I remember distinctly when I learned the name of the capital of Canada and it wasn't in school. I must have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. My parents had taken me on a vacation driving trip to Canada. We were staying with some old friends of my father's, who were then living in Toronto. The adults were talking politics or something similarly boring and, listening, I suddenly realized I didn't know what the capital of Canada was. So I piped up and asked our host. He told me. I've never forgotten it. That was a good 50 years ago.
Alice.
I learned world geography in fourth and fifth grades, and probably part of sixth. That included learning the capitals, the key rivers, and some small amount about agriculture and industry. I went to catholic grade schools in different US cities in the late forties and early fifties.
Those geography lessons affected me later - when I finally got a good long vacation in my own late forties, I had a vast number of places I wanted to see. (I still want to go to south america...)
nimh wrote:Intrepid wrote:Teddy or Franklin?
Eleanor ...
You must have read my signature line
Merry Andrew wrote:Okay, I'll continue. Most students don't know the difference between Austria and Australia and can't find either one on a world map. I shudder whenever I realize thtat hese are the leaders of tomorrow.
I know. I always have to add "in europe" when I say that I'm from austria. And I didn't meet one american yet who knew where in Europe it is. But thats no problem, I don't know all 50 american states too.
I know that it's Ottawa, probably because I grew up in a border state and much of our television programming originated out of Canada. I was always impressed at the 'College Bowl' television programs that featured Canadian student contestants. They knew more American geography and history than most Americans.
I studied Canadian geography in elementary school. I still use 'Basmoq' as a reminder for remembering the west-to-east order of the Provinces. Also, because we were so close to Quebec, the majority of the kids took french as a second language beginning in the fourth grade. Here, in IL, most of the kids take spanish.
This is all very interesting. If I understand right, I think the "older" generations of American kids learned something about the world, and also that it depends on which state you live in.
Canadian kids do not get much more education in world "affairs" in school. Maybe they watch more TV??
As for foreign languages, I must say in North America (Canada and US), we are very behind the Europeans who seem to know at least 4 or 5 languages just for fun. I really don't know what time they have left to learn about other things though.
I like learning about TV. Is that almost like 4-5 languages?
Do you know who Michael Jordan is sponsoring?
Or who the capital/"shill" of Nike is these days?
Corporations are bigger than countries ... shouldn't we know more about Texaco than Canada?
I guess, CodeBorg, each one his own interests, as long as one is interested in something. I know nothing of what you asked me, neither do I care to know.
As far as I am concerned, it is not the number of languages you speak, but rather how you communicate with other people that counts.
Bram wrote:This is all very interesting. If I understand right, I think the "older" generations of American kids learned something about the world, and also that it depends on which state you live in.
Was I just called 'older'?
I was taught the capital of Canada (and the capitals of each province) in elementary school in Oklahoma, but I promptly forgot them. We're too far away, and at the age of 10, I never expected to go there.
Typical childish shortsightedness. It turns out that my parents believed that travel was educational and took us many places. We visited Canada (Ontario and Quebec) when I was in my early teens. I remember Ottawa...English accents, the changing of the guard, very pleasant city. Toronto seemed very American, even then...(and therefore very dull! I was looking for something "foreign.") Montreal was dreamily "Big City" romantic to this girl from the Great Plains, and Quebec City gave me an appetite for European urban settings that I have never yet quenched. Since then I've visited British Columbia twice, and I'd dearly love to visit the Maritime Provinces one of these days. The middle provinces would be too much like home, I'm afraid (no more rodeos for me, thanks!) and the northern provinces are waaaaaaay too cold. I like warm places, so I have to visit Canada in the summertime. All 50 days of it.
