Ask Lemmy

As a Midwestern American, my girlfriend and I went abroad on a trip that happens to be where cruise ships dock. We did not take a cruise. However, the most annoying people we met on the entire trip were southerners from the US. Just everything about them was the worst. Every stereotype you can imagine was being presented. They were god fearing and cheeto loving, and they made it known. We weren't even in the US, for fuck's sake. The cherry on top, for me, was every single American store we passed on the tour bus, one of them had to yell the name of the store. "SAYAM'S CLUHHHB"..."WAYNDEES" Like, can you shut the fuck up? It was, right then, in that exact moment, it hit me like a bolt of lightning, no wonder people say Americans are loud and annoying. Because the vocal yokels absolutely are.

Another factor, there's so few of you that escape the country (only 48% of you have a passport) that the only ones folks in EU mostly see are;

• the wealthy assholish ones 😡
• the plucky risk taking ones on holiday on a couple pennies and a dream 😁
• people here on business trips 😐
• the influencers 🤢

Volume for sure, but also Americans seem to be largely incapable of experiencing silence. They tend to fill silence as if they love the sound of their own voice.

Obviously this isn't all Americans, and my only experience of Americans are when they're tourists.

You say you listen more than you speak so you're probably fine. Even just asking about how to not be annoying shows you have more self awareness than any American I've ever met

So here's a Canadian answer.

I have found that, on average, Americans speak at a higher volume than folks from my country. At the same time, they seem more willing to share things that we wouldn't except in more familiar company. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but there are times when I would recommend a touch more discretion.

For the most part I think you'll be fine in Australia. Just whatever you do, DON'T support Collingwood and DON'T drink Fosters.

People from the Netherlands are loud too.

It's something about when you guys walk around in a larger group. Most of you just have a higer volume setting. Like you are trying to get heard by every bystander as well. When hiking through the Balkans I could hear Americans from far away.

Australians seem te be loud as well so you'll be fine I guess...

But who's generalizing?

Let me put it this way: When I am in a restaurant/bar/pub/similar place, I can't follow the conversations of the people at the other tables. However, with US-Americans, I understand every single word, even if they're two tables over. Their normal conversational volume is just so much higher. To them, it is completely normal, and they don't seem to notice. To us, they're speaking very loudly, as if everyone were hard of hearing, or as if we were on a construction site.

I went to Geneva, Switzerland when I was in college. There was a public square with about 1000 Swiss eating at different tables, all leaning forward like they were telling secrets. We 6 American college students were louder than all the 1000 Swiss in the square, by volume.

As an Australian, I took up baseball because the crowd is far more pleasant than the Aussie Rules football mob.

You'll be fine. Half of Australia doesn't have an "inside" voice.

It means the other country is perpetuating stereotypes.

Let me tell you a few more:

• French are dirty
• Parisians are all supermodels or pick pockets
• English politeness is just their passive aggressive bullshit
• Japanese are rude as shit
• Germans are robots
• Mexicans are lazy
• Canadians are overly polite
• Italians are way too passionate
• Australians are way too laid back
• Icelanders fuck a lot
• South Africans are racist assholes

To be clear, I don’t agree with or believe any of the above, I am just telling you the stereotypes.

I think it just means louder that most (but not all) of the other people. I didn't think much of it until I had some American friends visit me and I took them to bar near where I live. I didn't really noticed anything while we were all sitting together.

When I crossed the room to go to the bar for another round, then I noticed that I could clearly hear my American friends voices above everyone one else in the room. I could clearly hear their conversation from across the bar. They were just speaking somewhat louder than everyone else.

Americans speak loud, you hear them from a faar and can spot them easily

I wonder how true this is now or if its something that is more from last millenia. With everyone on their phones now I just can't imagine its quite the same. Granted every so often you run into the person with their speakers playing the game/media sounds rather than earbuds.

You talk loud and don't shut the fuck up. Yes, you have an opinion on everything. Yes, you think your country's great. Yes, you think you are great also. Shut up.

I remember being on holiday in Thailand, visiting a village that very clearly had set aside an area as a market for tourists. The Americans decided to have a conversation between one area and another about heading off to look at the village school or whatever. EVERYBODY ELSE, locals and tourists, could tell this specific area was for tourists, but the USAians just couldn't read the room and had to loudly talk about it. JFC it was painful to witness.

I flew back to America from Tokyo today and as a frequent traveler to Japan I can tell you it's all of the above. As a very introverted, easily overstimulated person I love going to Japan because it's my 'quiet time'. Coming home I'm usually overwhelmed by the sheer noise of being in America.

1. People simply speak louder than they need to here. In Japan you speak in a hushed voice unless it's necessary to raise it. Also people aren't afraid to lean in a little closer to hear what is being said to them. In America people stand 2 meters away from each other and have to speak loud enough for the whole room to hear
2. People speak more and don't value quiet time. In Japan you don't speak on trains. Your inane conversation can wait. Its more pleasant for everyone if you just stay quiet. Then an American tourist boards and everyone in the car gets to hear all about their opinions on some anime whether they want to or not
3. People tent to interject / interrupt more here

Hopefully this didn't come across too much as venting. I can't wait to go back.

