March 21, 2006

Explain America to Chinese University Students

The following appeared on Daily Kos. As a lecturer here in Asia, I've been asked very similar questions to the ones posted below. If you have an account with Daily Kos, please go ahead and answer any of the questions there. If you don't have an account (and DKos has a 24 hour waiting period on new accounts before that person can post a comment), I'd be more than happy to transfer any comments from here to there.


Hello to my American friends (or friends living in the U.S.),

I am teaching a course in American Culture (it is a survey course about the U.S.) at a university in China and I have received some questions from students. I am hoping to draw upon your first-hand experience of the U.S. to help me answer at least some of these questions. Respond to as many questions as you like, even if it's just one. Any answers I get will be useful. I have typed in the questions in the students' own wording and spelling so there is a bit of Chinglish in some of them and some questions have assumptions built right into them. Just reading the questions gives you an idea of what Chinese students want to know about the U.S. and how they think.

I appreciate your help. Thanks!

1. Why do most Americans think that the war of Iraq is right?

2. What's the biggest difference between English and Americans?

3. What is the function of the bank? Is there a most important bank who controls the whole economy of the country and what is it? If there is, how does it works? What functions does it have?

4. What kinds of crime did a person commit can sentence the person to death?

5. Who is the most influential philosopher in US history? How did he affect the US ideology?

6. Do most of the Americans like George W. Bush?

7. I wonder who it is that support Bush Administration firmly; and why? Because they have seen how badly Bush is and what indeed did Bush do to the world especially the Iraq. It's hard to understand.

8. Can Arnold Swasinger (California state master) be the next President?

9. What do the Americans usually do after work?

10. Do Americans usually go to a cinema for films?

11. Why soccer is not so popular as basketball in America? What is their general attitude toward soccer?

12. Why American government allow citizens to sell and buy guns?

13. Do most Americans have race prejudice?

14. How do most Americans think of China? Do they think China has many places to travel to visit?

15. What's the attitude of Americans towards the Chinese living in America?

16. What kind of person do most American people like?

17. I want to know something about their attitude toward the other country.

18. What's the American's attitude towards Japan?

19. American's attitudes towards their children's independence when they are 18 years old?

20. How about the attitude to the lives in America?

21. How do Americans think about fashion and individual character?

22. We have a kind of bias that American people tend to be utilitarians. Are they?

23. Heard that there is certain religion worships Satan. And their ceremonies and activities are very exclusive and crew (cruel?). Why they're not genocided?

24. How do they learn history?

25. Will most Americans get further education after they get BS or BA?

26. How to apply for a USA university and what would the application cover?

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