Eh, that’s a bit of a leap, isn’t it? I mean, Kim Jong-Un? If we hadn’t gone mucking around with the Southeast Asian political spectrum, it’s not unlikely that they would be paying lip service to Hú Jǐntāo by now, as the Korean civil war that we involved ourselves in may well have left yet another destitute, insular, pre-communist nation looking to big brother China for support. Still, that’s off-topic and offensive, though, apparently only to anyone who isn’t Korean.
Anyway, please don’t feed the trolls.
I have a particular vexation with people from my own country, the supposed Melting Pot, who think that foreigners should assimilate to any particular way of life that, barring ambiguous circumstances for rape and murder, are polar opposites of the cultures from which they hail. I also find it rather offensive that Americans are ignorant and smug enough to walk around and assume they will never need to know a second language. I use two or three on a slow day, and I rarely leave the house.
I think whether or not it is disrespectful to speak English in other countries depends upon the dominant culture of the country. If your only or primary language is English, and others around you speak the language, it is best to ensure you and your entourage are not being rude to the people around you. In most private situations and business transactions, it is acceptable, if not preferable in international commerce.
It is almost always disrespectful to speak your native language in an educational setting where the host country’s language is the expected one. This is true of most classrooms in a formal setting where one is learning the language, in any country. This is also true of speaking the native language of the host country in an English as a Second Language course.
If you’re spending any more than a week in the country, you should learn some of the language. Not only to smooth off the edges of the difficulties of travel, it’s polite, and most natives will try to help you with your pronunciation, grammar, etc. If you are going to live somewhere, and you are not some opulently-funded douchebag, you should definitely learn the language.
A person is likely to shun you if they are a bigot, and this is universal. They are also likely to get frustrated if you have lived/worked there for some time, they know it, and you seem to have made no progress or effort in learning the language. Simple mispronunciation or mistranslation, as well, may prove offensive, as in the case of the Spanish words ‘la mieda’ and ‘la mierda’, ‘fear’ and ‘shit’, respectively. Another interesting fact: the word for ‘whore’ in Spanish is the same as the word for ‘curve’ in Hungarian. In a strangely reciprocal fashion, the word for ‘whore’ in Hungarian is the word for ‘curve’ in Spanish.
If I couldn’t speak enough of the language to communicate, I am not likely to continue an attempt, as aimlessly blustering along can be rude. The American thing to do is: when in doubt, speak slower and louder. This is usually offensive.
If you haven’t learned enough to get by in daily activities within 6 months, you are doing something wrong or may just truly have difficulties in learning another language.