A Socio Linguistic Problem

[@billsitalianvideos8529]

As a Welshman living in Wales where Welsh is a minority language, (I'm trying to learn it now!), I have heard English people, and sometimes non-Welsh speaking Welsh people saying " They speak Welsh because they're rude, and know we don't understand them". This even happens in Welsh-speaking areas. To muddy the waters sometimes it is Welsh speakers being rude, but I think you're right, there is a greater sensitivity among, especially only English speaking British people, to people speaking other languages in Britain! Rudeness is a different question. I have met rude local people in Italy, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Tunisia, and a number of other countries. Fortunately, these people are a minority!!

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

Somewhere I read a comment from a Welshman, who wrote text messages on public transport. An Englishman looked over his shoulder and scolded him for writing in a "foreign language." So he kindly explained that they were in Wales and he was writing in Welsh.

[@kekeke8988]

I thought Urdu was the dominant language in London these days.

[@giorgiodifrancesco4590]

A friend of mine from Parma (Emilia, Northern Italy) told me that until she moved to work in Trento (Trentino, Northern Italy) she thought that anyone who spoke a regional idiom was a rude person. Then, in Trento (where a lot of people speak the local regional language), she learned that the locals were proud to speak that way and that they actually considered it an enrichment to do so.

[@FrancescoRossi-q4s]

Language-wise the situation of Welsh in the UK is comparable to Basque in Spain. Not Catalan, Galician, etc. because those languages are related to Spanish and any normally intelligent Spanish speaker can understand at least what the local speakers are talking about if not the entire conversation. With Basque (Euskara), like Welsh, if you don't study the language, it is completely incomprehensible. Of course, the Spanish situation is worse, because of recent history, but as the Metatron rightly says, it's better to avoid p.l.t.cs and stick to the language issues. Personally, I visited South Wales as a child (we went to the docks in Newport, Monmouth, where my father - a seaman - had some business to deal with and then on to Cardiff and the Rhondda Valley), and I was very disappointed that people were not speaking Welsh in the streets. When I asked, people answered that I should go to North Wales where the language is in much better health. Another aspect of Welsh (inside the Roman empire) which I find interesting is the old Latin element pont, ffenestr, eglwys, esgob = bridge, window, church, bishop, cheese, etc. These words can be compared to words from the same period in a Germanic language (outside the Roman empire) like Frisian: finster, biskop. Diolch am eich sylw a'ch cyfarchion o ogledd yr Eidal (Gallia cisalpina).

[@BGDNMMI]

Keep learning it man! The Irish should learn their own language too.

[@rachelyoung5724]

The anglophones that tell people to "speak English!" even when they are not part of the conversation, they want to be able to understand so that they can eavesdrop. Not friends, just strangers. They resent that people are able to use "code" and speak privately, right in the open. They might even assume that the people speaking the other language are talking about them, especially if the foreign-language speakers start laughing.

[@eh1702]

“ They resent that people are able to use "code" and speak privately, right in the open.” They IMAGINE that people are using “code” to speak secretly about them because they don’t fundamentally respect other people’s right to be who THEY are. When Welsh speakers cross the bridge and speak Welsh a few miles outside Wales, they get this response all the time.

[@mynameisgiovannigiorgio1027]

yes typical Karen attitude🤣

[@sameash3153]

Well, yes, because they are in fact mocking you. Plenty of videos have caught people doing this. I don't know why people insist on gaslighting us and telling us they aren't.

[@thethrashyone]

@@sameash3153 I have several anecdotes about this myself, being from a Hispanic family that doesn't "look Hispanic" (whatever the hell that means). Several of my siblings have experienced being talked smack about by darker-skinned Hispanics who assume they don't speak Spanish because they're light-skinned. Brings them down quite a few pegs when they get a response like "Acaso soy invisible? 🤨"

[@seamussc]

As some one in the US who knows Spanish and looks like he doesn't, I wouldn't say that it never happens, but it's rare. Sure, the occasional teenager will have a snide comment in Spanish, but it's still less often than kids whispering to each other in English for the same reason. Most people are tired and stressed in line at the grocery store or on the bus like everyone else and just want to speak in the language that's the least amount of effort for the situation, and for some, English is not that language.