Sometimes literally loud(New Jersey residents raise your hands), but usually also overbearing, painfully extroverted, having to control conversations, injecting themselves into what didn't need them, etc.

I'm not judging from the outside. As an American that at one time was married to an Australian, we met when I was stationed there and we were both at the same base so I would see how my squadmates behaved then later when they had gone off to the racks, I'd get to hear the Aussie service members mock and laugh at some of the behaviors of the guys I came over with. They would joke that I had to be an immigrant because I rarely talked.

It's not an "all Americans do this" type of thing, it's that the Americans that do this are so impactful in a negative way that it becomes a cliched caricature. If you're not that type of person, you won't need to do anything to assimilate, you'll fit in just fine. Those folks were some of the best people I've ever met in my life and they were very welcoming and inclusive.

you will not be a loud American in Australia, they won't allow you to be louder then they are

its bizzaro world down under

As European travelling in Asia at the moment, I notice this a lot.

• Americans tend to speak louder, especially in groups
• You seem to speak with deeper voices. But that could also be just my imagination.
• You seem to speak more since you do a lot of small-talk. That's something not so common in other countries.
• And since many people speak English, maybe we just notice it more since we can understand it. When there are let's say loud Chinese around, it's more like a background noise.

There are loud people from all countries, and Americans are at least pretty nice usually. But in my opinion it's true, you are also louder than most.

I've been told by non-Americans that Americans (myself included):

• Laugh very loudly and frequently
• Are too effusive / enthusiastic (in a way that comes off as inauthentic)
• Tend to butt in frequently
• Lean on things (this isn't about loudness but once it was pointed out to me I can't not see it. We almost never stand up straight. I tried to stop and it felt like I was standing at attention, I didn't care for it so I went back to leaning)

edit: since you mentioned Australia, I'll point out that I've heard this primarily from European, Indian and Southeast Asian software developers I've worked with. I've worked with fewer Australians, and as far as I can recall we never discussed American stereotypes directly, but my impression is that they're much closer to the US culturally, loudness / brashness-wise. Curious to hear from Aussies if you think my impression is correct.

It's very hard to explain. I'm not American but I've migrated to Australia. What you will find is a culture that is probably much more polite and considerate of others than American culture, and also, the culture here doesn't appreciate individuality much. I'm painting this with broad generalizations so of course this will differ from person to person, but generally, this is my assessment.

Individuality isn't overtly shunned, people will tell you to be you, but subconsciously you will find the real attitude is that people who stand out are also set apart, semi ostracized. It takes loads of charisma to stand out in a positive light here. This is the land of the tall poppy syndrome. Difficult to put in words, I would bet money you won't notice upon your arrival, you'd be like "nah man that mothra dude on lemmy was talking shit, people here are super friendly" and then after a year or two you'll see the pattern. It's very subtle but very much there.

American who left the country over a decade ago.

Many (of course not all) speak more loudly than they think and more than is necessary. This is especially noticeable when not competing against other people's voices/loudness in quiet places. That is, the default is higher and you might work to lower it or at least be aware of it depending upon the ambient volume and norms where you are (Americans aren't the only ones like this).

Many US folks also act differently to even other English-speaking countries. This can be extroversion, small talk in countries that don't do that, certain expectations of how things should work, etc. USAmericans are the folks I hear most saying "but it's not that way in my country!" (though again, not exclusively). How direct you are vs others is another one; many can be quite direct whereas other countries use more context and subtlety. My advice would just be to watch how other people interact more intently than just being around in the space until you get used to it. I've never lived in Australia so I couldn't specifically say

Tip for assimilating into Australian culture: learn the local language, don't just speak English. We have a lot of immigrant families who haven't bothered to learn the local language even after five or ten generations. They just speak English. Don't be like them.

The fact that you're asking/concerned tells me you'll probably be ok.

I'm an American who moved to Australia for a while. I wasn't ever pegged as an American because of my voice volume. What caught me was my smile; easy-coming with white, straight teeth exposed. I was told I could be confused for a Canadian except that I spoke too fast. Apparently, the speed-quipping Letterkenny sorts hadn't made it to Australia yet.

Also, think about what you want by "assimilation". You would probably enjoy getting to know an Aussie visiting the US, no? Getting to hear their perspective on the country they're visiting? Enjoying seeing them experience our cultural quirks? Assume the same good faith of Australians. Current politics aside, Americans and Australians have a very friendly history.

My weirdest, most uncomfortable repeat experience had a gendered element that you probably won't experience but your wife might. Older (50+) dudes on several occasions took the liberty of telling me, an American woman, all about how American soldiers stationed in Australia during l WW2 "stole" all the womens' attention. They were just so hygienic and handsome in their uniforms, the Aussie men didn't have a chance. So yeah, some might have a weird grudge over their fathers or grandfathers going through a dry spell almost a century ago. I share this story to illustrate that people are people, same is Australia. You will neither be universally liked nor universally hated by all Australians. Most of them are decent sorts, and a few of them are massive assholes.

Don't attempt shrimp on the barbie or baby-eating dingo jokes until you know a person very well.

all of the above