Where do People Think You are From?.....

[SoL. 0]

I am the USC but I have gone (and still am) going thru my own share of accent & geography related stories...

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and a quite a few people does not have a clue where that is and that it's a US territory! One time I went to the bank to cash my last income tax return check from PR (on $USD) and they told me we don't have an exchange for Puertorrican pesos! OMG! I spent more than 1/2 hour explaining that PR is a Commonwealth of the US, same currency, bla, bla... And finally a customer came and help me clarify because none of the officers or tellers believed me. *sigh*

Another one is that everytime I talk people ask me where I got my accent from. When I said I am form Puerto Rico some have said, oh yeah, I love Mexico! Specially Cancún! Then I have to explain where PR is, they have no clue until I said that is an island on the Caribbean, around where Cuba is... And that I have never been on Mexico. After being here for 7 years, I have so many stories, my goodness...

Most people think I am from Spain or Greece. One time at the bus a guy asked if I wanted a seat and another guy told him "Oh don't even bother, she musn't even speak English, she looks like she is from Bosnia"

Or in the other hand, guys get all romantic and start flirting, oh your accent is soo sexy, oh... Please, I just ordered a sandwich!

And some still ask how I got a green card and if I was married to an American to get one. And I have to explain, we are born US citizens, blue passport...

My Dutch fiancé was here and he got asked where he got that accent all the time. Just wait when he moves here, I already warned him to be ready! My boss tells me all the time that when someone asks us where we got our accent from, to say from Target. That's just mean...

Good luck with your accents!

Edited March 3, 2007 by Sol-de-Verano

[mmb 0]

My fiance is from Scotland and I've learned from him that many of us Americans are clueless about things!

First off, everyone just says he's english or irish, sometimes even australian. Which, to me and the area I've been raised, besides tv, how else would we really know? We haven't ventured out just yet. We just seem to group things together when we don't take the time to notice the little differences. It's funny, because he'll point out how different his friends, family, or co-workers speak from him, just because they were brought up in a different towns in Scotland. I can't imagine trying to notice a difference between someone from eastern and western Oklahoma.

Another thing is geography. One visit, he got this big map out and kept showing people where exactly he was from. lol

The saddest part about it is when the only foreigner in the room is the one who knows the most about American History!

I've had some strange guesses as to my nationality when in the US. At one point I was so fed up with it I told the woman I was Polish then was so ashamed of myself when she told me she was Polish-American and asked me to her home for dinner. She was so thrilled to meet a real Pole.

Home in Scotland accents change after you go a mile down the road so if you meet Scots that sound alike then they are probably related.

I suspect the reason many Americans know so little about other countries is that their own country is so large. Most of the rest of the world can easily travel to other countries but it would take more than one lifetime just to visit all of the USA.

Edited March 3, 2007 by mmb

[wildroze22 0]

from my looks people always think im spanish or turkish. i was born and raised in the us, and for some reason people are usually surprised by that. the whole 'exotic' look i guess.

my SO is israeli. for some reason no one ever wants to say that. he gets a lot of north african countries (his family is from morocco...) and a lot of turkish. people usually think he doesnt speak english well, because of his accent, when in reality he is perfectly fluent. when he tells people hes israeli theres a lot of... "ohhh... yea its hell livin over there isnt it?"

which really pisses him off

[Pam&Mbaye 0]

Just interested to know whether anyone else new to the US has had a variety of assumptions about where they are from? Im from London and its clearly obvious I am from my accent, however, Ive been asked if I am Australian, Welsh?, South African, and today, wait for it....Norwegian !! Now dont get me wrong, I realise that not everyone is familiar with an english accent, but I have always been able to tell the difference between Americans, Aussies, South Africans etc so I can never understand why it doesnt work both ways?

You don't have to be from another country to be mistaken for someone outside of your own country. Just this week I was asked by the people at the social security office if I was hispanic. Both of my parents are not hispanic and I believe I speak English without an accent. Go figure

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

good topic lol

I'm German, and people keep on asking me where I'm from. Most guess England, followed by California and New York.

