Since when are pronouns disqualified from being subjects?

If you guys come with one more dangling participle, I am going
to have a cow, a Swiss cow.

I was always taught in english class that a pronoun can only be used in conjunction with a noun.. or else you dont have a complete sentence..

'They'd' .. well, who'd? who is being spoken of? they who? maybe this doesnt matter in a forum, but hell, since when does starting a sentence with a capital letter matter either??

My point was, it seemed the poster was belittling others by pointing out grammatical errors.. when they were doing the same thing. Its obvious they grew up in a structured environment and always adhered to the rules Clearly CH is the place for you..

We live in a country of slang, yet were bitching about grammar..
This thread is summed up in: Americans are loud and brash and think theyre better than you.. blah blah blah stereotype fulfilled.

I agree thread: derailed. Lets leave it off the tracks.

I agree with texttoc- Americans do face prejudices, but they are prejudices based on the stereotypes that so many Americans live up to. Of course this makes it tough for those who really wanna integrate and be a part of the life in their new country.

I come from new Zealand where we are friendly but more reserved and self-effacing than americans - and we also roll our eyes at the loud Americans who seem so full of themselves. Its a cultural thing, we misunderstand people's intentions because they communicate differently to us, often in a way that is frowned upon in our culture. It doesnt mean we wouldnt like them if we got to know em better.

In the end It says both something about us non-americans needing to be more culturally broadminded (and tolerant) and Americans needing to be aware of how they can come across to non-Americans.

Trying to speak a little of the lingo goes a LONG way with any local of course! It's simply rude not to ask (in German) if someone speaks English, before launching into your request.

There are stereotypes from every country and culture.. they are true for a reason... Not ALL americans are loud and full of themselves, but the ones who are, even most americans dont appreciate either..
Unless you have lived in America, its hard to understand why we dont blend well into other cultures.. We dont have many foreign neighbors, unlike Europe.. Our country is so big that sometimes we forget the world is A LOT bigger than even our own country.. People in the US travel FAR less to europe than europeans do to the US.. Its not an excuse, its just how our culture is.. We dont all feel the need to 'show off' our possessions or talk about money.. unfortunately the few bad apples spoil the rest..

Ok, so if we want to use your argument above, because it sounds kind of reasonable -

Australia would be a good analogue of your statement. Not many neighbours, big country, etc.

18 million Australians have passports, out of a population of 24 million.

Where as 90 million Americans have passports, out of over 300 million.

Percentage wise, much more.

Now - If an Australian wants to get to Europe, it's about 21 hours away on an aircraft and about $1,900 US dollars.

If you want to get to Europe from the east coast, it's about 7 hours away and apparently can be done for about 500 bucks.

Read into it what you will, but the reality is that it is easier, cheaper and there are more flights to Europe from the USA than it is from Australia. And yet you won't see people complain about Australians or automatically have a dislike for them.

Well if you reread my post... I wasnt comparing US to AUS, only US to Europe. Your post makes sense.. but you only make the point that Australians dont get noticed as much as Americans because there are fewer here visiting.. Or are all you descendants of criminals really that well behaved..

I dont get it.. if Europeans dont like Americans.. why are they always visiting the US? They have their own disneyworld here! It seems 80% of the people I meet here have visited the US.. and many several times..

Ok, first of all, even Americans roll their eyes at other Americans who talk too loud and think that just because they raise their voice, people will understand their accents. No, sweetie, they're not deaf, they're just not native English speakers . . .

I have also seen the Swiss get annoyed or short with French or Germans who bash their language. It's not just Americans who are too open with their opinions . . . As an American who has lived here for 2 years, I totally appreciate and understand the Swiss protection of their culture. They're one of the few groups left who can appreciate the diversity of others (hello, you have 4 national languages!) but don't want to be used and abused by others. Go Swiss! Stay strong! Save yourselves!

I get annoyed by people who come to America to live and can't speak English. Yes, it happens. Unfortunately, we don't have a national language so there is nothing for us to even protect. Yes, it is a fact that there have been people living there for decades who can't speak 1 word of English. It's sad. But, that doesn't mean I need to get mad at the lady at the immigration office because she's giving me attitude that I have been here for 5 years and can't speak German or - God forbid - Swiss German. It's a lack of respect for who's house you are in. I don't go into someone else's house and tell them how to run it. It's called "wearing out your welcome".

