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Are Germans rude??

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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????

  • innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    You are right on the money Catalina There were quite a few occassions, when I would use really broken German at stores, the people at the counter would just stare at me and wouldn't even bother trying to make any sense of it.
    But soon as I switched to english, they would start beaming and go out of their way to help me out. Maybe like Janine said, they like to practice their english.

    One lady though, clearly told me she didn,t speak AMERICAN, when I switched to english. In that case, I don't think she cared much when I blew her a kiss and FYVM, since that is very AMERICAN.

    But at the end of the day, who really cares. Most places I went, once the beer started flowing everyone was friends. And the ones that preferred to be uptight all the time were also the ones not getting any action.

    By the way, this might be better off in a different thread, but what is up with so many germans, speaking with a fake British accent?

  • Gå til Morten Grunwalds profil

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Germans are friendly to people they know. My impression is, they treat strangers with indifference, which is different from being unfriendly.

    I always get somehow nervous and insecure about the indiscriminate smiling in the U.S. and elsewhere. It feels inane to me...

  • Chase Ellison

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    I do not feel as if Germans are rude. They're just direct. Depending on your culture direct may come off as being rude.

  • Catalina Marquez

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    I agree that Germans can be very friendly once you know them, but if you don't, it is amazing how rude they can be. When I go into a shop or a restaurant in Germany and speak only broken German, people tend to look at me like a criminal! They're definitely not very good a making you feel welcome in Germany, that much is sure...

  • Janosch Kraemer

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    I don't feel at all this way! In fact, most Germans I met have been very friendly with me. You always meet some arrogant people, but that happens everywhere!

  • Xavier Precioso

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    This is exactly how I feel as well. However, it does take a while to get used to their way, even in a business context. My experience is that it doesn't really help if you adapt their way, all the contrary: If you act a little warmer then them most of them actually like it - I guess it's something they're missing in their own culture...

  • Liliane M

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    Hi Janine, I totally agree. In fact many Germans might seem shy in the beginning as they don't show their emotions as openly as other cultures. However if you get to know them they are extremely friendly - in their own way.

    That said, to me Germans actually seem to be more open than the Swiss!!!

  • Janine Froehlich

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    There is a stereotype about Germans being cold. I think that, just like in all other countries, you have good and not so good people. I actually think that Germans are very open. Every time I go out I meet German people who, even though I speak German, love to speak in English with me because they want to practice their English. Its very sweet! I have so many wonderful German friends. However, I can also agree with what Emilia wrote, many Latin Americans do feel that Germans are unfriendly, probably because Latin Americans interact different with people. Half my family is Mexican and we tend to be very touchy, we kiss and hug everybody and we talk to total strangers just to talk, on top of that we tend to be pretty emotional and love to show it.

  • Emilia Gomez

    innsent av  i Tyskland forum 

    To many Latinamericans - Germans seem indeed very rude and unfriendly.

    However, if you get to know them better you notice that they don't mean it like this. It seems as if they were shy to show positive emotions.

    But if you're in a stressed situation Germans can really get on your nerves with this attititude - even though they might not mean it...

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