I take Amer's point, but it still, like Mordecai said, is general sense to check up on what your subject matter is like. You wouldn't write a fic based in Japan and have everyone calling each other Mr. Jones or something would you?

anyway, that itself is a side point to the topic of discussion, I could rant for hours as to why the English way of life is far superior to any other if I wanted to (conversely I could probably do the same for Americans if I was bothered), however, this topic is about driving licenses.

I do agree with your pints about the magical world not caring about silly laws like age limits, but the fact is, Harry never learns to drive. He never crashes. He never gets caught by a speed camera. And that is what annoys me

 

You apply for a provisional when you are 17, you get it, you have lessons do you theory and then your practical. You do not have to do theory to get the provisional, nor do you have to be over 18 to do your practical. I was 17 when I got my full licence. Unless the law has changed

My main problem is that it should not be upto Gringotts, a bank, to supply Harry with a driving licence.

 

A small, trivial technicality btw, you can apply for your provisiona license when you're 16.

 

So...I guess all people from Scotland like to generalize 300 million people, right?

I'd like to see some supporting evidence that shows all Americans think they are culturally superior.

Have you ever even visited the USA? Or are you just joining the bandwagon so many other European teenage internet morons are on?

If you haven't met each and every one of the 300 million citizens of the United States, and correctly found out how they view foreign cultures, then you shouldn't be making statements like that.

 

In theory you can apply when your 15... but it only becomes valid on your 17th birthday...

 

Amersion, Im judging from my experience with Americans online, and in person, I have met various relations of mine who are american. They look down on, or don't see things, simply because they aren't American things. Im not saying all Americans are like that, but from what I've seen, by far the large majority are.

 

There is no need for officialities in muggle world, all you need is a wand. The trick is not getting caught doing magic by muggles. But learning to drive in fanfiction? It would be better to travel in muggle areas with notice-me-not or diselliusenment charms + apparition. Vast amount of authors sadly underestimating possibilities of magic, thus changing characters in fiction from wizards, to muggles who could do some tricks with wands and flashy beams of light, usually, and tends to equip them with various muggle devices. Appalling, really.

 

Perhaps next time I should put a /sarcasm as you seem a bit touchy about my little joke

And I have yet to even state that I am unwilling to see that other countries have certains things better/more correct things then the US. There's MANY places our country can improve upon, and where others have things right.

But on the same coin, this doesn't mean that the US is one giant clusterfuck of people unwilling to pull back their eyelids and take examples from other countries.

 

Most Americans do not know much about the world. I was reading a book called The Eagle's Shadow and it talks of how Americans are viewed by other people. America is an idiot, Americans not so much. We may be ignorant of other cultures but we are generally able to learn how to act and what not to do. However I cant blame people who have only met Americans who act high and mighty. After all if I've only met arrogant Europeans and that's all I know, would you expect me to believe that there are Europeans that dont act like that? I dont think so.
True, America doesnt have the best of standards, but the good thing is that we are able to change them. On the other side of the coin, if no one is willing or knows about the wrong issues we wont see change.
/End

 

I'll pony up and be honest, I don't know much about modern English or Scottish culture. Is it because I am lazy or have a sense of cultural superiority? No, it's because I learned far too much English and French history when I was in grade school.

If anything I've got a sense of cultural inferiority. With a few exceptions, there is very little in the USA older than two hundred years and the meaning or culture has been stripped out of that for fear of offending anyone. The United states have no shared culture or corporate identity. We're a country full of ******-Americans (insert your favorit nationality here). Sure I can visit four different cultures in exile before lunch, but I'll never be a part of them. Much as I wish, I'll never be Jamaican, Cuban, Vietnamese, or Mexican. Modern America has no shared traditions, experiences, or events that we can point to and say "That's what being American is all about!" Those few "true Americans" we had (Daniel Boon, Davie Crockett, John Henry, Casey Jones, William Travis, Francis Marion, Jim Bowie, Sam Houston, Samuel Clemens, etc) got shot down by political correctness and technology. They just faded away, no longer the role models they once were. How many americans under 50 know who those men were and what they did? I've asked graduating High School students who they were and not one could tell me about the men who shaped theiy nation. The best I got was that Clemens wrote books under the psuedonym Mark Twain.

I've studied quite a few cultures out of jealousy, but unfortunately the British culture isn't one of them. I have begun to pick up drips and drabs, but unless I take a trip over there I doubt I'll ever write anything that could pass muster really. I know some of the slang/"proper" words like bangers and mash, rashers, chips vs. crisps, biscuits, Bobbies, and the difference between a fanny and a bum (in America they're interchangable and neither is risque). I understand the English just fine, had a roommate in college from Sheffield, I just can't fit it all in context. It would just take a concentrate effort (and some help from wiki) to write a fic with all the proper details.

