German Student Descriptions of American Culture

German university students' verbatim responses when asked to list features of American culture.*


(#1) 'Typically American'

- superficial
- "recreation/fitness fanatic"
- a little prudish
- thinking in big dimensions
- proud to live there (in the US, esp in the South)


(#2) From my point of view American Culture is \ means \ consists of:

- fast food vs healthy food
- the Dollar
- the "rolling-r" pronunciation
- innovation
- superficiality
- Hollywood


(#3) Typical American

- superficial
- crazy about fitness and beauty
- fast food
- prudish
- too enthusiastic ("Oh, that's GREAT!!!")
- very friendly and open
- more mobile and flexible


(#4) US-Culture

- gap between big cities + "the countryside"
- cities: fast, efficient, profit-oriented
- fast food
- prejudices against Europe/Germany
- image very important
- social gap increasing (esp. between blacks and whites)
- anonymity
- superficial
- advanced technology
- amusement orientated


(#5) Americans are

- superficial
- strange
- progressive
- open to new things/innovation etc.
- weird (sometimes)
- not exactly open to ecological problems
- go everywhere by car
- have strange customs and strange sports (baseball)
- those who I know are polite and correct


(#5) US - Culture

- IDs, age of 21
- superficial
- friendly
- "how are you?"
- movies
- "where are you from?"
- questions about Germany when talking to Americans (sometimes funny ones like
"do you have running water?")
- sports
- drive thru
- going by car no matter how far/near
- a lot of work, ambitious
- easy going
- fast food
- low fat
- dating
- calling - not calling/writing-not writing
- self-conscious
- patriotic
- open minded


(#6) US - Culture

- Fast Food
- Blues/Soul
- Red Indians and their national culture
- fat people
- aggression
- arrogant power ("world cap")
- few good and many bad TV-series and movies
- rich-and-poor extremes
- many ugly accents
- land of extremes in every aspect (of life, culture, economy, mentality,...)


(#7) From my point of view American Culture consists of / means ...

bad food / fast food (McDonald's)
rolling "r"
friendliness
cowboys
superficial
Hollywood (movies)
creativity


(#8) American Culture

Fast food, moving frequently, body-cult, basketball, conservative.

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*Courtesy of Thomas Wagner, wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter
Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen (August 1998)