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| Source: Zoonar GmbH |
We asked ourselves which
opinions other countries have about Germany. What prejudices do they have? Are
all Germans on time and tidy? Do all
Germans wear '”Lederhosen” and drink beer? In the following article we want to
show you if our English teacher approves these prejudices or if he negates
them. He is an American, who lives and works in Germany at the moment.
Do you think that
Americans have a good or a bad opinion about Germany?
There are as many opinions
about Germany as there are Americans.
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| Source: br.de |
So you think that every
person in America has their own opinion about Germany. In other words you cannot
generalize it. But what do you think about the prejudices that exist about
Germany? Which attitudes towards life do the Germans have? What is important
for them, are they really as tidy and on time as everybody says?
Being on time and planning
is very typical, Germans like plans and love details. I think it is very hard
for Germans to be spontaneous. They do have a lot of worth in environment and society
as a whole. In contrast Americans think more about their own benefit. They
first think about themselves and then about their neighbors and others. In
America you do not have the social safeness as in Germany. All Germans have a
medical and annuity insurance. That is the reason why Americans and Germans
have a different way of thinking about their environment.
And I think the prejudice
about the tidiness is true, because the houses are so clean, it is like in a museum.
They are old and you are not allowed to touch anything.
Yes, you could be right,
but it does not look everywhere as in a museum. And it is true that the Germans
are proud of their social and medical systems.
Has anything else surprised
you?
What surprised me about
Germany is the grocery shopping, it is very stressful to shop in there. And
what surprised me too is how much information I get whenever I ask a question,
because I am not used to it.
It is interesting to hear
that, but you are right, for the Germans accuracy is very important.
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| Source: Abendblatt Hamburg |
Another prejudice is that
all Germans wear “Lederhosen” or “Dirndl” and drink beer. What do you think
about that?
I was disappointed because
I was looking forward to see you Germans wearing “Lederhosen” and drinking
beer. I think lots of Germans drink beer, more than Americans. Wherever you go
they are having the fourth or the fifth beer. How can you drink so much?! They
are like Superman. I was very happy in Munich when I saw a man wearing
“Lederhosen”, like a real man from Bavaria.
Yes, we as Germans think
that especially people from Bavaria are often dressed up in “Dirndl”, but only
for some special events like the “Oktoberfest”. It is true that most of the
Germans drink quite a lot of beer and they are convinced that our beer is the
best in the world.
Another interesting
question for us is what people from other countries think about Germany and
their latest history. Do you think that Germans still have problems with it?
Yes, it is still like a
stigma here in Germany. You cannot really talk about it. In America we are very
interested in this part of history. Americans are still thinking back to that
time. For example the Veterans who fought in the war, who may have some
prejudices against the Germans, but most of the Americans do not. And do the
Germans still have a problem with this? I think so.
In our opinion it is still
on our mind, but for the new generation it is a part of the past which you
cannot change. We think that the Germans, especially young adults, do not have
a problem with it because we talk about it at school very often. It is very
important to make everyone understand what happened there and what we can do to
never let it happen again.
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| Source: paul-i.net |
We hope you learned
something about Germany and enjoyed reading our article.
But do not believe every
prejudice, because some may be true and some may be wrong. The best way to find
out more about Germany is to visit us and make up your own mind about our
country and its people.
Vanessa Kirsch, Johanna Schnorbach