[@MidwestArtMan]

That's one of my least favorite things someone can say. I think it happens in English-speaking countries because, as you said, English is spoken just about everywhere. As a result, native speakers don't often learn another language, especially not at a high level, so it likely feels more alien than it would to someone who knows a couple languages, just not the one they're hearing. I also have an anecdote. At my job, there are people from all over the world, and I have heard Hmong, Somali, Arabic, Spanish, Filipino, French, Vietnamese, and more there. One day, we had a meeting. Part of that meeting included the supervisor reminding us to speak English at work because they had gotten multiple complaints along the lines of, "Those women are talking in (insert language) and they know I don't speak it, but I can tell they're talking about me." I think that's the mindset of the grumpy anglophones you mentioned.

[@PaulFromCHGO]

Here in the US, my mother told me a story many years ago where she was at a home improvement store and 2 polish men were speaking in Polish when they passed her. They then joked about my mother's looks not realizing that she was also polish but raised in the US since around age 4, so very americanized. Of course, she turned around, punched the one guy in his face then proceeded to cuss them out in Polish. Boy were they surprised!

[@_Michiel_]

At the factory in canned vegetables where I work here in The Netherlands many coworkers come from Eastern Europe. They speak their own language amongst themselves and I can understand why they do. Most don't speak Dutch and their English vocabulary is limited. Some Dutch coworkers resent them speaking their own language but I don't mind that much. What I dislike on the other hand, is when people live in a country for years and still don't speak the language of this country. Yes, it is more easy to cling to your country folk, especially when you have just arrived. But please be so polite as to try and learn the local language.

[@unarealtaragionevole]

Well I think there's another element. Most English speaking countries, especially the USA, UK, and Australia pride themselves as being melting pots. You were something else, but when you came here you become American/British/Australian...so if our language is English and you don't speak it, you're choosing to not be part of the melting pot and we don't like that.

[@christopherellis2663]

Such people suffer from paranoia and should be counselled psychologically.

[@thiagocoutinho7571]

In Brazil, which is largely monolingual, we don't care if someone speaks another language, some people may get irritated by someone speaking Spanish, but it's not because of the language itself, it's because of the perception of a stereotype we have of north americans thinking we speak spanish , but if it's your mother tongue, and you don't keep exchanging it with english, for those who don't understand, there won't be a problem, and in general, well-spoken and slow Spanish is extremely easy to understand even for those who have never had contact with it.

[@xneapolisx]

Americans can't even id Brazil on a map and I highly doubt they even know what language Portuguese is, never-mind that it's spoken in Brazil!

[@boethius1812]

Most Americans don't even know where South America is. They think it's in Africa, which is next to India.

[@xneapolisx]

@@boethius1812 Absolutely, and they also think Africa is a country.

[@kekeke8988]

I thought you guys more or less can understand Spanish anyway.

[@thiagocoutinho7571]

@@kekeke8988 Yes, we have something like 90% lexical similarity, and for portuguese speakers it is easier to understand spanish than the other way around, we have more sounds for the same letter than spanish, we have nasal sounds that they don't have... I don't mind and I look at it from this side, it's easier to understand spanish, not speaking english, but that's me, some people before considering this, without context they may think that they assumed that we speak spanish because we have this stereotype that for an medium american, from mexico down, everyone speaks spanish...

[@joshhiebert5474]

The example of the two French guys who started speaking French in the English guys home after he invited them for dinner I think was quite rude of them. The guy didn't handle it in the best way, but I think in the end he was right to be offended. Especially since both of the frenchmen know English. But when people are in public I couldn't care less what language they are speaking to each other.

[@audebattistolo1805]

As a french person, I get your point but want to ad that it is way easier , fast and confortable to communicate in a language that you master. Plus, you will have a better bonding as you avoid a lot of misanderstanding. They just start speaking in french that's not as if they intend to only did that all along the diner. French used to be lingua franca, as an ex-colonial empire often foreigner speak a really decent french to the point we found it normal but if an host get mad at his/her guests cause they have a little chit-chat in an other language, the host is the wrong one. If they did it to long then you could say that some may wants to join the conversation or something else as well. I just find it petty to stump people that just met cause they speak an other language to get aquainted.

[@krein6121]

As a Russian who's had quite a few similar experiences : your first language and it's sound may be considered to be more "down-to-earth", cozy and sincere when you're in a situation in which you know the other person shares your mother tongue and a part of your culture along with it. It also sometimes simply feels forced or unnatural to use English simply because it actually may make a person appear in a way they usually wouldn't if they spoke their first language (depending on how dissimilar it is from your native tongue).

