Americans, does it bother you when immigrants complain about America?

[Anonymous]

As long as one can understand other human, all is good. You don't need perfect grammar, local accent or fancy vocabulary to connect to other human.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

We were getting two foreign workers at my workplace. One of them has the most difficult accent I've ever heard plus speaks very quickly. I constantly have to ask him to repeat himself and slow down and I feel bad because I'm usually good with accents. The other one has no accent at all even though she is brand new to the US and I blurted out "Wow, you speak just like you were born here!" and she got offended. I was genuinely surprised and wanted to know how she learned English so thoroughly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in Healthcare and I am the only US born person in my department. All of my coworkers talk about how much they hate it here! The food is a special complaint but also they complain about oversexualized culture and the men complain about women in the workforce. All of these except food should be verboten topics but I don't rock the boat. Occasionally I've asked why they're even living here and it's always "great money".
As an aside the higher ups were planning to bring in pizza to show their appreciation. I said that no one but me would eat it (last year they all refused it) and they really ought to order another type of food if they wanted people to enjoy it. We ended up with nothing.

So rather than bring in food the majority would like, they brought in nothing? Lol, that’s some appreciation they have for your group!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in Healthcare and I am the only US born person in my department. All of my coworkers talk about how much they hate it here! The food is a special complaint but also they complain about oversexualized culture and the men complain about women in the workforce. All of these except food should be verboten topics but I don't rock the boat. Occasionally I've asked why they're even living here and it's always "great money".
As an aside the higher ups were planning to bring in pizza to show their appreciation. I said that no one but me would eat it (last year they all refused it) and they really ought to order another type of food if they wanted people to enjoy it. We ended up with nothing.

So rather than bring in food the majority would like, they brought in nothing? Lol, that’s some appreciation they have for your group!

Why waste money in ingrates.

[Anonymous]

No because I’ve lived abroad and had plenty of things both good and bad to say about the countries I’ve lived in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

We were getting two foreign workers at my workplace. One of them has the most difficult accent I've ever heard plus speaks very quickly. I constantly have to ask him to repeat himself and slow down and I feel bad because I'm usually good with accents. The other one has no accent at all even though she is brand new to the US and I blurted out "Wow, you speak just like you were born here!" and she got offended. I was genuinely surprised and wanted to know how she learned English so thoroughly.

How often do you think she hears that? It’s probably quite tiresome. Imagine if you received comments about the way you speak on a near daily basis. At some point you might get tired of it too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

We were getting two foreign workers at my workplace. One of them has the most difficult accent I've ever heard plus speaks very quickly. I constantly have to ask him to repeat himself and slow down and I feel bad because I'm usually good with accents. The other one has no accent at all even though she is brand new to the US and I blurted out "Wow, you speak just like you were born here!" and she got offended. I was genuinely surprised and wanted to know how she learned English so thoroughly.

How often do you think she hears that? It’s probably quite tiresome. Imagine if you received comments about the way you speak on a near daily basis. At some point you might get tired of it too

Where was your offended colleague from? They possibly thought your comment was patronising or ignorant although that’s not what you intended, especially if they are from a country where English is widely and well spoken (eg Philippines, India, many African countries).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in Healthcare and I am the only US born person in my department. All of my coworkers talk about how much they hate it here! The food is a special complaint but also they complain about oversexualized culture and the men complain about women in the workforce. All of these except food should be verboten topics but I don't rock the boat. Occasionally I've asked why they're even living here and it's always "great money".
As an aside the higher ups were planning to bring in pizza to show their appreciation. I said that no one but me would eat it (last year they all refused it) and they really ought to order another type of food if they wanted people to enjoy it. We ended up with nothing.

So rather than bring in food the majority would like, they brought in nothing? Lol, that’s some appreciation they have for your group!

Pizza is a lot cheaper than the food the group would have liked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

We were getting two foreign workers at my workplace. One of them has the most difficult accent I've ever heard plus speaks very quickly. I constantly have to ask him to repeat himself and slow down and I feel bad because I'm usually good with accents. The other one has no accent at all even though she is brand new to the US and I blurted out "Wow, you speak just like you were born here!" and she got offended. I was genuinely surprised and wanted to know how she learned English so thoroughly.

