STEREOTYPES ABOUT GERMANS AND AMERICANS

Views about Germans and Germany

  • Daily habits and attitudes that might seem different or unusual to foreigners in Germany
  • *Some annoying customs and health issues in Germany - according to one person
  • British Stereotypes of German life, plus daily life plus do's and don'ts.
  • Pitfalls for English-speaking visitors to Germany.
  • What are real Germans like - parts one, two and read half of part three
  • My survey for N. American students - do you know Germany?
  • Lingering stereotypes held by the British towards Germans. Do Americans have similar beliefs?
  • NEW: those unusual German ways - what ideas do German have about things?
  • Common Stereotypes and Our Impressions: A DAAD '95 Web project.
  • German Stereotypes about Americans and American Stereotypes about Germans. Student Survey.
  • Beer, Fast Cars, and...Stereotypes held by US College-Level Students. Essay.

  • Two young Germans' views of Americans - good or bad?
  • Interesting and sometimes outrageous stereotypes other countries have of Americans.
  • Are Germans too tidy and neat? Trash disposal in Germany discussed by an American in Germany
  • How to annoy Germans with your un-German ways. Tales of an American in Germany.
  • Lana Ring's Germans and Americans: Close Encounters of the Cross-Cultural Kind


    German and Foreign Views of the U.S.

  • Who's fatter? Who's fitter? Germans or Americans?
  • An American fights back against European criticisms of America
  • Typisch USA? Discussion in German. Defends US customs from German attacks and misunderstanding
  • German exchange students and adapting to teen life in the US
  • Abenteuer Amerika. The web narrative of two Germans who moved to Columbia, Missouri to study for two semesters. Highly amusing, insightful description of their experience, in German.


    Teaching about stereotypes

  • Teaching tips from the AATG listserv
  • Suggestions for Teaching about stereotypes/stereotyping in the German classroom.
  • The Meaning and Significance of Stereotypes


    Hilarious poem in German about German complaints of America. Here's an excerpt:
    Im Sommer, im Fruehjahr, im Herbst und im Winter
    da kommen Bekannte, Verwandte und Kinder.
    Vom Rheinland, von Hessen, vom Bayrischen Land,
    da kommen die Lieben aus Deutschland gerannt.
    Die kommen nicht nur fuer den Kaffee und Kuchen,
    nee, die bleiben schon hier, sie wollen besuchen
    und sagen uns dann gleich auf ihre Weise,
    "Bei uns ist es gut, aber hier ist es Sch-----!"

    From a page I can no longer find comes the following comment: "The stereotypes of the Germans as a man born with a monkey wrench in his hand and eating vast quantities of sausage and sauerkraut should really be discarded. After all, the French eat more sauerkraut--they just call it choucroute (pronounced shoo kroot')."

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