What do other nationalities think of the British

[Baggingarea]

For non UK MNers, what are your general impressions of the British?

I was watching a documentary recently and a Spanish man said our houses are all dirty. I'd never heard that before but can see why someone might think that with muddy weather etc etc.

What do you think about us? Promise I won't be offended (no racism/sexism/general bigotry though please). Can't vouch for others though.

Ah, another thing. Wearing outdoor shoes inside the house.
Im from a country where we have indoor slippers,and we take our outdoor shoes off as soon as we enter a house.

Poor hygiene, done bath nearly enough, dry and very amusing sense of humour, shocking healthcare standards and even worse dental care standards, obsessed with carpet, dirty houses and even dirtier cars, women with think stringy hair, angry men, cold, very little community spirit....it's not fabulously positive I'm afraid.

@Mydogmylife I got hugged by a dismiss shopkeeper and he had great banter with us. I’ve always found being Scottish seems to be preferable to being English. The Americans are mad about us due to Outlander.

*Spanish shop keeper.

I don't understand the shoe thing, no one I know wears shoes inside, I thought that was an American thing?

These are the stereotypes about Britain where I'm from (western European country) and I can't say they're all wrong:
Good sense of humour
Good tv, music
Either very posh or very "basse classe"
Poorly travelled
Don't know any other languages
Very patriotic
Poor housing - Old (not just the age but general modernisation), small, cold/damp. Brits love beams.
NHS completely overrated - my dad begged me to get private health insurance when I moved here because its got such a bad rep when I'm from (long waiting lists etc). Got lots of raised eyebrows when they did the NHS tribute during the Olympics opening ceremony ("but it's crap!")
I don't know anyone from any other Western European country who thinks brexit is a good idea.
Lots of poverty and lower standard of living
Some of the worst and some of the best newspapers in the world
Poor diet
Dirty (mostly due to eg general hygiene standard in shops, pubs etc - i have to say i find toilets usually absolutely disgusting here)

weird sandwiches - Yes! French and Italians are mystified by the ubiquitous use of sliced factory bread (Kingsmill, Warburtons etc.). It does exist there but for quite specific uses (e.g. croque monsieur) and they would never think of using it for everyday sandwiches. They think of it as permanently stale. It's the general opinon of British food that they don't value fresh produce and eat a lot from tins and processed food. And farmers' markets are kind of seen as pretentious and over-priced indulgences at the other extreme. Like why does it have to be either terrible quality packaged food or massively expensive homemade artisan organic stuff - why can't people eat normally?!

@Hardbackwriter

I think the rest of the world thinks about Britain and British people a lot less than most Brits assume they do.

Well I think everyone has impressions and assumptions about other nationalities (whether they are right or wrong).

The question wasn't meant to sound like we think everyone is obsessed with us.

Well this is a depressing thread surely we aren’t that bad?! If anyone were to ask me my opinions on another country I think I’d generally be more positive than 95% of the comments. Never knew we were considered dirty who lives in these filthy houses?!

@Fink

weird sandwiches - Yes! French and Italians are mystified by the ubiquitous use of sliced factory bread (Kingsmill, Warburtons etc.). It does exist there but for quite specific uses (e.g. croque monsieur) and they would never think of using it for everyday sandwiches. They think of it as permanently stale. It's the general opinon of British food that they don't value fresh produce and eat a lot from tins and processed food. And farmers' markets are kind of seen as pretentious and over-priced indulgences at the other extreme. Like why does it have to be either terrible quality packaged food or massively expensive homemade artisan organic stuff - why can't people eat normally?!

It drives me mad the awful produce here. Supermarket fruit and veg is appalling quality compared to other countries! Like watery horrible tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines. Eurgh. I do think it's a public health concern tbh.

The cold. First you don't seem to feel it, as a pp said - people going out in the middle of the winter with a tiny clubbing dress only, kids in shorts and t-shirts when we would have snowsuits on etc.
And you also treat heating as an optional, luxury product. In any other country where I have lived, heating goes on in the autumn and off in spring. All my British friends seem to spend their lives turning it off and on constantly - an hour here, half an hour there - and many will rather wear several sweaters and gloves indoors than heat their houses to comfortable levels. I mean great for the environment and all, but it can't be that pleasant?