 

Lol, that's a really good way of learning English... hehe Sheffield...

Anyway, that aside, I can understand what you are trying to say, in short, you can't know everything and England's way of life is just one of those things you don't know. I can understand that, what annoys me though is when people start putting stupid things in.

I saw a fic once where Harry was the valedectorian (sp?). What the hell is one of those? (just as an aside there is no actual reason to tell me...). I don't mind so much when we get fics that are slightly off or use wrong words - subway instead of underground etc, it's when we get things that just wouldn't happen in England. At all. Ever. Period.

gives me a good idea for a fic actaully. Harry sits down and realises that at the end of the day, Magic is magical. there is no need for spells or anything, just wish and it shall happen. Instant super!Harry with pretty good reasoning behind it as well... actually maybe that's not such a good idea.

 

Aye, there are loads of fics that have references to Graduation like its some big thing. In Britain it isn't. It like "Oh, yeah, I finished school. Ive got this funky little certificate I got mailed through the post 2 months later."

 

Uh, I don't really want to get into an argument here but I was wondering if anybody might volunteer some good sources instead of bitching about it.

No offence but all I hear is America this Europe that, blah bluh blah blah bluh.

How do you expect us to learn this stuff? Sure I would do my best to find the name of certain locations and stuff but how the hell would I learn that Europeans don't have 'subways'?. Or that a phone I really don't give a shit about is called a mobile or something?

Now this has all pretty much been said, now its time to throw something new into the mix.

Give us some good sources that we know are correct, this will fix the problem. End of story. Sure some idiot will think he knows all but all the decent/authors of worth will pounce on it. I mean what better to learn about the culture of another country then from a citizen of it!


I hope I didn't just make myself look ignorant but I couldn't hold it in any longer I'm really getting sick of hearing it.

 

Read the Brit Picks Thread here, its accurate and contains just about anything relevant to fanfiction and a lot that isn't.

 

A good story can be made with Harry breaking his neck and dying in a car accident.

 

You guys don't get that some Americans actually think they are culturally,intelligently,and racially better then others. For instance; There is a kid named Logan in my 10th grade math. One of my friends let it slip one day that he was canadian. I thought no big deal about it. The same day on his way home he got jumped/mugged/whatever you wanna call it, by Logan because, and this is his own words, "He was a dirty Canadian...The only thing they are good for is Beer and Maple Syrup" What I'm tryin to say is that some of you are right in saying that Americans do look down on everybody else because they THINK they are superior not because they actually are...and thn some of you are right saying that not all americans are like Logan...I am not and most of my friends are not

 

Every culture thinks it's superior to the cultures around it. America isn't different; but because America is very influential in the world this trait affects others to a degree not found in other cultures. For example in Europe they say that Americans drive on the wrong side of the road (I hope they do), while in America they say the opposite.

And I'd say that's a good thing. The moment a culture starts feeling inferior to another one, bad things happen (e.g. Islam vs. the West).

 

Oh hell that was funny! Sorry not to be rude or anything, but that is exactly the reason that wars happen between nations. No one understands each other, and the ones who do, try to help the situation by expressing valid points, but generally just end up hurting the situation even more.

No offence guys, but a simple "Drivers License/Permit" (Or whatever you wanna call it) issue has been turned into a "My country is better then your country and this is my reasoning behind it"

Everyone should just accept the fact that every country has their flaws and move on.

Although, I must admit a global internet, typing war would be most amusing.

Ex. How dare you insult my mother you American whore, take my British finger! (..!..)
You two faced son of a pig, fear the wrath of my Death Arrow! ( |-|-----> )

 

I honestly don't get why Brit-Pickers have such a hardon for correcting people on trivial matters. So what if they mention graduation, or driving on the other side of the road, or whatever?

It doesn't really matter at all, the point of the fic is magic and the Wizarding world, which we know next to nothing about. If anything muggle is mentioned, why make a point of it to bring it out and go on and on about how that's not how it's done in the UK?

Just read the fic for what it is....Brit Picking just comes off as being overly nitpicky and critical, especially when people don't point out the real flaws in a fic, just the fact that graduation isn't actually a ceremony in England.

And blaming it on Americans is frankly quite retarded...there are enough Brits on these forums that give a bad impression about England, but most people don't generalize about England the way you're generalizing about Americans.

 

Brit Picks, pick at mistakes of this nature, because it is really jsut bad manners and bad writing. If you're going to write something based in another country the least you can do is do some basic research into it, or get someone from that country to read it over to correct small details.