How often do you think she hears that? It’s probably quite tiresome. Imagine if you received comments about the way you speak on a near daily basis. At some point you might get tired of it too

Where was your offended colleague from? They possibly thought your comment was patronising or ignorant although that’s not what you intended, especially if they are from a country where English is widely and well spoken (eg Philippines, India, many African countries).

Yes she was from one of those and I was just surprised. I don't think she would have heard it that often since she just had set foot in the USA for the first time that week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I disagree. Americans are known to have a pretty healthy sense of humor and most of us can take a ribbing, as well as be honest about our shortcomings as a nation. The problem comes in when others cross that invisible line of good-natured joking and it becomes insulting.

Example: You can jokingly tell someone your teen kid sometimes doesn't know his left from his right, and is frequently absent-minded.

If that same person said to YOU, "Your kid seems dim-witted and forgetful." you would no doubt take umbrage, right?

I disagree. Americans as a whole are not known for having a sense of humour that extends to being able to poke fun at themselves or recognising irony unless it’s explicitly spelled out.

[Anonymous]

The whole point of the U.S. is that we get to speak our minds about it, good, bad, ugly and indifferent. And we get to vote based on our opinions too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

How do you not see see this was rude? Rather than simply choosing to compliment the PP’s accent-less English, he was was complaining to them about how other immigrants speak. Not only that, he was complaining about something they may have little control over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

How do you not see see this was rude? Rather than simply choosing to compliment the PP’s accent-less English, he was was complaining to them about how other immigrants speak. Not only that, he was complaining about something they may have little control over.

Rude if the person said it in front of other immigrants yes. But if PP was the only immigrant there when it was said then no I don’t see why they would have taken offense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

How do you not see see this was rude? Rather than simply choosing to compliment the PP’s accent-less English, he was was complaining to them about how other immigrants speak. Not only that, he was complaining about something they may have little control over.

Rude if the person said it in front of other immigrants yes. But if PP was the only immigrant there when it was said then no I don’t see why they would have taken offense.

So try putting the shoe on the other foot. How would you feel if you turned up in Ireland, UK or Australia and somebody acted surprised about how clearly you spoke and said that most Americans have terrible accents? Would you take it as a compliment or be insulted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Immigrants are allowed to complain just like anyone else. It's our god-given human right.

I was born and raised in the US, and I complain about the US. Endlessly. I've also lived in 5 other countries. I've complained about those places, too, while I was there. All countries have pros and cons. We're allowed to discuss both aspects freely.

I never understand why Americans are so uptight. We really cannot take ANY criticism or we lose our minds. Contrarily, other nationalities (Brits, Irish, etc) are famous for their self-deprecating humor and seem not to be so offended. We need to learn to relax. Pointing out a flaw does not diminish your standing as a Proud American.

I don't think it's a matter of being uptight. I think it speaks to the certain feeling of superiority over immigrants. I think certain Americans always view us as not American so we can never complain about "their country." We will never be equal and therefore have no right to complain and should always be grateful to the Americans for letting us be here. This is certainly not a sentiment of all Americans.

I'll give you an example of when someone tried to pay me a compliment but was super rude instead. I speak English without an accent. Not because I'm smarter, harder working, or more talented than any other immigrant. I guess I'm just lucky to have picked it up easily. I was talking to an American guy who said to me"Geez, why can't more immigrants be like you? You speak English so good and I don't have to strain to understand you." Nevermind that someone who might be a little harder to understand is possibly ten times more educated, smarter, or talented than me. He wants more people who SOUND like him.

I don’t find this rude. Yes some people speak English but can have an accent so hard that it is very very hard to understand them. That makes the listener uncomfortable because they have to focus very hard to understand the speaker. And still may not. I work with people from around the world so are used to accents but some countries tend to have VERY strong accents making it quite difficult to understand them. For me generally I have the most trouble with many Indians and also a fair amount of Koreans. Other origins not so much.

It can be partly a matter of your own perspective, don’t you think? I am a native English speaker with a fairly nondescript accent as I have lived all around the world. DH is British. He was initially shocked when, after we arrived, he would ask for butter or water, and nobody would understand him, despite him repeating it over and over and saying it slower and slower. Needless to say, we both learned to say BUDDer and WARDer in order to be understood. What some Americans think is a difficult accent, may partly be just a non-American accent.