Are Germans direct? | Easy German 173

Is it true that Germans are more direct and honest with their opinions? - We asked people in Berlin.

Correction: 0:58*and comes from America (instead of Australia)

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► PRODUCED IN COOPERATION WITH:

Easy Languages is an international video project aiming at supporting people worldwide to learn languages through authentic street interviews and expose the street culture of participating partner countries abroad. Episodes are produced in local languages and contain subtitles in both the original language as well as in English.

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Camera: Janusz Hamerski
Edit: Janusz Hamerski / Carina Schmid
Translation: Ben Eve

[shadowprince]

Interviewer: "Are Germans direct?"

German: "Yes."

Interviewer: "Can you elaborate?"

German: "No."

[Dashingdiva]

I found that when I came back to America, I had little patience for people who over explained and circled around the point. I liked the directness. once you get used to it you want everyone to communicate like this.

[joellakoslowski]

Honesty and directness is important but arrogance and offensiveness is unnecessary and does not contribute to a pleasant conversation.

[fruskogorskaSremica]

Cari, you're one of the most positive people I've ever seen in my life. I hope that the most of Germans are like you. Thank you for these videos that are full of good humor and useful information. Otherwise, the Cari in Indonesian language means - Magic ;-)

[clairejakubowski]

I'm Canadian, and when I see examples of the Germans being direct, I just laugh. I love how different the cultures are and honestly I appreciate their honesty; we take so long circling around our "insults" and Germans just say it how it is. That's not rude, that's just simplicity, and it can be relieving.

[thebeaver]

Went to Germany, Love their punctuality and directness. Comes off a bit cold but at least they are honest. As someone from the U.S, I find in social settings we make too much small talk to the point where we are intrusive and try too hard to carry a conversation.

[gallenfier]

I've talked to a few Germans here in America and I honestly appreciate their bluntness. You know what they are thinking and when they tell you something is a good idea--then it's a good idea. When they tell you something is a bad idea--then you might want to listen to them.

[MrDOB]

berliners are the most direct I've met in Germany. sometimes it's refreshing though - I like honesty. bavarians are good at hospitality and quite friendly.

[silenzzio]

In my firma where I work, had the chance to work with technicians from Switzerland and Germany at the same time. They were very nice and yes a germans were a bit more direct but not arogant so I took it as good thing. Then I didn't know much about Germany and your culture. For the job I think it is good to act like that. We had to work all day long and we did have time for smalltalk and they were honest and polite when we talked about Serbia and our history but then again I was also very honest and answered them about anything they wanted to know. Reto, Charlie, Hans, Martin, Roland you probably won't see this but wish you all the best! Biss nächste mal meine Freunde!!!

[kurts]

Encounter at the Döner shop:
Lady: You have a German name (Kurt)...
Me: yep
Lady: How do you pronounce it in English?
Me: Kurt
Lady: Oh that sounds awful!

[jeffreysanders]

Als Ich in Highschool Deutsch lernte, kann ich mich daran erinnern, einmal als ein Schüler eine schlecht-vorbereitete Präsentation gab und danach unsere Lehrerin, Helga Schlünder, einfach ihm anguckte und sagte auf Englisch, "Well, that was complete shit."

Haha, Ich glaub das war meine erste Erfahrung mit deutscher Direktheit.

[heisenberg]

Janusz, Cari und Manuel, ich habe so viel gelernt von euch. Danke sehr für alles.

[joSchmo]

I wanna say thank you for your videos! They really help me learn German while I teach myself. Helps to hear it while I can read it in English as well. Thank you so much!

[anastasiiaokonnikova]

Ich koche gewöhnlich für meine Freunde. Jetzt habe ich einen deutschen Freund. Und dadurch, dass er sehr direkt und ehrlich sagt, was er meint, habe ich endlich erkannt, dass mein Essen nicht lecker ist 😹 Klingt traurig vielleicht, aber jetzt weiß ich genau, dass es Raum für Verbesserung gibt!

[shafarvladuslav]

3:44 verleiht diesen Schauspielern einen Oscar😂😂😂

[augustocacciabavajunior]

just a little detail. at 0:58 when he said "und kommt aus Amerika" it was translated as come from australia :) you guys are amazing!!! it´s been 4 years that i study basically only from easy german and i´m so happy with all my evolutiong in this language. when i watch deutch tv now i´m getting to understand quite a lot !!! i so reay to go there and have some fun !!! :) thanks to you all !!! amazing way of teaching language !!! ( unfortunatly all the languages i speak i had to leard watching every day sad news. i was good to be informed but how many tragedies the news show us... when you make videos about the meaning of life and all that is such a revolution in teaching language... amazing

[trevorbanahaskey]

I grew up in Parsons, Kansas, USA, and I met an old German guy when I was just a kid. He never pulled any punches and was quite direct. I got used to that, and that's why I still have problems communicating with Americans to this day. I tend to be "over honest" as more than one person has put it. Hearing what native Germans have to say on the matter was really refreshing for me. Perhaps I should move to Germany?

[cantimagine]

hi, I am from India. this is the first video that I saw from your channel. it was good.
talking about experiences with Germans.. I had only one . but that guy never felt like being too direct (though I appreciate this trait). he was just like any of us. or maybe he'd stayed in India for a few months and that's why he knew how to converse with us. and he's a very helping person. we are still in touch through FB.
danke!

[wisamdoghoz]

Es schön Manuel wieder mal bei Easy German zu sehen... Grüße aus Bremen an euch allen!

[hiroyoshi]

I love the directness in Germans. Back in Japan, a lady asked me if I liked bookkeeping and I said no (who does) then she was furious for the rest of the evening. Turns out, she wanted me to do it. Although it has to be said I have suspected myself of having Aspergers (I don’t understand non-verbal communication, even in Germany) so this might not apply to everyone.