White people

[tufguy]

Hi guys.

If a person is not white but he wants to look like a white person so what can he say. "I wish I could change my appearance to white people look alike"?

 

[Raymott]

"I wish I could look white."
"I wish I could look like a white person."

 

[MikeNewYork]

"I wish I could change my appearance so that I look like white people."

 

[probus]

I wish I looked whiter.

 

[Tdol]

Any of the above would work, but your original sentence would not.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


In my opinion, when one learns a foreign language, grammar is only one part. One should also understand the cultural aspects of a country.

Here in the United States, some people feel that it would sound more gentle if one said something like:

"I wish that I could look more Caucasian."

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is it OK to say 'I wish I had an appearance similar to white people's'?

Not a teacher.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not very natural. I find it a rather odd concept if I'm honest but if I had to say it, I'd say "I wish I looked whiter".

 

[Roman55]

Here in the United States, some people feel that it would sound more gentle if one said something like:

"I wish that I could look more Caucasian."

I am not a teacher.

I know that you're right, but I have always found this whole 'Caucasian' label very strange indeed. People from the Caucasus don't look much like the white-skinned Europeans I see around me every day. But then again, it is mainly an AmE term.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Caucasian" is simply not used in the UK as a descriptor of a person. Many years ago, I started working at an international airport and I was completely confused when I encountered my first few American passport holders who had completed their Arrivals card with "Caucasian" as their nationality. For a start, it should have said "USA" or "American" ("nationality" in the UK referring to the passport you hold) but mainly, I knew where the Caucasus mountains are and they're nowhere near North America!

 

[SoothingDave]

"Caucasian" as a race, I can believe. As a nationality?

Americans are likely to tell you they are, e.g., "Croatian and Irish" based on where they're great-grandparents came from if you ask their "nationality."

 

[Jill Dorchester]

"Caucasian" as a race, I can believe. As a nationality?

Americans are likely to tell you they are, e.g., "Croatian and Irish" based on where they're great-grandparents came from if you ask their "nationality."

Perhaps it's because America is known as a "melting pot", and geographically it's such a huge place that many Americans never travel outside of the country. So the only time they hear the question "What's your nationality?" is when someone is curious about their surname ("'Wojadubakowski?' What nationality are you, Polish or Russian?") or because of their overall appearance ("With that red hair and that fair complexion, you must be Irish! What nationality are you?").

The first time I traveled to England, as we were filling out our landing cards I noticed my friend/traveling companion writing a novella in the tiny space allotted for "Nationality." She was busy noting "Half Polish, part German..." etc. I explained to her that they just want to know the country listed on her passport. (When we go to Canada the Customs officials ask "Citizenship?", not "Nationality".)

 

[emsr2d2]

I promise you that in the 20 years I spent doing that job, I saw "Caucasian" written in the "Nationality" box more often than anything else by holders of American passports. The other most common errors in that box were "Black", "Hispanic", "African-American", "Irish", and "Italian".

Sorry, I just read the 2nd paragraph of Jill's post - yup, that's the kind of the thing I saw every single day!