English, baby!

The Ugly American

Date: Jan 24 2006

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

What do you call a person who can speak three languages? Trilingual.

What do you call a person who can speak two languages? Bilingual.

What do you call a person who can speak one language? American!

Many people in the world have very strong opinions about America and Americans. Some of these opinions are fair, others are not.

Listen to Taylor and I chit chat about American tourists.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Dave

Taylor

Dave: Taylor, have you ever, have you traveled overseas?

Taylor: No, I have not.

Dave: No?

Taylor: No, not at all, in fact.

Dave: Do you have any plans or desire to go?

Taylor: I would love to tour Europe, Japan, different parts of Asia. Would love to.

Dave: Yeah.

Taylor: Financially unable.

Dave: Yeah, oh yeah. Money is a big part of it, right?

Taylor: Yes.

Dave: We get, you know, Americans have kind of a bad reputation overseas. We’re always called the, ah, what do they call us? Like, the bumbling American, or the, ah, inconsiderate American traveling overseas, but in my experience – and I’ve traveled pretty much everywhere in the world, except Africa – is that Americans are usually more quiet than, say, Europeans. On the beaches of Thailand I would see people, you know, making out on the beach, or Westerners getting really drunk and obnoxious in downtown Bangkok. And my thought was, if Thais were to come to the U.S. and behave that way, people would be up in arms.

Taylor: Definitely. Well, you know, I don’t know if these countries’ tourism agencies, you know, advocate this sort of, you know, “Destination Crazy” lifestyle, but, I think that for financial reasons, it’s encouraged: “Come here! Spend your money. Live your life.”

Dave: Yeah.

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Discussion

Tourism is a relatively new, and sometimes controversial, thing. Many places around the world, such as Cancun, Mexico, Koh Samui, Thailand, and Jamaica, depend on tourists to come and spend lots of money.

As Taylor said the above conversation, sometimes these places encourage tourists to come, party and act crazy. While the money spent by tourists helps support the local economy, many people who live in these touristy towns do not like how foreign travelers behave.

What are your thoughts on tourism? Have you been on a “Destination Crazy” vacation?