Recently I made a podcast episode about American culture. I could have chosen many things, but I wanted to examine some things that are less common and more helpful than the typical ones you hear such as Americans are loud, stupid, and fat. Learn a few new and unexpected facts about American culture.
Scent or Unscented?
This one hits close to home. Though America may not be associated with perfume or cologne like France is, American like their scents. We love anything that smells good: car fresheners, potpourri, incense, lotions/ creams, airspray, etc. We always welcome scents! At the same time, if you don’t prefer scented products, or have a condition that is made worse by scents, it’s difficult to find unscented products.
Clean & Clean-cut
I’ve heard a ton of judgmental comments about Americans and appearance. Most of these are from people ignorantly comparing their cultural norms to that of America’s. Luckily, we have our own cultural norms. The ones I mentioned in the Living in English: 365 podcast episode deal with professional appearance.
Growing up I was always made to feel that my naturally curly hair should not be worn. This was because it was seen as unprofessional. The same was said for wearing any head covering, cap/hat, dreadlocks (also called “locs” or “dreads”), braids, afros, etc.
Furthermore, if you have tattoos or piercings, you’ll be interested to know that they are not seen as professional. Don’t be surprised if your employer or school asks you to cover them up, or take the piercings out.
Fur-babies
On my first trip to Europe (Italy), I was shocked that people had their pets inside the restaurant. I had never seen this back in the States. We love our pets in the States, but where I’m from, you may only bring service animals inside a business. In fact, we love our animals so much that we keep them inside of the house and treat them just as another member of the family. This may not seem enlightening, but if you are from a culture that doesn’t do this it may be shocking.
Silence
It’s well known that Americans like a lot of space in-between them and other people. Did you know that we also don’t like silence? In fact, we do everything to make sure that when speaking with others, there’s no room for silence. Usually we begin talking. For others, they listen to music. If you are in a professional setting, keep this in mind. Also, if you have American friends and they begin talking before you’ve even finished thinking, it may because they are not used to having that amount of silence in a conversation! Gently remind them that you’re still thinking. In fact, most Americans have no idea that as a culture we don’t like silence. It’s an unspoken rule.
Don’t Beat Around the Bush
We are known to be direct. Personally, I like this. I like this because it leaves no room for misunderstandings. This can be off-putting to others and has been called “abrasive.” One truly lovely thing about it is that if we don’t know, we simply don’t waste your time telling you that we do when we definitely do not. I appreciate this about the American culture. Interestingly, I didn’t know this was something unique to my culture until I travelled to Turkey. Suffice it to say that the Turks, in general, do the opposite of Americans.
It’s good to note that this cultural thing is not specific to a certain group of people, your boss, supervisors, colleagues, professors, etc. will not hesitate to tell you that they do not know something. There are many reasons for this. I think the most poignant is that they simply do not want to mislead you by giving you information that is half true, or not factual. They’re trying to help you and by not misleading you with false information, they will say that they do not know.
There are many things that I could put on this list, but for now, this is enough. I’m sure in the future this list will be expanded.
Have you ever met an American and felt uncomfortable? What happened?
Ashley Rhone is the Owner of Paradigm English and the host of the Living in English: 365 podcast.
She maintains this blog and is the principal instructor in Fluency Academy.