Many people think that we can learn a lot about the culture of a foreign country simply by living in that country. However, this is not necessarily true. Often, the longer we stay in a foreign country, the more we realize how little we actually know about the culture of that country.
Books and talks about other people's culture can even be dangerous because they concentrate on cultural differences and exaggerate national character, and sometimes a lot of information they contain is untrue.
In a study recently carried out in Britain, people were asked to make a list of anything that they thought was typical of Britain and would interest a foreign visitor there. Most mentioned Shakespeare, the Queen, village inns, English folk dancing, English castles, and fish chips wrapped in newspaper. Although all of these characters can be found in Britain culture, they do not show the real interest of ordinary British people: (They are, in fact, simply stereotype – that is, general character which people wrongly think are typical.) What is surprising is that they were suggested by British people themselves as representing their culture. If people have such a wrong impression of their own culture, how much false would their impression of other cultures be!