Germans are great people in general, but their main problem is that they are bad listeners.  Their awe-inspiring intrinsic motivation is counteracted only by their lack of ability to listen to what you have to say. Germans don’t just know everything, they know everything better.

This aspect may show itself in a situation where you kindly mention to a German presenter privately after the meeting that in America, we call Umsatz revenue, and not turnover, because turnover in business terms means Fluktuation to us. Despite your decades of experience using your own language, the German will matter of factly tell you that you are wrong.

The most obvious place this defect shows up though, is in the incorrect sounds Germans make to imitate animals. Here is a sample list:

German Imitation	Actual Sound
kee ker ee kee	cocka doodle doo
kwock	ribbit
vow vow	woof woof
vihihihi	neh

Its kind of a shame to think that 80 million people haven’t taken the time just to listen to the noises animals make, and instead tell them how they should sound.