbal and nonverbal have changed?

Do you attribute that to the influence of American culture or other factors (maturity, chronemics aka time, etc)?

If you attributed it to the American culture, do you feel that it has created conflict or at some point affected your relationships with:
i) Family? ii) Friends? iii) Significant others?

In you answered yes, in what ways do you feel that it has created conflict within the relationships mentioned above?

If you feel you have changed significantly because of the American influence, do you find readapting to your culture (when returning home be it permanently, for holidays etc) difficult?

thanx!!!

[wesleyanne]

Hi all :)

I am writing a paper for a professor who's really curious about exactly how much we as international students feel that studying or living in the United States have changed us. So, I do have some questions that I have, specifically for students studying in the United States :) Would really appreciate any feedback and some quotes from y'all would be good too. You can also digress from the questions and write anything regarding this issue :) but here are some questions to get this started:

Do you feel that being in the United States has significantly changed your communication skills and behaviors?

If yes, in what ways do you feel that your communication behaviors, both verbal and nonverbal have changed?

Do you attribute that to the influence of American culture or other factors (maturity, chronemics aka time, etc)?

If you attributed it to the American culture, do you feel that it has created conflict or at some point affected your relationships with:
i) Family? ii) Friends? iii) Significant others?

In you answered yes, in what ways do you feel that it has created conflict within the relationships mentioned above?

If you feel you have changed significantly because of the American influence, do you find readapting to your culture (when returning home be it permanently, for holidays etc) difficult?

thanx!!!

[topdog]

i have definitely changed in the way i write and speak the English language. (sorry if this is kinda superficial and not exactly what you're looking for.)

first, i now use American spelling exclusively.

second, i write dates in MM/DD/YYYY format as opposed to DD/MM/YYYY back home.

third, i use so many American terms so much so that words that i used back home without even thinking twice now seem odd.

e.g.
- truck (Malaysia: lorry).
- restroom (Malaysia: toilet. in america "toilet" refers to what malaysians would call the "toilet pot."
- gas (petrol)
- "turn in" homework ("pass up" homework)
- cell phone (handphone)

third, pronunciation. i was playing cranium the other day with some americans and i had to spell YOO-nik backwards. not yoo-NIK (as in "unique"), but YOO-nik. i thought i had just encountered a word i never knew before, but it turned out that the word in question was "eunuch." i always thought it was pronounced YOO-nak.

fourth, i am a LOT more informal now in my writing.

[topdog]

i have definitely changed in the way i write and speak the English language. (sorry if this is kinda superficial and not exactly what you're looking for.)

first, i now use American spelling exclusively.

second, i write dates in MM/DD/YYYY format as opposed to DD/MM/YYYY back home.

third, i use so many American terms so much so that words that i used back home without even thinking twice now seem odd.

e.g.
- truck (Malaysia: lorry).
- restroom (Malaysia: toilet. in america "toilet" refers to what malaysians would call the "toilet pot."
- gas (petrol)
- "turn in" homework ("pass up" homework)
- cell phone (handphone)

third, pronunciation. i was playing cranium the other day with some americans and i had to spell YOO-nik backwards. not yoo-NIK (as in "unique"), but YOO-nik. i thought i had just encountered a word i never knew before, but it turned out that the word in question was "eunuch." i always thought it was pronounced YOO-nak.

fourth, i am a LOT more informal now in my writing.

[silverblue]

I certainly eat much bigger portions than I do in Malaysia when I am in the States... mebbe this is bcos they always serve large portions and my stomach has become accustomed to this portion size. Bad bad...

[silverblue]

I certainly eat much bigger portions than I do in Malaysia when I am in the States... mebbe this is bcos they always serve large portions and my stomach has become accustomed to this portion size. Bad bad...

[PeiWen]

Can someone not studying in the US contribute opinions as well???

Well, IMHO, even watching US drama series eg "Friends", "Ally McBeal" just to name a few, this has even changed my pronunciation. I tend to follow their Ameriacn slang, and at times it also confused me with the spelling between British and the US. As we know, we're using British style here, but most of my textbooks in the University are produced by the US experts, professors. Hence, there are times where lecturers request us to follow American spelling or American style of writing instead of British or local.

