One thing that has bothered me quite much
lately is the fact that lots of Brazilian people get utterly offended when they
hear that foreigners have next to no idea where Brazil is, or which city is our
capital, or which language we speak. On the one hand, it’s true that Brazil is
a big country and is a big influence in today’s world; therefore, people should
know a thing or two about us. But on the other hand, there are HUNDREDS of
countries all over the globe! Knowing everything about all these countries is
impossible!
I have a question for you: do you have any idea what language they speak
in Congo, in Malaysia, in Kuwait, or in Latvia? Better yet, do you know the
name of the capital of Iraq, New Zealand, or Serbia? I bet you don’t. That is to show you that
foreigners are under no obligation to know what language we speak here or what
the capital of our country is! Think about it: there are lots of countries in
the world; do we have to know everything about those countries? I don’t think
so.
Then again, I don’t mean to say that foreigners
shouldn’t care about learning about Brazil, but I do think we should stop
criticizing Americans, Canadians, Argentineans and everyone else who doesn’t
know much about Brazil. Instead of judging them and putting a “dunce hat” on
their heads, we should be more kind and teach them a thing or two about our
country! Trust me, there is a lot we need to share about us and criticizing people
is not the way to sharing our rich and unique Brazilian culture.
ps:
What do you know about Brazil? ( This is exactly the type of video I hate to watch, because not only does it expose the people who were in the video, but it just restates the stereotype that nobody knows anything about Brazil- which is, as I put it before, just a mere sterotype)
I like to help them ;)
ResponderExcluirEste comentário foi removido pelo autor.
ResponderExcluirgoood you got the works
ResponderExcluiri completely agree with you, and i'm more eager to explain brazil to the foreigners than to complain about them.
ResponderExcluirNice text! I totally agree with you. Although I really enjoyed the video, and I don't think it reinforces the sterotypes, on the contrary it shows how most foreigners are igorant about our country, and how some do know a lot about us, such as the girl who knew about the Iguaçu falls, and I'm pretty sure that not every Brazilian know about all our natural beauties. :)
ResponderExcluirThat's actually true. Unfortunately they don't know about our country, as we don´t know about other ones too. I think we just can´t understand that, once as a big country we are (as well as China or India) sth else were them expected to know.Once not,that doen´t justify our criticism also.
ResponderExcluirA good Confession.
True thing, Natalia! I'm also pretty sure, there are LOTS of Brazilian people out there who don't know much about their own country either!
ResponderExcluirMy long lasting friend ! i am very proud you became such a briliant person and a competent /proficient professional.I must agree with you , most people turn a blind eye to cultures of minor countries or those which play an inexpressive role to the voracious world economy and I must also say the world population are largely interested at/into cosmopolitan contries ! to end up , thank you for making readers and /public see the reality not the way it is , but with another angle /point of view. I enjoyed a lot your writing and really think that it should be widely published and shared !
ResponderExcluirbest wishes
kelson
It's true, teacher! We have to share with foreigners what we know about Brazil... And maybe we don't know everything.
ResponderExcluirI don't criticize the foreigners who know nothing about Brazil, but I don't like to hear the same words related to Brazil(in the beginning was good and funny), but now is boring. By this reason it is important to make a cultural exchange with these guys and talk beyond the obvious.
ResponderExcluirBY.Jennifer
I totally agree with you, Danilo. I believe that foreigners do not need to be obligated to know everything about our culture, or other countries culture. If Americans do not know many things about Brazil, why are we worrying about it? When I was younger, I used to think that the capital of the US was New York.
ResponderExcluirI also believe that we have other things to do or worry about instead of reading the whole Atlas and learning about all the countries, each capital and their official languages.
To finish: we do not know everything about our culture, about other countries culture and even foreigners do not know everything about their/other culture. AND we do not need to feel obligated or to obligate people to know about everyone's culture.
Pedro Lima.
Yep, I also agree. While I was reading your text, at first, I thought what you were saying was bullshit, but then again I stopped to think about it and I guess you're right. Maybe Brazil isn't seen as important out there for people to spend their effort in studying about our country. Maybe we're a little egocentric thinking we're so special that everyone in first-world countries should know we speak Portuguese and that our capital city is Brasilia. Or, it could also be that we deify first-world countries so much, thinking that their people should be so competent and smart for living in such a developed country, that it turns out to be a disapointment when we realize they don't know much about us.
ResponderExcluirI'd like to see a video like that made in other "minor" countries such as Congo, Malaysia, Kuwait, or maybe Latvia, about if people in those countries know much about ours. It would surely be interesting.
- Chris
Ugh. I posted this comment and the internet ate it.
ResponderExcluirI don't know if it's fair to judge Americans for not being able to find Brazil on a map, when most of them can't find America on a map. Though what really concerns me isn't people's geography, it's their complete lack of awareness of the world outside. This lack of awareness is universal, present in every culture.
The way to combat this is through cultural exchange, the internet, and open-minded discussion. Through diversity of friends we find diversity of opinion and breed diversity of thought, and make ourselves smarter on the aggregate.
But I wouldn't take it personally that foreigners don't know much about Brazil. People live in bubbles, it makes them comfortable.
I agree with almost everything you said... except I like the video. :P
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