Do you think it's disrespectful to speak English in other countries?

I really have no opinion about that. So, your opinions will form mine.

If you’re native speaker of English language, is it disrespectful to speak English in other countries?

If you’re non-native English speaker, is it disrespectful to speak English in other countries?

If you’re a student on abroad, in a country where English is not native language, is it disrespectful to speak English?

If you’re in a business trip, or you travel due to business necessities, …

If you’re a tourist, …

Or is there really no difference?

In which cases, is the person (whose country you visit/are in/study in/work in) right to get angry at you, frown upon you/ignore you because you can’t speak his/her language?

Would you ever excuse because you can’t speak his/her language?

How long time, in another country, do you have to keep your not knowing the native language excusable? How long is “not knowing the native language” pardonable?

I don’t expect people who are visiting Korea to speak any Korean beyond “thank you.”

It does piss me off when I meet someone who’s been here for years and can’t say anything beyond the Korean word for beer. And then gets frustrated because people here don’t speak English. A guy I know once ranted about how he tried to speak English to the girl behind the counter at Starbucks and got a blank look in return. Dude, YOU are in HER country. It’s not her responsibility to speak your fucking language.

I think it is silly to go abroad and expect the locals to speak your language, even more to expect them to do so perfectly. But it would be even dumber to avoid having conversations with your group in your own language, or to restrict yourself to travelling only to countries whose languages you speak well.

IOW, “DOES NOBODY HERE SPEAK MY LANGUAGE?” yelled by an arms-akimbo tourist in the middle of Passeig de Gràcia = rude bitch. “Excuse me…” said by a tourist wielding a map, perfectly fine and people will go out of their way to help them (I’ve seen people lead someone when explanations would be too complicated, and I’ve done it myself).

I’m not a native English speaker, my culture considers it impolite to speak in front of someone in a language they don’t understand (if it’s unavoidable, it is), and I’ve lived in the US and the UK. In both places I’ve spoken Spanish with my Hispanic friends and coworkers, so long as there wasn’t someone around who didn’t understand it.

I’d rather visitors to Israel not try to speak Hebrew. It’ll save a lot of embarrassment all around. Besides, most Israelis think they speak English, and many actually do.

Well, my options are limited to speaking English* and silently glaring at people. So speaking English seems like the better option.

*I’ve always held that I can speak some French and Spanish. But French and Spanish speakers seem to disagree with me on this point.

All kidding aside, I can stumble through a little French and Spanish but I would never consider myself capable of having a real conversation in these languages. I might be able to order a meal or ask for directions to a gas station but that’s about it. And I would do a terrible job at even simple conversations like this.

So I’m astonished at how well people like the other posters in this thread can use English when it’s not their native language. You guys amaze me.

Golden Rule. If someone comes up to me and tries to talk to me in, say, Italian, I will, as politely as possible, express my non-understanding. I don’t find it in the least disrespectful. It only makes me sad, as I can’t offer them assistance.

Many times, a tourist will have only the barest few words. “Freeway?” Very useful word; I can gesture and point. Communication is possible. Again, disrespectful? Not at all!

There are people who are just looking for reasons to be offended. Such persons (checks, notes this is not the Pit) ought to mend their ways.

If you learn at least the polite words like thank you, your welcome, hello and please people will generally try and accommodate you. Usually you can find someone around who speaks at least a little English.

Sometimes it is the only common language between two people. If you both speak another language you should use whichever you can communicate in the best. Be it theirs, yours or a forth language all together.

You should try to learn as much as possible before hand, but often that is not very much. But the polite words at the very least.

As long as you put in a good faith effort they should be polite. If you are rude and act as if they should speak your language then their getting angry is understandable.

Not sure what you are asking here.

It’s a sliding scale. You should continue to try and learn their language all the while you’re there. Some languages are harder to learn for native English speakers than others. Some people learn new languages faster than others. Again showing a good faith effort goes a long way, And most people will try to help. I learned more German in a year than I did Korean. But the Korean has stuck with me better 'cause I’ve had more chances to practice in the years I’ve been back. My ex-wife is Korean and there is a sizable Korean population here in Atlanta.
Also knowing a few curse words in their language helps when someone is trying to take advantage of you due to your lack of communication. Say if a taxi driver is trying to drive you all over town because he thinks you have no idea where you’re going. Being able to tell him about his Mothers ancestry will usually end that cab ride pretty quick. And you can try for better luck with the next taxi.

If it weren’t for us English speakers, you’d be spending your time speaking praise for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un. In whatever language you want.

That was uncalled for.

Reported for threadshitting.

I’m not sure what your point is.

Don’t know where this came from, but it’s completely off topic, out of the blue, and uncalled for. Consider this a warning.

If you have anything you want to get off your chest at a particular person or group, you should know what forum that goes in by now.

Hahahahahaha!!! I hope this is parody.

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.

Accredited, trustworthy translators are always a good idea if you are in doubt.

Depends. If some countries are going to have McDonalds, Starbucks and similar - while spending millions on recreating a western environment and market - then yes it would be expected everyone speaks English to some level. Is this in some small remote village in Korea, because a) why do they have a Starbucks to begin with and b) Starbucks is not exactly of Asian origin is it?

I’m pretty sure McDonald’s cashiers in Russia know some English.
*
“If it weren’t for us English speakers, you’d be spending your time speaking praise for Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un. In whatever language you want.”*

I get what he was saying - why is it so hard for the rest of you?

…and particularly present in Japan. Few things are ruder than not speaking Japanese in Japan. This is often true of other ethnically homogeneous countries.

This is true less often than you think. A McDonald’s in India is there to service an Indian clientele. The menus may be written in the Latin alphabet for accessibility, but they are often in the native language, and a cashier that spends all day looking at rupee notes will probably not understand the request from a man who thinks he should be spending dollars in an “American” store. Then again, more people in India speak English than in the United States.

Whether you get it or not, drop that subject/hijack in this thread.

If you want to talk/discuss the outcome of that issue, take it to a new thread.