It's true and obvious that American culture has a deep impact on us. Sometimes I just wonder, why can't we have the great influence that can leave some impacts to the Americans as well? FOr an example, Singapore is a small but one of the most advanced country in the region. they tend to follow American foot steps, later on with the "Japanese Fever" stroke the city, then Korean fashion or "Everything Korean" is now at the frontline.

In short...when will we have our own culture that can be so influential as well?

[PeiWen]

Can someone not studying in the US contribute opinions as well???

Well, IMHO, even watching US drama series eg "Friends", "Ally McBeal" just to name a few, this has even changed my pronunciation. I tend to follow their Ameriacn slang, and at times it also confused me with the spelling between British and the US. As we know, we're using British style here, but most of my textbooks in the University are produced by the US experts, professors. Hence, there are times where lecturers request us to follow American spelling or American style of writing instead of British or local.

It's true and obvious that American culture has a deep impact on us. Sometimes I just wonder, why can't we have the great influence that can leave some impacts to the Americans as well? FOr an example, Singapore is a small but one of the most advanced country in the region. they tend to follow American foot steps, later on with the "Japanese Fever" stroke the city, then Korean fashion or "Everything Korean" is now at the frontline.

In short...when will we have our own culture that can be so influential as well?

[wesleyanne]

Can someone not studying in the US contribute opinions as well???

Peiwen, well of course!!! :) Sorry I didn't make that clear before!!! :oops:

[wesleyanne]

Can someone not studying in the US contribute opinions as well???

Peiwen, well of course!!! :) Sorry I didn't make that clear before!!! :oops:

[mystique_jasper]

Personally, i feel that being in United States will ceryain improve our oral communication skills. Research has shown that American lecturers always encourage the students' participation in class. So, indirectly, our communication skills will be enhanced. We will be better in conveying our ideas after a few years in America.

[Melo_15]

studying in american will influence us culturally.....erm for some, maybe me, i dunno, ill see..... they will adopt american cultures....erm....like hip hop n so on....well its typical american youths' activity....

[theT]

in my opinion the student will either adapt or adopt the culture.

from my experience:

-people are more open and respect each other point of view. i used to be really stuck up back in malaysia but now i try to respect everyone. now i can talk to the garbage collector or joking with bus driver. i never thought i can do that before.

-people are also friendly and less formal. (i.e: you can call your lecturer or your friend's parents by their first name). Thus, I don't feel so nervous to talk to someone older. It's easy for me to get around too since they're friendly. Some might call them superficial, but I rather deal with superficiality than feel out of place.

-i don't feel offended by swear word anymore. and the usage is not fake like in malaysia (sorry, i don't know how else should i describe it). I also can take their racism joke (only if they are joking)

-kissing in public shows the couples affection and does not disgust others. (i know in they're a lot of people kissing in public in malaysia too, but typically it is always be seen as immoral)

i also agree with the slang. my friend was laughing at me when i said "queue up." and said that i talked in british english though i have no british accent.

[Thirdshifter]

studying in american will influence us culturally.....erm for some, maybe me, i dunno, ill see..... they will adopt american cultures....erm....like hip hop n so on....well its typical american youths' activity....

Unless your living in the ghettos i would suggest try not to come to the US with your baggy pants and the oversized Basketball jersey . It's not cool anymore. Its chilly.

And chilly ain't cool :D

America is without a culture. Everyone just get americanized (live without a culture) . I hope all of you get laid upod arriving :D

the only way to do it!

[wesleyanne]

America is without a culture. Everyone just get americanized (live without a culture)

er, maybe I'm wrong in saying American Culture. America is so diverse that there are a lot of subcultures in America itself. I guess what I meant (dont know exactly how to say it) would be just the general stereotype of American culture? hahaha..I'm seriously bad in articulating my thoughts.

I hope all of you get laid upod arriving :D

the only way to do it!
very funny...now now, we don't want to put incorrect ideas into ppls heads do we? :)

oh yes, now that I'm going to return home very soon, it makes me wonder exactly how much of this "culture" has been instilled in me. hmmmm...does one automatically revert back into how society expects them to behave? or is there a tiny part of this "culture" that you hold on to permanently? I guess it depends on the individual huh?

