The US is not the only country in the world

I know that Americans can be self-absorbed* and don't pay attention to other countries but the following is someone who didn't see anything wrong with the following.

I was implementing a speech recognition package in the sales tools and these are a couple of the default languages that she used:

Canada - Canadian French (I didn't think Quebec has taken over yet)

Brazilian Portuguese for the following:
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Zambia

Now the user can change to another language but I'm now sure how many of these countries would accept the default most of the time.

Edit - * I meant that we have a reputation that we are self-absorbed. Not every American is. A lot of us have on the site learned a lot from members in other countries.

Wow! Did I just read that right? Brazilian Portuguese as the default language for the countries listed below it?

I've been to Canada a couple of times, beautiful country. I went to Montreal once for a fish auction that was being put on by a cichlid club once and it was a neat experience. I didn't understand a word being said but I had a great time. I had to listen to the scientific names for the fish being auctioned, bit I digress. I can't believe that the she actually thought all of Canada spoke French as their primary language.

Originally Posted by katachtig

I know that Americans are self-absorbed and don't pay attention to other countries but the following is someone who didn't see anything wrong with the following.

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I think that statement is a little harsh and i do not appreciate that being said about ALL Americans. It is simply not true. Sure, some people may be self-absorbed and only think their country is important- but that can be said of anyone of any ethnicity reguardless of where they live. So please (and i say this kindly, not mean) do not classify all American citizens as self-absorbed people who have no heart/care for other countries.

I want to see the locals faces when she takes a trip to Thailand after having brushed up on her portuguese....lol

Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

I think that statement is a little harsh and i do not appreciate that being said about ALL Americans. It is simply not true. Sure, some people may be self-absorbed and only think their country is important- but that can be said of anyone of any ethnicity reguardless of where they live. So please (and i say this kindly, not mean) do not classify all American citizens as self-absorbed people who have no heart/care for other countries.

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I'm sorry - I meant that Americans have that reputation (not necessarily earned). I know that many are much more aware of other countries.

Edit - it has been a long day and this when I had given up on trying to get this project done this weekend.

Originally Posted by katachtig

I'm sorry - I meant that Americans have that reputation (not necessarily earned). I know that many are much more aware of other countries.

Edit - it has been a long day and this when I had given up on trying to get this project done this weekend.

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Aww it's ok hon I thought it might be an overstatement but wasn't sure so i wanted to say something (as kindly as i could think to anyways, hope i didn't come off harsh! sorry if i did.). It just was a bit upsetting as Americans are always seeming to get a reputation for being cold-hearted/etc when many of us are not. No problem though hon- i'm glad you let me know it was just an overstatement/etc

The owner of this website is from Israel and I was born in Israel and have a family there, and also in Hillside there are lots of Israelis, just for your information

I really didn't mean to offend anyone - I have asked the mods to delete this thread.

Originally Posted by arie85

The owner of this website is from Israel and I was born in Israel and have a family there, and also in Hillside there are lots of Israelis, just for your information

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hahah i thought the default language for united kingdom was english not portugese!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by katachtig

Canada - Canadian French (I didn't think Quebec has taken over yet)

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.... not yet...

Originally Posted by katachtig

I know that Americans can be self-absorbed* and don't pay attention to other countries but the following is someone who didn't see anything wrong with the following.

I was implementing a speech recognition package in the sales tools and these are a couple of the default languages that she used:

Canada - Canadian French (I didn't think Quebec has taken over yet)

Brazilian Portuguese for the following:
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
UAE
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uzbekistan
Yemen
Zambia

Now the user can change to another language but I'm now sure how many of these countries would accept the default most of the time.

Edit - * I meant that we have a reputation that we are self-absorbed. Not every American is. A lot of us have on the site learned a lot from members in other countries.

