The article presents the results of research conducted in the years 2003- 2005 among the students of English Philology in Warsaw, Poznań, Lublin, Białystok, Zamość, Chełm and Biała Podlaska. The quantitative part of the research consisted of a questionnaire “Preferences in the perception of culture among Polish students of English,” which was completed by 440 respondents, while the qualitative part included 25 semi-structured personal interviews. The main aim of the study was to determine the students’ linguistic and cultural preferences for British and American culture in the context of Polish and European culture. Moreover, the article attempts to answer the question to what extent the perception of Anglo-American culture is caused by the students’ personal preferences and to what extent it is a consequence of being taught Anglo-American culture at the English departments. A relatively high rate of the answers indicating stereotypical attitudes to Anglo-American culture seems to suggest that it is the personal preferences and extra-curricular activities rather than classes devoted to British and American culture that have larger influence on the reception of Anglo-American culture among the students of English Philology.