[theT]

studying in american will influence us culturally.....erm for some, maybe me, i dunno, ill see..... they will adopt american cultures....erm....like hip hop n so on....well its typical american youths' activity....

Unless your living in the ghettos i would suggest try not to come to the US with your baggy pants and the oversized Basketball jersey . It's not cool anymore. Its chilly.

And chilly ain't cool :D

America is without a culture. Everyone just get americanized (live without a culture) . I hope all of you get laid upod arriving :D

the only way to do it!

i actually see more so-called hip hoppers in malaysia than is it here.

[oshmelvin]

In one way or another, people all over the world are getting influenced by the american culture whether they are staying in America or not. America was the first country to adopt democracy and the freedom of speech which was then followed by other countries including ours (although ours is rather restricted). Also, America was the country that came up with the new age music, for example hip pop or rock which changed the tune of the music that the people around the world were singing then (probably the oldies). Also, America was the country that intoduced ear piercing, nose piercing and all sorts of piercing into the teenage society and popularized it as a cool act. People all over the world started piercing because of the american influence that they see from tvs or from the internet. America is also the country that started fast food.... that is why we have kfc's and sugar bun's today! America changed the diet of the world when they introduced fast food into the society which was adopted really fast by other countries as a popular source for food even for lunch! America is also the super power that that popularised skate boarding as a popular teenage activity which was taken on by teenagers in other countries such as Malaysia! America was also the country that influenced many of the teenagers world wide with baggy clothings which irritated my teachers so much. America is also the country that popularizes its american slang to the world until the dictionaries today have to have two spellings, one british and the other american.

[soul_out]

I'm working part time in a coffee shop here, in Glasgow, Scotland. Selling Canadian muffin and Italian coffee to British. The shop is called Vancouver Muffin Company.

Some British young kids(12-15) often come to the shop and buy Snapples and Dr.Peppers. Below r some conversation that i've heard couple of times while they were talking among themselves.

"Hey u know? This snapples is a American drink, it's so cool"

Some Aunty come to the shop purposely just to buy few bottles of Snapples.

"We went to America for holiday last year. My kids love Snapples. It's sad that we can't buy this in the supermarket."

And my boss told me, "We are the first coffee shop in Glasgow who sell Snapples"

My boss is a Chinese from Beijing.

[Thirdshifter]

Atleast people in scotland have more things to talk about. Over here it's all about how the weather is.

[__earth]

I'm working part time in a coffee shop here, in Glasgow, Scotland. Selling Canadian muffin and Italian coffee to British. The shop is called Vancouver Muffin Company.

Some British young kids(12-15) often come to the shop and buy Snapples and Dr.Peppers. Below r some conversation that i've heard couple of times while they were talking among themselves.

"Hey u know? This snapples is a American drink, it's so cool"

Some Aunty come to the shop purposely just to buy few bottles of Snapples.

"We went to America for holiday last year. My kids love Snapples. It's sad that we can't buy this in the supermarket."

And my boss told me, "We are the first coffee shop in Glasgow who sell Snapples"

My boss is a Chinese from Beijing.

globalization is about a malaysian working at a chinese-from-beijing-owned english coffee shop in scotland, selling coffee made from beans imported probably from ceylon or columbia along with some soda made in the US, shipped to the UK by maybe some canadian (eh?) shipping firm that probably employs mexicans and god knows who else as crews. aboard, most probably there are some rats from Singapore, accidentally picked up during the ship last visit. in the end, the ship that transported the pop brought some asian rats to the british isle. in the end, the rats are naturalized. :P

coffee my dear? a cube of sugar with it?

globalization rocks.

[Thirdshifter]

globalization rocks.

Yet, In Malaysia we treat Bangladeshi and indonesian like shit.

[soul_out]

Like how? Mind to share?

But for sure a lot of Malaysian don't welcome them.

[aquila]

Hey, I'm going to be on this ESL panel next Wed. We're discussing the challenges foreign students face when coming here to the US and being faced with the way Americans study and learn and write papers and what not!

Please give me some suggestions on what I should include in my 10min talk. I'm going to concentrate on plagiarism, participation in class and pronunciation... the diff ways we learn English or even write essays back home, eg we don't write research papers,, just exam essays

OK I appreciate all feedback! Thanks! Writing tutors will be at the workshop.