Back to Tyskland forum

Are Germans rude??

Publisert i Tyskland forum

Many of my foreign friends who live in Germany complain that Germans are very rude - or at least unfriendly.

Obviously, as a German myself I don't really experience us that way. But I would like your opinion: Are we really as cold as some people say????

Dora Böhm

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Hello. I was reading everyone’s response yesterday to your interesting question and was hooked.

    I did a little research on the topic and found this awesome link. It's a pretty detailed paper, scientifically written by a university student in the foreign language studies program at the University of Texas. This study took years. It’s really a book of interviews on the subject and broken down for us to understand.

    Basically it's about stereotyping in both directions. The typical stereotype is that Germans think Americans are superficial, too friendly, too casual and ignorant...while Americans can think of Germans as cold and rude. Actually the result of this study is pretty amazing. It’s not what you would think. It's all about how each of us are socialized in our environmental culture. We 'perceive' others according to how we were raised. Germans and Americans were raised with a different set of rules' and because we don't understand each other...we can create misunderstandings that result in anger.

    I think the key here is to understand where each culture is coming from. Our ways are very different than Germans. We do things differently. We go about establishing relationships differently…everything is different.

    Read this article...it's fascinating. It really opened my eyes. I have a lot of new German friends…and I think I understand them better. My friends are very nice…but can come across kind of “stiff and formal” to me. Now I understand why. The directness is just part of the culture…not being rude at all.
    Anyway, for everyone whos reading this thread... I'm really thankful I came across this... If you live in Germany or have German friends…do yourself a favor and read this.

    here's the link: http://langlab.uta.edu/german/personal/rings/Americans.And.G
    ermans/Intro.html

  • Gå til Abu Dhabis profil

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    I've been living in Germany for 8 years now, and I can say that by far MOST Germans I met ARE rude and unfriendly. Of course there are exceptions, I have German friends who I love and I have met many nice people over the years.

    It often depends on which context you meet them. Germans you meet casually at University, in touristic locations and who know or think you are American are normally friendly. On the other side, some Germans in the Department of Foreigners (Ausländerbehörde), many Doctor's helpers and people working on shops are so rude they should not even be allowed to talk to people.

    Germans tend to be ruder if they feel superior to you in any circunstance. They are most certainlly rude to Indians (to whom they ALWAYS feel superior, no matter what), in any occasion when you need something - it may be only information - or when they notice you don't speak German very well.

  • Erik C

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    As a foreigner I do notice a tendency towards being too formal at times. I think though that if you go to a village and live there you will have a different experience that if you live in a city like Frankfurt.

    Also the language itself tends to be formal. Often when you first meet someone you speak with formal German and only after getting to know them or maybe never do you start with the du form. This is the only part of German that I don’t like this formal informal language constraint and when exactly I should speak formal or informal to people. I think this keeps people from connecting sometimes because its too formal. Maybe its just me..

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Puh, I'm really glad I didn't meet such people when I had been in Germany...

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Hi Alisha, I know exactly what you mean...I'm German and even I sometimes wondered how it's possible that you meet that many unfriendly people in the streets, staring angrily at you or swearing at you when you touch them unintentionally.
    But you find that kind of people nearly everywhere sometimes, so I can only hope that those people just had a bad day.

  • Gå til Alisha G.s profil

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    I think Germans are rude to strangers, yes. I have lived here for over two years. Sometimes I will recieve a smartass remark from someone passing me on the street.

    After you get to know a particular German though, they are very friendly.

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Well..It depends on the people you get to know...In my experience ..I have alot of fun with them when I go out with them and party out,but on the job and or living with them, it has been very hard...I notice that it is for us latin very hard to get to used to it...maybe because of the culture difference, which are many...

  • Gabriela Zafira

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Totally agree to you Carolina - it doesn't help to adapt their manners. Although I admit that sometimes it's hard to stay nice if people half-insult you. But in the end I guess that some smiles even break the hardest Germans down over time :)

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Yea Red what you just posted is a perfect example of Oxford english. Gone bad. I had to read and reread your posts a few times , just to make sense of that garbled alphabet soup that u claim is Oxford english.And I know for a fact that Germans don't get taught to speak with an english accent in school. Though a lot of em like to claim that.Or else every German would speak with an english accent. They would also know that AMERICAN isn't a language.

    Bottomline is that Germans are pretty cold towards people they dont know. This can come across as rudeness to people from countries where everyone is usually friendly and open towards everyone else and that go out of their way to help people that have trouble speaking their language.Has nothing to do with being rough.

    As for native speakers sounding like they have a rug intheir mouth, they are still native speakers. It is a perfectly natural way of speaking for them. It's your lack of immersion in their tongue that makes it sound to you like they have a rug in their mouth. I would say that's your problem.That is what makes accents so cool, as long it's not a fake one. I personally love the Scottish accent

    So stop getting your panties in a bunch over it. If you don't like what is being said on this forum, either state your point like a mature adult or go cry to someone that cares. Name calling like some snotty pimplefaced teen just makes you come across as a joke.

    Thus endeth the sermon. Now go cry to mommy.

Publiser et svar