Regards, Ivan
Posted on 06/18/2004 4:51:08 PM PDT by MadIvan
Tomorrow's American leaders think Britain is arrogant, cold, rainy, and far from the cutting edge in science, culture or business, a "disturbing" new survey suggests.
The survey, entitled "Pale People in the Rain" and commissioned by the British Council, found that young, high-achieving students placed Britain far down their list of places to study abroad. They called British universities strict, expensive, hard to enter and "mainly for the upper classes".
For most subjects, they thought staying in the US was the best choice. For computing or high technology, almost three quarters said Japan was the cutting edge. Students interviewed in separate focus groups were uniformly unable to name a single recent British scientific or technical achievement.
For art and design, two thirds made France their preferred destination. Only in the humanities, especially history and literature, did Britain come top as a place to study.
London was judged a "fun" place to study by 90 per cent of students and England had a positive rating as a country. Yet - asked to choose one country to visit - only six per cent chose England. The most popular were France and Italy.
More than 60 per cent of the students said Britain was too cold and rainy for them to want to study there. Fewer than half believed Britain was aptly described as "modern and contemporary", while fewer than one third strongly believed Britain was a "technology leader".
Maureen Michaels, whose New York-based firm conducted the poll, said: "If Britain was a business client of mine, I'd tell them, 'You are not a top choice, in any shape or form'."
The survey questioned some 2,000 ethnic minority students with A or B grade averages and extensive extra-curricular achievements. It was designed to focus on the fastest growing segments of the US population - Latino, Asian American and blacks. All live in Texas and California, booming states set to dominate the "new America" of a few years' time.
The British Council expressed concern that only one third of minority students thought Britain could be described as "diverse".
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Glad to hear that California is booming.
...When I was back in school, I skipped class whenever I could. They always caught me, in the library. Reading...
Oh, I've heard of him! He's that guy who thinks he's Al Gore, right?
I don't know what cold and rain has to do with studying, but it's hard to argue that Britain can be cold and rainy. I have friends who moved to the south of France for that very reason.
Gee, why I am not surprised to read that this survey was given to the "diversity crowd." Could you imagine if white students complained about a country being "too brown"?
Dumbed down education, grade inflation, or both?
The British Council expressed concern that only one third of minority students thought Britain could be described as "diverse".
The other two-thirds thought that "diverse" was somethng poets wrote.
Don't for get the teeth.
Oh, God. Those teeth.
A myth, I assure you. Mike Myers has not done Britain any favours.
Regards, Ivan
But Britain is cold and rainy. lol
Not a myth. I assure you.
Regards, Ivan
Oh I don't know, a country that gave us Thomas Paine and the Beatles can't be all that bad.
Seems like an odd group to sample and an odd perception of the US.
I dunno:
If England is this great technological leader, why don't they have decent special effects on Doctor Who?
Most of Britain isn't that cold, certainly not more so than Juneau or Seattle or Portland. In winter, most of Britain is far milder than Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, or the interior Northeast.
I visited England, France and Italy last year. If I had my choice, it would be tough call between England and France. I would have to pick England. I felt the most comfortable there,and people very friendly. The rain didn't bother me, and I was suprised I could actually time the periods between rainfalls *LOL*
More like Cold, Damp and Sarcastic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.