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For those "self-absorbed", consider this. Native English speakers are declining. Native Spanish speakers are rapidly increasing. (See birth rate tables for these countries.) According to my almanac (Time), the number of Mandarin speakers are easily in first place but due to the restrictions on birth control in China, unless there is a reversal in the direction the trend is heading, Spanish will be the world's most spoken language well before the end of this century. With Hindustani (Hindu & Urdu) not far behind. I travel to Europe a lot and most people there speak several languages.My wife is from Iran and speaks six languages and teaches ESL. All of her family speak several languages. It is very embarrassing to me, to say the least. Several years ago I went and lived in Guatemala for three months just to learn another language. I wish I knew more, especially when my family comes over and I understand nothing that they are saying. I have finally starting taking a course in Farsi (taught by my wife) and it is kind of embarrassing to be in there with all those young college kids but we shall see if you can teach an old dog new tricks! ،اهس خب زخعقسث هس دخف ئثشدهبلبعم شف شمم عدمثسس غخع تعسف زاشدلث فاث بخدفس ذعف هف يخثس ساخص فاشف ] شف مثشسف اشرث شدخفاثق مشدلعشلث هدسفشممثي خد ئغ زخئحعفثق.صاهزا هس خب زخعقسث بخق ئغ صهبث

So, what did you write at the bottom of your post?

Originally Posted by katachtig

I really didn't mean to offend anyone - I have asked the mods to delete this thread.

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No need for that, you are correct in that we have that reputation. And sometimes I think we fall right into it.... not necessarily anyone in particular, but as a society as a whole.

And I can't WAIT to see Bruce's answer about the Thais speaking Portugese.

Americans can be self-absorbed? lol you should visit japan,or china. france? heeh every place you go, the people tend to be that why. its not american trait but a human one.

heeh my wife would be upset and wonder why indonesian was not on your list.

any i know i just woke up and the coffee not kicked in yet. but i dont get what the qustion(sorry slow in the morning) hmm i brought a TV that only has japanese on it, but why get upset cause something comes up different, many itmes are sold in many parts of the world. my camera has english, french, and Portuguese. is that what you where asking?

Originally Posted by neetanddave

And I can't WAIT to see Bruce's answer about the Thais speaking Portugese.

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You can try, but it wont do any good

There was a small island in the indo chain that was let go to become its own goverment,
they picked Portugese as the country offical . But i dont know if its being taught in schools or not been there.

oh to add... i think Portugese is the only thing spoken on the warsong server in world of warcraft.

I think she means that the person didn't bother changing the defaults for those countries and left them as Portuguese, even though they all have their own official languages that were installed in the software but just not put as the correct defaults.

Judging my the list, Canada was a mistake, the others were plain laziness that the person was close to the end of the list and just didn't bother changing

Originally Posted by theimp98

Americans can be self-absorbed? lol you should visit japan,or china. france? heeh every place you go, the people tend to be that why. its not american trait but a human one.

heeh my wife would be upset and wonder why indonesian was not on your list.

any i know i just woke up and the coffee not kicked in yet. but i dont get what the qustion(sorry slow in the morning)

hmm i brought a TV that only has japanese on it, but why get upset cause something comes up different, many itmes are sold in many parts of the world. my camera has english, french, and Portuguese. is that what you where asking?

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Actually, Indonesia has UK English as the default.

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

I think she means that the person didn't bother changing the defaults for those countries and left them as Portuguese, even though they all have their own official languages that were installed in the software but just not put as the correct defaults.

Judging my the list, Canada was a mistake, the others were plain laziness that the person was close to the end of the list and just didn't bother changing

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Yes, they can select any of the languages - the default is just a starting point and we would like it to be something that the user doesn't have to change all of the time.

Since this is a new version, we're limiting the languages we're offering, but they have all sort of dialects available. Previous versions had different versions of English for India, South Africa, UK, Ireland, Scotland as well as US.

i can see that alot of the people speak english in indonesia,But not the UK version. go to singapore for that version.

lol funny really indo was ran by the dutch, and there are still alot of people that speak dutch very well.

Originally Posted by theimp98

Americans can be self-absorbed? lol you should visit japan,or china. france?

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France is the worst

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Judging my the list, Canada was a mistake

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I think they made a mistake too, they may have been confused by Canada having two official languages.