Oh well, but if anyone else is tired of that stupid question give them this reply:

"I'm from around here!" I can guarantee you from my experience that this will shut people up for a good while and confuses them greatly. ROFL Try it out - it's worth the laugh.

Oh and speaking of Germany - most strangely people tend to ask if that isn't also that country where they drive on the wrong side of the road

LOL they've asked me that before too about the wrong side of the road.. I'm from Germany too and I get Canada, Minnesota, Russia or Wisconsin...one asked if I'm from Mexico Another one asked if Germany is in South America I also get...are you from the good side or the bad side.

My husband is Moroccan, they assume he's Mexican and talk to him in Spanish, his name is Hassan, they call him Hassoon, Hussein or Hoosan, I didn't know it was so difficult

[Ta Ta 1]

I am German but have been living here for 29 years.

I get the "you look Iranian " and one time a woman approached me when I

was carrying my daughter in a baby sling and asked me from what tribe I am from.

I said excuse me ? She asked from which Indian tribe are you from , you are Native

American Indian aren't you ?

I said no German.....she quickly turned around embarrassed.

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

I am German but have been living here for 29 years.

I get the "you look Iranian " and one time a woman approached me when I

was carrying my daughter in a baby sling and asked me from what tribe I am from.

I said excuse me ? She asked from which Indian tribe are you from , you are Native

American Indian aren't you ?

I said no German.....she quickly turned around embarrassed.

LOL Sabine that's hillarous. Hey you got me beat...I been here only for 21 years

[MissStacey 1]

I am guilty of many things that people have discussed here. I don't always know the differences between many of the accents- English, Austrailian, South African, Scottish. Same with Russian or Polish,etc. I haven't been submersed in any of them long enough to really know the differences.

I don't always know what Country someone is from just by looking at them. I have no problem asking people. I don't think I have ever offended anyone by asking them.

When I travel - Mexico, Cuba, Dominican,etc. I get lots of people asking if I am from Sweden. I think because I am very fair and blonde.

I have one friend who was in Hawaii on Vacation. She met some guys and was chatting with them- they thought she was Eskimo because she was from Canada. I got a kick out of that.

[fozzie 41]

English people can generally tell the subtle differences in speach of other english speakers. But I couldn't tell the difference between Russian, bulgarian or polish which I am know are very different languages with different accents. Its just because I have not been there and spent a lot of time listening to their languages. I can make general assumptions of which region of the world they are from, for example if they are eastern european, asian, african etc. but thats about my limit. I couldn't tell the difference bewtween australian and new zealandish until i spent a lot of time there and now it seems silly that i couldn't before.

[Reba 2]

its easy, just listen to the vowels. They all pronounce vowels differently.

I can tell the difference from South African, Aussie, Kiwi, and Brit of course. My father and his family are English, and I've worked with several people from SA, Oz and NZ. It really doesn't take long to figure out who's who.

Now, people I've met who've moved say from England to Australia, or from South Africa to Australia, or Canada to New Zealand, kinda weird me out for a bit, but then I get them figured too.

I'm still working on the different areas of Englan though. My Dad is from Bristol, so that one's easy. But then trying to figure out an accent from Yorkshire, as opposed to Oxford, not so much. Because I don't know many people from there.

But as someone above mentioned, people in the same town can have a different accent, if they live over the hill from each other. The same goes here in North Carolina, and there's a lot of hills! Heck, my husband and his brother have different accents fer crimeny. People ask my husband where's he from, and when he says he was born and raised here, they don't believe him!

[SanDan 0]

People never guess where I'm from and when/if they ask they have no clue where Finland is. Most of them anyway. Some of my coworkers didn't even know/notice I was from somewhere else until recently. I've worked in the same place for a little over 10 months now. Many people seem to get Finland confused with Sweden and Norway..

Edited March 4, 2007 by SanDan

[anya-D 8]

just today my co-worker asked if i'm a Native American (i just got a new job) that just makes me smile

[felnfrank 0]

Korea hehe