Interestingly enough this knowledge is mostly not obtained by reading travel guides or special literature about the country, but has much more the character of a fuzzy idea about the foreign people and their behavior. We obtain these ideas in talks with persons who have already been there, by watching films and TV or reading newspaper articles. Often they match the real situation in the respective country only a little and are governed by some obvious basic behavior patterns. These are the stereotypes . Also, a person who appears to conform closely to the idea of a type.
Stereotypes normally reflect differences between one's own and a different culture.
In our project we want to document American stereotypes of Germans and German stereotypes about Americans . Normally stereotypes are quite superficial . On the other hand it is said that there is always some truth behind them. Unfortunately stereotypes are almost always negative because one finds the cultural differences often strange or even disgusting. Common Stereotypes Common stereotypes about Americans are Freedom , Fast Food , Cars and Highways , Television , Computer , Culture and Sport .