Elena
Are you ashamed or proud to be of your nationality?

What makes you proud of your nationality? If you were given a chance to change your nationality, what would be the top of your list ? The bottom? And Why?

Nov 21, 2014 9:21 AM
Comments · 16
15

I fail to understand why a person should be proud, JUST because he is born somewhere????

He, personally, is not the reason that his country is great!

 

You can only be proud of your own achievements.

November 21, 2014
6

   Elena:

 

    It is not so simple an issue that I can break it down into BLACK & WHITE thinking.

It is very complex.  There are so many things to know and understand about the  operation of Good & Evil in a country. So,  sometimes I can feel proud, and other times I can feel disappointed.

 

   You know,   Mark Twain wrote a powerful essay essay  about the concept of;

"My country....Love---It---Or---Leave It".    Another way of expressing is:

 

"My Country,  Right---Or---Wrong".    There can be many wrongs in policies, there can be conspiracies,  lies,   misinformation,   "black ops".  There can also be the charity and goodness of common people. There can be an amazing tolerance of differences and failures and intentional wrongs.

 

    So,  my feelings or pride  can be modestly  presented at best.

November 21, 2014
3

Nationality (as religion, countries...) are made to divide us! We are all human, both unique and all different. There is nothing to be proud about what nationality/religion/country you are in (like in a box with a label). But everything to be proud of what you DO, what kind of person you ARE, and what you GIVE...

November 25, 2014
3

Countries proud of people not the opposit. So do somthing to make your country proud of you.

November 24, 2014
2
Originally, I used to think in terms similar to yours. I was proud to be American. Super power of the world at the time, who wouldn't be proud to be part of that? I believed all the myths "we helped liberate France", "we are such a perfect example of democracy! Freedom!" I was also in contradiction with myself: I grew up in a different country, that was just as patriotic as the USA, but I wasn't a citizen. The school system instilled in me such a love and such an appreciation for the country I was growing up in, it seemed wrong not to be able to vote and call it my country! Especially since I cared so much for this country. 
Then I was forced to move to France. I was a citizen, but didn't look/sound/behave like one. And nobody could guess my other nationality, or the country where I had grown up, because I didn't look or sound like anything they knew. At first, I felt relief: finally I could vote, I could be part of politics, and I could say to racists: whether you like it or not, I have a French passport, and I didn't even immigrate.

But with time I came to see the nation state as a myth. We imagine ourselves as belonging to this or that nationality, but it is an imagined construct. If we didn't have nationalities, we'd still be proud of our achievements, discoveries, writers, artists or athletes. They don't go away when nation-states stop existing. They continue to exist. 
If we didn't have nationalities, we'd only have our peculiar language, our peculiar accent and our peculiar habits. They change all the time anyway. 
I found out that a sizable amount of French people feel this way too. They aren't brought up with as much patriotism as other countries, and the only way they feel French is that they speak French, grew up here, and will always have this French accent. They only feel French abroad. The rest of the time they feel "normal".
My ideal nationality: Planet Earth
October 21, 2017
Show more
Elena
Language Skills
English, Russian
Learning Language
English
Articles You May Also Like
Doing Quizzes is a Good Way to Learn a Second Language… True or False?
4 likes · 2 Comments
Navigating Global Business: The Power of Business English, Cultural Sensitivity, and Career Advancement Strategies
10 likes · 4 Comments
10 Strategies to Keep Young Learners Involved in Your italki Classes
46 likes · 21 Comments
More articles