Reply to I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.

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Reply to "I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are. "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]He's probably on the spectrum - smart, but socially inept. If you want to, you can address that with him, and say: "I can see you're intelligent and above average, even for a German high schooler. But socially, I'd like to remind you of the rules of etiquette. It's not done, here or in any other country, to repeatedly criticize people. You've already told me how American students are behind academically multiple times, so I don't need to hear this anymore. And going forward, applying rules of social etiquette will help you with your professional and private relationships."

Cast it in the form of "social rules" and in light of his future interests, and he will understand it better. I have close relatives on the spectrum - being direct but neutral helps them a lot.

FYI... I lived in the UK, France and Germany as a child, and went to high school in a private international school in Paris. The average American student IS behind the average continental European student!!! It's true :-) But it doesn't mean it should be said.

My kids went to/still attend good public high schools, and they were or still are in all AP/advanced tracks, which puts them below my high school level in writing and the Humanities, but higher in STEM and math.

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I think he just sounds German. [/quote]

Stop it with the xenophobic stereotypes. People are the same everywhere and politeness is a thing outside of the US. [/quote]

You’re so wrong it isn’t even funny.  That’s not a xenophobic stereotype, it’s a cultural difference.  I’m German.  We interact differently and have different customs.  Do you really think all cultures have the same social norms?  German ones are not extremely different from American ones, but they are different—we are much more direct.  It’s not rude if it’s true, basically.  Nobody is sugar coating anything.

Go live in India for a while. Or China. Or Brazil.  You think you are always going to know what people mean when they say something to you?  that’s funny.[/quote]

PP you replied to. I'm European and lived in Germany for 5 years. Apart from one of my neighbors, who was rude, everyone else was perfectly lovely. I have interacted with many people from around the globe and am perfectly aware of cultural differences. Maybe you didn't read the OP carefully. One remark by a 17 year old is fine. But apparently he lets loose regularly when he comes home from school. That is NOT a cultural difference and it's NOT normal, and if you tell me this is typical German behavior, I'm not going to believe you, because that was not the behavior of Germans when I lived in Dusseldorf.

Maybe learn to read the OP.

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I’m sure your couple years in Germany makes you a bigger expert than the actual German….who was responding to you apparently.  Not the OP.  Who needs to learn to read?[/quote]

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