Another one. I could write a book about what people think about the houses.
Carpets- weird obsession with fitted carpets. Probably linked to cold/damp houses. Wouldnt need fitted carpets if houses were properly insulated and heated.
Education- generally poorly educated even though the UK has some of the best universities in the world. Cost of university education is completely unheard of where I'm from. Poor secondary school education in general. Weird split between private and state schools.
Fantastic "cultural arts" - theatre, West end, ballet, opera etc.

Oh god I have got a wide back !

And yeah, my house and car are both pretty minging

Good teeth though (by British standards) and no carpets

My DM thinks a lot of health problems are caused by carpets (dust! dirt!) and damp houses.
She also has a lot of opinions on 'kids food'.
On the plus side she thinks UK primary schools are very creative and progressive (compared to Italy).

I really like the diversity on things like cbeebies (have 2 mixed race DC), Italian tv/official leaflets are not very diverse.

When i did my french exchange for we had to ask our hosts what they thought of the English specifically. The family i was with had lots of friends over. They really thought we were mainly football hooligans and my hosts were taking a risk housing me. They also thought we were obsessed with front gardens and drank both a lot of alcohol and tea.

My Spanish friends also think we have weird sandwiches and can’t speak other languages
My French friends think our food is awful and we can’t speak other languages
German family think we are too flippant about everything and laugh at things that aren’t funny
Austrian family think we are disorganised and scruffy and we let our children grow up too fast

Hopping it's not like Spanish and French are famous for their foreign language skills..

My mum LOVES M&S sandwiches.
Fresh produce (incl meat and fresh fish) is pretty bad. I've lived in a few countries and I miss good fruit&veg - I don't want to spend £££ on organic fair trade fancy stuff. I just want nice potatoes, tomatoes and carrots!

My Spanish friends speak English and Portuguese
French friends speak English more or less fluently ( and some Russian due to job)

Come on then folks , tell us which country you are from.

@Figsandcream this is pretty outing (as there aren't very many of us here, especially the part of the UK where I live) but I'm from Belgium (Flanders).

I’m married to one and you guys love your tea and brown sauce!

Some girls are a bit extreme with tan, hair, nails, lashes and so on compared to Scandinavia.

It’s also a very divided country who always disagree on something football, brexit or now Covid restrictions.

But I love England and I have always felt very welcome there

We are crap at languages because we speak the Lingua franca. Yes it's lazy but I'm sure it's the same for the Australians and Americans.

Most Foreign people I know (inc my partner) speak English as a second language because they had the learn it to get by in life and around the world not because they so much more cultured.

@Honkandhoot

Poor hygiene, done bath nearly enough, dry and very amusing sense of humour, shocking healthcare standards and even worse dental care standards, obsessed with carpet, dirty houses and even dirtier cars, women with think stringy hair, angry men, cold, very little community spirit....it's not fabulously positive I'm afraid.

Have you ever been to Britain?

You are describing a country and people I am not familiar with. I don't know anyone who lives in a dirty house or doesn't bath or shower every day.

I'm going to defend us a bit because I think some of these assumptions are unfair

So am I, especially the accusations of people living in dirty houses.

No proper bread.

Everywhere sells proper bread these days, even supermarkets.

I think the typical diet is pretty awful,

I don’t think there is a “typical” diet these days. Some people eat very badly, but most people I know eat a very varied diet with loads of vegetables. We eat a lot of Asian and Mediterranean dishes, and so do most people I know. I don't disagree that there is an obesity problem though.

It would be helpful if people who made these generalisations could say where they live.

Foreign, living in the UK for decades.

Yes, to different cleaning standards. British homes tend to be less clean than their counterparts in the continent.

Carpets, wallpaper and feature walls.

Washing dishes and not rinsing them (leaving bubbles and washing liquid behind). Odd.

Fantastic sense of humour.

I come from a country bursting with passionate/emotional people and I do actually value the British restraint and have come to embrace it. The constant sheer incontinence of feelings is tiresome.

Class obsessed (more the English than devolved nations).

Lots of idiosyncrasies and quirks which I find endearing.

Hideous tabloids. I have worked and lived in many countries and find the British press appaling.

Best drama producers in the world. Bar none. Also good radio.

Children clothes on offer are mostly horrendously ugly and bad quality. Not sure why.

I think people in general tend to be friendly and helpful and I've neve felt uncomfortable in my adopted country, but the whole Brexit mess beggars belief.

I also scares me that anti-vaxxers and conspiracy nuts are gaining ground in the UK