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An American asked his British friend to fill in the various US states on a blanked out map and this is what he got. Americans might be surprised by the result but I doubt that most of the people in the rest of the world would be. How's your understanding of geography?

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SnowyOwl 8 Oct 18
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2

Level 8

Brave effort. My favorite label is "no one lives here" for New York state.

2

Level 8

I'm not sure a lot of Americans would be surprised given that so few know the answers themselves beyond their own area. But kudos to the Brit for even knowing our state names.

3

Level 8

lol. The Brit probably did as well as would most Americans. Our public education system is appalling in its effectiveness.

5

Level 8

Well, how well would most of us do labeling countries in Europe? I'd probably throw in Transylvania for Halloween, and lord knows what else.

2

Level 10

Whoa

bobwjr Level 10 Oct 19, 2021
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4

Level 8

An American asked a foreigner how come he knew so much about America and the foreigner opened fire with a volley of answers.

2

Level 9

I'm surprised that Quebec is not listed.

2

Level 9

Seriously?
Why would you waste good brain space by accurately memorizing the exact names & state shapes if you do not desire to go there?
Furthermore it has virtually nothing to do with geography. As I've said it is an exercise in memory. Few if any of the names are geographic to north America & have more to do with history having been brought from foreign places like most of the inhabitants.

Very true.
6

Level 9

And why should someone from another country care? Dividing the country into states has not really worked out that well.

9

Level 8

You sure it wasn't a British friend who asked an American to fill it out?

7

Level 9

He knows lots of place names in America and he got lots of things right. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Americans could not do as well.

2

Level 8

He did awful. It looks more of a joke to me. I consider myself somewhat decent at geography. (I like maps history and like to know population density) I could do better with Europe than he did the us

Tejas Level 8 Oct 18, 2021
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Yes I come from the UK and I think that he was deliberately having a joke, I mean mixing up Alaska and Hawaii, which have to be two of the most obvious.

@Fernapple might the fellow have been deliberately taking the piss? Sure it's possible but ask most people not from the UK to point out Wales from Scotland from England from Ireland and say the Isle of Man from the Isle of Wight. See how that works out.

@Fernapple I don't know. He knew Hawaii is an island, saw Alaska floating there, detached from the continent, and thought Voila! Island state. Notice Hawaii wasn't labeled at all. He might have missed those little ink blots where Mexico should be. He actually labeled my home state of Washington as Alaska, which makes sense when you are looking for Alaska to be in the farthest northwest location. I lost count of the number of Europeans I met who really believed Washington DC is the capitol of Washington state.

As for the UK, I can more or less locate London, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. I have a vague sense of where the Cliffs of Dover are, am even less sure about Liverpool (north-ish central England? Maybe??) and that's all I've got.

In fifth grade we all had to learn the states and their capitols. By the end of high school, most American students have forgotten many of them.

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