German-American communication differences?

[feuervogel]

In my correspondence with the people at the Goethe Institute, I've noticed that they stick to fairly strict formats in both email and posts on the forum. (Salutation, body, closing, signature) I find this incredibly weird.

When I email people in the US, I find that I typically leave out the salutation after the first response, and almost never use a closing (sincerely, yours, etc). Yes, even in somewhat formal situations!

Is this a weird American cultural thing, a weird internet cultural thing, or what? I know that Americans tend toward informality when at all possible, and Germans tend to err on the side of formality, so it could be that.

Comments

[thady]

German e-mails tend to be more formal, more like a letter than a note. It's always better to be a little cautious, less you want to sound rude. Especially in more formal settings.

[acari]

Definitely a cultural thing. I tend to stick to a more formal format unless I'm emailing friends or family. I once got "duzed" in an email response to a internship application. I was so weirded out. It sounded sloppy and overly familiar to me.

[feuervogel]

Yeah, that's what I tend to do (and, gah, I never actually learned how to write a formal letter in school :/ Thankfully they're kind of like US business letters.)

It strikes me as weird that in German it's considered rude to be more casual, because here, more casual is considered friendlier. If you're writing a cover letter for a job application, you want to be formal, but after a few rounds, you can drop the formality, if that makes sense? It depends a lot on context, too.

[feuervogel]

I'd expect to get a Sie, but this whole having to remember to start with "sehr geehrte whoever, guten Tag," and then remember to close with "mit freundlichen Grüßen, me" when 90% of the time in email, I either just stop writing and hit send or use "C," is hard.

[krait]

Mmm, dunno.

If it's a business/nonpersonal communication, I generally err on the side of formal! I remember doing quite a bit of emailing when I was applying for an internship, and even when the director began emails more casually, I still replied with, "Dear [Title] [Director's Name]" or at best "Dear [Director's First Name", and closed semiformally as well ("Thank you," or "Sincerely", etc.).

The director told me once that my writing was part of why she chose me, but didn't clarify as to whether she meant mainly clearness/grammar or form/style used. *shrugs*

Maybe taking Japanese for a couple semesters influenced me unduly, but it seemed normal to me that even when my superior addressed me casually I should still offer a somewhat more formal address in return.

[feuervogel]

Yeah, I think there's a lot of context involved. The initial contact will be formal, but if the addressee responds with less formality, I will, too. (though not completely casually, either.) It's one of those Fingerspitzengefühl things, which I *have* in US contexts, but don't in German.