25 American Cultural Norms / Customs

As I've traveled the world, I've noticed how some of the things we do in the states are... not normal. In this video, I describe 25 things that are normal in the United States that are weird elsewhere.

Do you want more listening practice like this? Check out the Wonder in English Podcast here:

[danielferraz]

0:49 tipping
1:30 separate the checks

2:25 lots of ice and refills
3:04 large portion sizes
3:35 doggy bags
4:10 eat on the go
5:09 food subscription boxes
6:06 taxes are not included in the price
7:29 month day years
8:08 red solo cups
8:54 personal space
10:13 move out at 18
10:18 friendly with a stranger
12:05 we're indirect
13:35 lots of cereal
14:12 tailgates
15:05 school loans
15:51 child advertisement
16:31 two weeks of paid vacation
17:34 complicated taxes
18:48 trick or treats
19:50 lots of toilet water
20:12 stores stay open late
21:04 everyone uses amazon prime
21:51 sign yearbook

[MementoMori_]

Being an introvert in America is a challenge, strangers just walk up to me and say “hello”, “ hi”, “what’s up” etc. In my head I’m thinking “ please get away “. Didn’t have to worry about this in Japan. 😜

[illustrado]

From SE Asia here. True about the portion sizes. We also get our food to go, but we tell the server we want it for "takeout". Strangers smiling at you or striking up a conversation out of nowhere is generally viewed with suspicion. We don't talk to you unless we know you from school, work, friends, family, etc. We have prom but it's a weird formal version of it, at least in Catholic school (your class is paired with another class at random). We have yearbooks, too. Also, your voice is so clear and calm.

[mariafernandacotrim]

The fact that the tax is not included is amazing, believe me! Here in Brazil, we pay 35%, sometimes 60% of taxes and we don't even know!! We get that info in the receipt only after paying for the product.

[macky]

>we get two weeks of paid vacation a year
Actually, by law we get 0 paid vacations. It's honestly dependent on your employer. If you have a decent job that usually requires an education or some form of training, you will on average get 2 weeks of vacation. However, this is not the case for majority of working class people in America. If you work in a lower wage job, you will get 0 paid time off for anything. No paid holiday, sick days, or nothing. If you happen to work full time in a lower wage job, you can get paid time off, but it accrues after a certain amount of time that you've been there. I worked at the international dulles airport near the DC and I would have to work around 5-15 years with the same company making $11 a hour just to have some paid time off. For a lot of people it isn't even worth it to stick around to reap the benefits.

[illinoisan]

I love meal kits. I started with them during the pandemic and they taught me more about cooking than I ever knew before.

I’m American but I love to drive throughout the entire country and I love encountering Americans from other regions. I love exchanging smiles and compliments with strangers.

[mariafernandacotrim]

For me, eating on the go was the weirdest thing I experienced in America :) I constantly thought: "Why they seem hungry all the time?"

[kelvinnguyen]

I'm an American in progress. Currently 66% of the way there. 🇺🇸💪♥️💙

[Some_who_call_me_Tiim]

6:06 is because different states (sometimes even county) have different taxes, so to have a flat price across country they exclude the variations in taxes.. to be added at check out.

[hiswife]

I like being American and I'm comfortable with my area's norms. I do wish portion sizes were smaller, taxes were more transparent, commercials wouldn't target children and we were a little more tolerant of the beliefs of others. But I like my yearbook, LOVE my Amazon Prime and Instacart and plenty of alone time and personal space 👍

[mairoberts]

3:10 GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD




you know what ELSE is massive???

[fearlessremark]

Wow!! Very calm, catchy and easy to understand...thank you so much. God bless you.

[lennybuttz]

I learned how to fill out a tax form in my senior year of high school and did my own taxes every year. If you don't have a lot of complications like your own business or a big portfolio of stocks and bonds or several properties it's fairly simple especially if you do them online. The free online tax service is really easy. If you can't deal with it, you can have them done for $50 to $150. Modern American toilets have around 2 quarts of water in the bowl and use 1.5 to 2 gallons to flush. Many toilets have a double flush option where you can choose to use 1 or 2 quarts to flush for #1s or the full flush for #2s. The reason we have more water in our toilets is because water used to be really cheap.

[DazeyGG]

As for the tax part, our taxes can change. And rather than companies having to change prices every time when taxes change. So companies can keep the same prices for the physical item and tax at that time can just be added automatically

[jackie-sdlc]

such a charming with lots of senses, sad to see her go without a note or where she's gone

[jacarandaperalesalvarado]

i can't believe that i can understood everything, i'm pretty proud and happy of myself. Anyway, this information is help me a lot, i'm studying languages, i'm from mexico and my career we need to learn the culture, history, customs, etc. It's awe to learn and know this incredible culture, i loved it. And your english is so clean, easy to understand, thank you so much.
p.d. f i'm wrong in something please tell me.🙇‍♀️

[naritarandy]

Thank you so much .for all these information .because I discover some American's norms of its culture that I didn't know before .thank you

[yunhuayang]

I had that year book as well when high school in China, thanks for your video very much

[christianfreedom-seeker]

Being extroverted is not the norm on this country. The exceptions tend to be in small towns and employee villages.

[Pocockable]

The cultural norms covered in the video also apply in Canada.