this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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348
What's a skill that's taken for granted where you live, but is often missing in people moving there from abroad? (kyu.de)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by aard@kyu.de to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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I was thinking about that when I was dropping my 6 year old off at some hobbies earlier - it's pretty much expected to have learned how to ride a bicycle before starting school, and it massively expands the area you can go to by yourself. When she went to school by bicycle she can easily make a detour via a shop to spend some pocket money before coming home, while by foot that'd be rather time consuming.

Quite a lot of friends from outside of Europe either can't ride a bicycle, or were learning it as adult after moving here, though.

edit: the high number of replies mentioning "swimming" made me realize that I had that filed as a basic skill pretty much everybody has - probably due to swimming lessons being a mandatory part of school education here.

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[–] JizzmasterD@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I always think it’s weird when I run into people that can’t whistle or make a horn sound blowing a blade of grass. I’m not even talking like those ear-piercing 2-fingers-in-mouth whistles, just regular Andy Griffith style.

Definitely understand there are many whistling taboos(as there should be, Russia) and some bored rural-ness that factor in.

[–] radix@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've never been able to whistle and I'm so sad about it. I can do the grass trick though, and I can also make a whistle/scream sound using an acorn cup.

[–] JizzmasterD@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oak my god, I’ve never heard of the acorn trick! To the rabbit-hole!

[–] cubedsteaks@lemmy.today 8 points 1 year ago

I couldn't whistle until I had dental surgery and realized it moved my teeth so much I could finally whistle. So I was like 20 the first time I ever whistled.

[–] Bloodwoodsrisen@lemmy.tf 7 points 1 year ago

I can whistle normally, but can't do the two fingers in the mouth nor can I properly do the blade of grass trick. Wish I could though

[–] discusseded@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

I could never get a whistle when exhaling no matter what I tried. It takes no effort for me to whistle while inhaling though, but the range and volume are limited this way.