{"id":2363,"date":"2014-08-13T18:17:06","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T18:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2363"},"modified":"2014-09-03T17:05:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T17:05:25","slug":"6-german-misconceptions-about-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-german-misconceptions-about-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"6 German (Mis)Conceptions About the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, what do the Germans think about\u00a0Englishmen?<\/p>\n

\"GermanMisconceptionsUK\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The UK\u00a0might possibly be the nation that Germans have the most <\/em>prejudices about. We either see the British\u00a0as suit-wearing gentlemen with umbrellas and leather suitcases, or as beer drinking, violent hooligans. Looking at it from the other side, I assume that the British at least have just as many prejudices against Germans: beer-drinking (at least we have something in common!), sausage-eating, white-socks-in-sandals-people who speak an ugly-sounding language. I find this interesting, as the Germans and British share the same cultural and linguistic roots \u2013\u00a0they are family, if you will. Maybe that\u2019s why there are so many prejudices, as people often don\u2019t like in others what they see in themselves. From a German perspective at least, here are some of the most common German prejudices against the British \u2013 and thus, (possibly) what Germans don\u2019t like about themselves:<\/p>\n

1) British food is\u00a0bland<\/h3>\n

Germans are under the impression that the British eat only bacon\u00a0and eggs for breakfast, and fish and chips the rest of the day \u2013 sans salt or pepper. In their defense\u00a0though, it\u2019s quite improbable that they could have survived for so long eating only these things, just as Germans could not have survived solely eating fatty sausages (although sauerkraut is quite healthy!)<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0The British are always binge drinking<\/h3>\n

Many Germans are exposed to TV news covering drunken hooligans and reports about the British drinking \u2013 and drinking and drinking \u2013 after work until the pubs close. But, in fact, the British are only number 11 in an OECD-report about alcohol consumption\u00a0in Europe, after Germany, Italy and France. Maybe it\u2019s the way of drinking, because there tend to be (slightly) more British teenagers that binge drink than their German counterparts.<\/p>\n

3) The British are over-conscious about class<\/h3>\n

Well, in every clich\u00e9 there is some truth. If we must study up on it, the UK lies last in Europe with reference to social permeability, and your accent and school still matters socially and professionally. But Germans can\u2019t ignore themselves by any means. Their three-class school system in which the professional future of a child is decided at the age of 10 does not speak in favor of the German class-consciousness.<\/p>\n

4) England = Great Britain = United Kingdom<\/h3>\n

Germans still cannot differentiate between England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom; for them it is all the same. But in fact, England is just a\u00a0part of Great Britain, while Great Britain is just a part of the United Kingdom, which consists of England, Wales and Scotland (Great Britain) and Northern Ireland. Which is different from Ireland. Got it? Us neither.<\/p>\n

5) Every British person loves the Royal Family<\/h3>\n

This is not completely untrue: the Royal family stands for continuity in a precarious, fast changing world, and is the perfect projection for all fairytale dreams. More than the half of the British think that the nation would be worse off without the Royal Family and 69% think that Baby George one day will become King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6) The British have a strange sense of humour<\/h3>\n

\u201dA dyslexic man walks into a bra\u201d, is a classic in the UK. Do I have to say anything else?<\/p>\n

Do you know any more misconceptions about the British from a German perspective? Or even prejudices that might very well be true? And what about German misconceptions from a British point of view? And if you're still interested in German misconceptions, they have a few about their fellow Americans, too!<\/a><\/p>\n

While you\u2019re pondering that, why not check out your current German<\/a> and English<\/a> language levels, with our free level tests?<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, what do the Germans think about\u00a0Englishmen?   The UK\u00a0might possibly be the nation that Germans have the most prejudices about. We either see the British\u00a0as suit-wearing gentlemen with umbrellas and leather suitcases, or as beer drinking, violent hooligans. Looking at it from the other side, I assume that the British at least have just(\u2026)<\/p>\n

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\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,28],"tags":[42,59,353,40,352,219,354],"class_list":["post-2363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humour-offbeat","category-culture-travel","tag-culture","tag-english","tag-englishmen","tag-german","tag-germans","tag-misconceptions","tag-uk"],"yoast_head":"\n6 German (Mis)Conceptions About the UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So, what do the Germans REALLY think about the Englishmen?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/6-german-misconceptions-about-the-uk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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