Random quetsion for you all:

[frannyan]

Do you find the internet and communications through it (such as AIM or LJ) have made you more aware of cultures becides your own? Do you find yourself adjusting your slang depending on who you're talking to? [like if you're talking to someone in the UK you use 'post' instead of 'mail' and 'lift' instead of 'elevator' and the like]. Do you make an effort to give temperature/money referances for the other country (like if in the US, saying what stuff is in C when you coment on the temperature to someone not in the US and the like, or convert how much money you spent into a curancy the other person knows)? Do you think you know more about another country or culture from your interactions with people from that country/culture?

Comments

[peeperoonie.livejournal.com]

I only 'translate' what I say if someone asks what I'm talking about. Yeah, be aware of other cultures, sets of slang or terminology and what-not, but they should be aware of yours too. It should be a learning experience all round, right? If you don't understand, ask. You may feel slightly silly, but in the end you'll know for next time.

I mean, here in the UK, we see plenty of US television, so we know that when a Yank says 'elevator', they're talking about a lift. We know that the 'trunk' of a car is the boot, and the 'hood' is the bonnet and so on. We don't need it translating into Brit for us, and the visa versa should also be true. It's like picking up any new vocabulary when you're young - you mostly learn it through context, rather than chomping through a dictionary or thesaurus.

It's kind of tricky to learn about the culture of an entirely different country from one person though - looking at the Brit-picking boards for the Harry Potter fandom for example, you see a huge variation between people from one part of the UK and another. Same goes for the US - what is 'soda' for one is 'pop' or 'coke' for another. Sometimes these differences are regional, sometimes it's a family thing...it's hard to tell.

For example, the rule of thumb is that in the UK we call our mother 'Mum'. But then someone will pipe up and say that in Yorkshire or Northern ireland they say 'Mam', and in Birmingham (I think) they actually say 'Mom'.

Plus when you're interacting with people online, unless you're getting into in-depth, personal discussions, you're probably talking about something fandom or interest-related, which doesn't often turn into an explanation of culture.

Online journals are different though, as you see glimpses of other people's daily lives outside of the fandoms you know them from. While they may not be average examples of the country they come from (because many of the people you encounter through fandoms aren't exactly normal, relatively speaking), it can still be an interesting read.

[pdutogepi.livejournal.com]

I sometimes use American words for things when I talk to someone from the US, but it's not that often that I do, I do try and avoid words that in the past have had people ask me what they mean and I tend to use something else to replace those words.

I feel I probably am learning a bit about lifestyles and stuff of people in other countries, a few months ago I had to ask people for help on the US school system cos I'm in an RP set in a US High School and we had to make schedules for our characters, even though I had heard the terms like "Freshman" ect. on US shows and movies I'd seen, I never fully understood what years they were, how old a person was in each and stuff XD;;

[lucidscreamer.livejournal.com]

I only "translate" if someone asks. I would have to look up the exchange rate for, say, dollars to pounds; and I have no idea how to convert Farenheit to celcius. (Nor do I care to learn.)

I do find that I have to explain more terms (especially regional ones) to someone from, for example, the Netherlands than I would for someone from somewhere like England or Australia. I also have to "translate" more for someone who is a decade or more younger than I am. ;)

I don't think one could learn much about another culture simply from chatting, though I suppose anything is possible. Usually, if I'm interested in another culture, I'll simply do some research myself...