[provigil]

I thought NP was from USA. Here are some more pics of the Mojave Desert. I don't think that it looks anywhere near as comfortable as the flickr pics FiP posted above. The Mojave Desert is about 25,000 square miles and New Zealand is about 100,000 square miles. So that desert spans nearly 25% of New Zealand. There are stretches that can go 300km between fuel ad people.The Mojave Desert on the left and the NZ Desert on the right. The one on the right doesn't look near as scary or desolate to me. That is not complimentary to the US terrain in my eyes.


At the same time I don't think the USA can afford me the beauty of rainforest jungles FiP. Florida may be close but still no cigar, well except Cubans maybe?

[rusculture]

I am stunned-and some what elated. I can find many countries on a blank map-I do it by overall shape-so whereas I could easily point out Europe ,USA, India, Burma Cambodia Vietnam and Thailand on a map, I would find it hard to pinpoint Bosnia or Slovakia -and probably Germany as well.

[Wr8dIAUk]

try these games here:

http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx?nav=FF

[Wr8dIAUk]

it's not "David's game", I pasted the link here, and it is not even "my game" either. if there are mistakes, it's none of our fault. btw, checked now and the countries are all at the right place. both Nepal and Pakistan.

[Wr8dIAUk]

IgotNoTime, I tried the US, Africa and South America maps and failed miserably. I can sort of tell whereabouts countries and US states are, definitely get the area right, but cannot find the exact spot no problems spotting my own tiny little country though

[Wr8dIAUk]

45?? now, I have to beat that! another sleepless night it seems? (I managed 43 once. and yes, speaking a couple of other languages helps )

[somawaima]

Most people not from Europe could be excused from not knowing Romania from Albania on the map, but being American and not being able to spot you own, huge country on the map is really, like, wow, let me just tell you this, you know, something else.

[provigil]

Great link Betti I bookmarked for my kids to use too. Thank you.

Should you edit your post so that it reads: American people click here ? LOL

[Mjyzpzph]

try these games here:

http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx?nav=FF

Europe 30/30
Middle East 22/22
Asia 17/20 [Kashmir being included as a country threw me!]
Russia 7/15
Africa 10/42
America 10/62

David

[Vagtlaldo]

I have noticed how countries that are taught in schools etc that their country is the best in the world e.g. America, Thailand, Australia are a lot more naive when it comes to any other country in the world or world history.
I have done the same as Stephen Cleary to Thai, American and Australian friends and I am always shocked at how little they know about other countries.
Maybe in Europe it is because we have the chance to travel more and there are a lot of countries with a diverse array of cultures all in a smallish area that we are more aware of other countries ways of life.
My younger brother can name every capital city in the world which I know is quite extreme but its not from studying them every day for a week, he just knows them from reading and geography at school.
I often find it frustrating discussing any world history or travel with some foreign friends because of them not having much knowledge of world affairs and only of their home countries...
I just think in some of these schools maybe it wouldn't go a miss to learn a bit more about world geography and history.

[zlopikanikanzax]

my vocab lvl is 16.

and David, your map game sucks. It says the country lying between india and china is Pakistan and that is wrong. it's Nepal.

[zlopikanikanzax]

it's not "David's game", I pasted the link here, and it is not even "my game" either. if there are mistakes, it's none of our fault. btw, checked now and the countries are all at the right place. both Nepal and Pakistan.

By saying "David's game", I didn't mean he was the one making it. Just like when you refer to your country, do ya mean to tell us you are the founder/ruler of that country? Cannot believe i'm explaining this on a forum. By the way, if my word "sucks" (borrowed from ..well, need time to recall. that was ages ago. lol Might have to check on some old threads too. ) sounds too offensive here, I am sorry. My comp might be too darn slow that's why even clicking on every damn country didn't show me any "correct!". Guess, it's my fault.

[Mjyzpzph]

Most of my family can't find countries on a map. When I went to Viet Nam some years back my sister thought it was next to America?????

David

[ashleyjoseph]

If you get a globe make sure to get a good one... most of the cheaper ones I saw in Thailand made a complete mix of Europe: none of the smaller countries were there (like good old Switzerland), and the globe was not even very small. Germany was fused with everything between Poland and Hungary, Italy had a similar shape to Spain/Portugal... etc... didn't bother to check the Americas, must have been similar there. I wonder why people even bother to produce these globes if they don't even take care about the "details"...?!

[SOgLak]

Some truths are self-evident. And one self-evident truth is that EVERYONE should be able to pinpoint their own country on a world map in 5 seconds flat!!

[Wr8dIAUk]

a couple of million living in that region can surely do it. of course, it is a lot easier if you have been travelling all around for years and it's not just names on a map, but you know about the culture, people, history. and btw, you just wouldn't believe how different these countries and people are, and how and why they look down on each other or are friendly with each other. it's not a red communist monolith, never been same diversity as Western Europe.
Asia, Africa, South America,whatever looks like a mass of countries from far away, must be the same for those inside.

anyway....
anyone tried www.freerice.com , for games? interested in your vocabulary levels

[Wr8dIAUk]

Khun Don - sorry, I guessed you are aware. I was more like generally speaking. I admit sometimes I get carried away.
admit your vocabulary level

[rusculture]

No offence intended-Hungary obviously was not included-but-be honest- how many people do you know that can pin-point everyone of the small new countries that emerged after the fall of the Communist block-besides yourself, that is?

[esconsise]

The first thing I bought when my wife arrived here in the States was a globe. She is probably better at geography now than most university educated Thais, and I know she speaks better English than most I've met.

[Wr8dIAUk]

I scored 100% on Asia and Europe, but let's forget about the rest.
and for once, I decided to overlook your remarks on Eastern European countries