There we are: it's pure irony.

However, quite a number of American and British writers boasted their effort to learn German, so they clearly hoped to be liked for that by their

fellow-citizens. Mark Twain, to name one, was quite critical of German society, but simultaneously very eager to learn about it. His critique on
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awful_German_Language">The Awful German Language is a rejected lover's lament. Mark Twain is certainly well-liked

by Americans, Germans, and elsewhere, though not all he wrote is marked by his best wisdom.