One reason why people don't leave is because America is still very much a young country. And, our country is mostly made up of European ancestors who "left their home lands to have a better life". So, if ours is the better life, then why do I need to leave? We didn't get the whole story from our families or from our teachers so it's gonna take a while for us to figure it out. Unless you are taught to have a love of culture, history or art, you don't have an incentive to go outside. We can ski, eat, drink, beach, party, gamble, eat, drink or whatever all within the boundaries of our own country. It's a HUGE country with lots going on. You can have a totally different experience from coast to coast without changing money or language. It's easy. Plus, we don't have time (or money!) usually to travel outside. But, give us some time, we'll get there

Another reason is the media. Most American TV focuses on how bad things are in Europe - the French are protesting in the streets, the Greeks have all gone mad and are throwing rocks at city hall, the hoodlums in the UK are killing each other over football again - so there's a fear component that plays a role. The worst fear of an American is to be in trouble over seas where no one can understand a word you're saying. So, rather than spending time learning another language just for a quick vacation, Americans would rather just stay put. It's safer

Burger King ,Mc Donald and Smokey the Bear

Trust me, when, if, you go home you will find that everyone over speaks too damn loudly.

Plus, Americans send their kids to the international school instead of the local schools. This is read as we Americans are too good to send out children the the local schools as well as we don't want to integrate. Truthfully, nothing gets your kids speaking the local language faster than plunking them down in the local school.

Couple this with the fact that corporate types tend to get put into housing that tends to be all Auslanders/Etrangers and you have the reason that the locals give us a bad vibe, in a nutshell. There attitude is why are we here if we aren't going to be bothered to integrate at all. And nothing says to a person that their country sucks more than a stranger not even trying to get on with the local customs.

Seriously, my wife needs to get placed over there again.

You forgot KFC...

I wouldn't be using this analogy. You should compare the opinions of people in countries 3-6 hours away from Australia. How do Kiwis feel about Australians? Ive lived in NZ and its definitely not love...and its not just about the rugby. What about some of the South Asian countries that occasionally get deluged by drunken, rowdy, loud Australians?

As for traveling to Europe, I could imagine you would be on your best behavior, certainly the cost and the hassle of flying that far would weed out most of the "troubled" parts of the population

Because it's cheaper to travel to and spend a week in Orlando than in Paris!

Tom

As a native Floridian, I hope it stays that way... We love the tourism industry 'helping' with our state taxes...

Really?? another native Floridiot!? Where are you from? I was born and raised in the tampa bay area.. Clearwater actually. Spent 28 of my 32 years there. I agree, Florida welcomes all tourists.. which is great for the economy, but for me, it got too crowded..

Im sure thats the reason.. it has nothing to do with how pleasant the French treat tourists... Since when are the Swiss concerned with how much something costs?

If you're 'automatically' getting annoyed by Americans, the problem is you, not them. People are individuals. Treat them like they are and you'll get a better response. Roll your eyes and mutter 'oh', and you'll get the response you deserve. For so many 'well travelled' people, a lot of you seem to have a lot of unresolved hangups and prejudice.

Ah, yes. The Asia sex tour groups (typically looking for underage girls). I believe they had a nice spot or two about that on the ABC or the Aussie 60 Minutes, IIRC. Funny that doesn't get brought up more often in these kinds of 'debates'.

you are painting way too broadly here. the interesting thing, of course, is that the strongest "anti-American" sentiment seems to come from other posters who aren't even "Swiss". yes, we gringos tend to be loud and open-book, it's ingrained in our culture and history. but I have had no problems at all with our reception in this country or with our interactions with anybody here - we have made some very good friends here locally and it will someday be very difficult to think about leaving (which of course we will have to due to tax considerations as well as the difficulty of localizing to Switzerland as gringos). figure out the local rules and customs and live your life by them, work a little bit everyday to communicate as best you can in the local language in a respectful if totally broken grammar and pronunciation, and I have found the Swiss to be incredibly patient and friendly. even, contrary to popular rumor, fun-loving and open.

the only "negative" encounters we have had here have been with cashiers, etc. who speak German or French but very little to no Swiss German or English, and with very recent immigrants who are able to navigate Swiss German but nothing else, and who are (as you would expect) perhaps a little overzealous in expressing their "Swissdom". in fact, the only "bad vibe" we ever got was from a neighbor when we first moved here, who mistook my wife for a German on the basis of her monotone "guten morgen" greeting.