Workshop: Faking It: Pretending You're A US Citizen When You're An Ocean Away

[benitle]

Hi! We're legoline and benitle and we're your hosts for this month's workshop:

Faking It: Pretending You're A US Citizen When You're An Ocean Away (language barriers and a lot more)Even though Supernatural is a show based on two US American brothers, it is admired and loved by people from all over the world. From Day 01, fandom has been a global community, with

Comments

[maychorian]

I've been slowly putting together a list of word choices and constructions that throw me off in fanfics. It's only six entries long right now, and I know there are more I can't remember at the moment, but here's what I have so far (these are SO picky, wow

[benitle]

Wow, thanks! This is very helpful. :D Do you have a tag for these entries you've been compiling that we could add to the list of resources?

As an ESL who first was taught BE in (our) high school (equivalent) and then only years later tried switching to AE, these little differences are often not clear. I can imagine that a lot of other ESLs will find this just as valuable!

[maychorian]

Ah, I don't have a tag, no. These are just compiled in a word document for now--I was trying to save up enough that it would make a reasonable-sized blog post instead of just random mutterings from a picky American proofreader/editor.

I could do that, though. I could post what I have and then make more as they occur to mee, keeping them all under a tag like "americanisms" or something. That's a good idea.

[benitle]

That would be very cool! Let me know if you have something we can add to the list of resources. :D

[benitle]

Thank you! :D

I remember the meta on the foster care system! I believe that one of the most valuable resources is a user's flist. Just thinking about the times I've asked my flist... I don't know what I'd do without you guys. :D

[legoline]

Oh, thank you for the link to that essay! It will go straight to my bookark.

One's flist is a wonderful, wonderful place of people happy to share information :-)

[embroiderama]

Wow, this is a great resource! The one thing I'd say is not to generalize too much based on how things are in one city or area of the country. For example, every parking meter I've used has accepted nickels and dimes as well as quarters, while I think some in NYC are now working electronically off of credit cards. Parking and driving in general seem to have a lot of different rules and conventions from the west coast to the east. (I'm an east coast girl.) Also, in east coast cities you're more likely to find older neighborhoods that have narrow streets, tight parking, etc. due to the neighborhoods being around before cars.

[benitle]

Thank you! :D

The one thing I'd say is not to generalize too much based on how things are in one city or area of the country.
This is a very good point! Thanks for bringing it up. I used to live on the east coast for a while and never had to drive, so I was lacking comparison.

Thanks for your input.

[legoline]

And there's a wonderful example for still getting it wrong after having done my research! :D When I went to Cali, we only found meters that accepted quarters. I should have added that this info may be Cali-specific :D

[embroiderama]

I think California is its own little world in some ways related to driving and cars. ;)

[janissa11]

The fact that the current US Government is debating a reform of the health care system doesn't make it easier to understand what's going on. A good idea is to refresh your memory every once in a while and to consult your friends for localized knowledge.

Amen to this. American healthcare is horrendously complicated.

One thing to remember when writing SPN: An acronym, EMTALA. This stands for "Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act."

SUPER IMPORTANT. Few folks are going to talk about it -- I imagine many Americans themselves don't even know the exact name of this law. But this is the truly relevant law with regard to the Winchesters and ER visits. EMTALA means any hospital that accepts federal funding of ANY kind (including payment from Medicare and Medicaid, which translates to almost every hospital in the country) MUST see every patient who presents at the ER, regardless of their ability to payIf you research it you will find this referred to as the "anti-dumping" law, and it goes on to mean this: Any patient presenting at

[legoline]

Thank you so much for that! I assumed there might be a law like that in the US, but neither did I know for sure or how it works, nor did I know the name. This is really helpful information, so thank you!

[benitle]

Out of the selection of subjects we chose to touch, I found healthcare the most daunting one. Because it is so VERY different from what I know. So thank you so much for your input! I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it!

[lonely_lycanth]

Yes, but it's important to distinguish between "stable" and "good." In a big public hospital especially, if you can't pay, they'll treat you, but only as much as they really have to. You'll get much better care if you can find a way to pay for it.

On the other hand, my mother works at a private children's hospital in Delaware, which functions off the estate of the founder of the foundation and according to his will. They have a large sum of money set aside for people who can't pay, and my mom often complains that they keep people around forever and ever and ever for free.

[shikishi]

Excellent resource. I know that I have often been pulled from a fic by the "mis-spelling" or mis-use of a word or term that, while I know it to be proper in BE is not in AE

[legoline]

I find that such an interesting topic. I study linguistics as part of my English + German Studies degree, and I will frequently bother people from the US with questions like, "Would you use that word in Cali? Where do people pronounce "route" like "root"? :D

[shikishi]

Ah. Yes, lingustics and phonetic differences are a huge fascination of mine as well and I love spending time trying to decipher were people are from just from their speech patterns or accent.

(I can say that most North Easterners would say "root" with certainty. I am from Maine myself and have quite a nice collection of resources on the Maine accent - which is sort of unique even in the US as we often use words not commonly found in any other state. Although, sadly, this is vanishing as we urbanize)

[legoline]

I love spending time trying to decipher were people are from just from their speech patterns or accent.
Me too :-)

I can say that most North Easterners would say "root" with certainty.
I'll most definitely make a mental note of that!

Oh, Maine, how awesome! I hope I can make it to New England next fall somehow. Been wanting to go there for a long time, I've lost count of the years.

Same where I live. We used to have a really strong accent with lots of specific words, but they're being used less and less.