[@narsplace]

@@krein6121 but one should use respect the host and use the language of the host of the house. in public it is fair to use what ever.

[@Lothiril]

​@@audebattistolo1805It is easier, but it also excludes everyone around the table from joining the conversation, and that can easily be misunderstood. If it's only a few sentences, no problem, but if it's a longer conversation and noone else can join it or even knows what the conversation is about, that's very uncomfortable for the other people. It can feel like those two French people don't ~want~ the others to know what they talk about. I think the host could have handled it better though, for example by politely asking what they're talking about.

[@alo5301]

French? C'est Anglais with strong accént! 😉

[@UlpianHeritor]

I'm Canadian of Romanian origin. Both English and Romanian are my first language. I can say that when speaking Romanian in Canada, I have never had the experience of anyone intervening to tell me that I have to speak English (or French). Oddly enough, it was in Spain where I had the experience you are describing. I was on a ferry to Ibiza, and I was just speaking in English with my friends when I overheard the two "gentlemen" next to us rudely talking about us in Spanish (I also speak Spanish). I kindly asked them if "there was a problem" and one of them proceeded to tell me that "we are in Spain, we speak Spanish here, not English".

[@LadyNogard]

It's a shame you had to go through that situation... I am a native speaker Spanish, and must say I only had a similar situation happening once or twice whilst I lived in the UK for 4 years. In Baleares islands, I think the native Spanish population feels tired of the constant waves of tourists, so they may get annoyed when they hear a foreign language spoken. I mean, I was in Mallorca once and I could tell many waiters would listen to me over the whole mix of languages spoken 😂 It's a very particular situation, which could explain them being more sensitive to foreign languages. It doesn't justify their rudeness, though - I was merely trying to put it in context for you

[@LadyNogard]

@@ConontheBinarian Of course, it was an unfair expectation their side. I think of it as a reaction against the mass tourism they experience, but it is indeed unfair

[@UlpianHeritor]

@@LadyNogard I’m sorry that happened to you. I’ve actually never been to the UK but I’ve met a lot of British people in Spain. It’s understandable that some Spaniards are “fed up” with tourists especially since some can be loud and obnoxious, but it’s important to note that tourism is one of Spain’s most vital industries. Anyways, I appreciate your comment and just to be clear, Spain has way too many friendly and beautiful people to let something like that ruin my view of the country.

[@UlpianHeritor]

@@ConontheBinarian Yeah. That would’ve been a great response. Unfortunately, I got kinda pissed and replied with “why don’t you learn English”

[@LadyNogard]

@UlpianHeritor I am quite pleased to hear the unfortunate experience didn't ruin your impression of the country and its people 😊 Must agree with your point about tourism as well. It's essential for many countries economies, and yet I think it impacts how sensitive locals are about foreign languages (especially when excessive, and 'loud and obnoxious' as you explained quite well).

[@Mateus_Pereira_Silva]

I lived in a town where the border between Uruguay and Brazil went through the middle of the town. And it's also one of those imaginary lines. The only way to know on which side you are on is to look at a not so big stone pillar called marco (marker) and base your current position on which side of the thing you were on. Anyway, the point is: 99% of the people who were born and raised there spoke Spanish and Portuguese since birth and even though me and my friends lived on the Spanish speaking side of the town, we used Portuguese way more often than Spanish to communicate. But every now and then we would speak to each other in Portuguese during class and the teacher kept pestering us to speak in Spanish. I don't know if it was a case where she doesn't understand Portuguese or if it was because we were on the Spanish speaking side of the town.

[@dlevi67]

I suspect the teacher's behavious was more because you were in a Spanish-speaking country/school (and her salary was being paid by a "Spanish-speaking" institution). I'm also intrigued that your name looks more Portuguese than Spanish, but you lived on the Spanish side!

[@eh1702]

It is intriguing that you attribute significance to which municipality pays the wage of a teacher, rather than to the fact that they want to DISCOURAGE bilingual ability. It’s not as if students in the place described can use their second language as a secret code.

[@dlevi67]

@@eh1702 It's intriguing how people see conspiracies everywhere.

[@thiagocoutinho7571]

I've never been to the border between Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, but they say they speak portunhol, a mixture of the two languages, using sounds like the nasal ones of portuguese, words of one than words of the other...

[@bare_bear_hands]

Hey, I have to ask you one thing: Where's the Alegrete? It's Sunday morning, I need to know!

[@francegamble1]

I usually see this in the United States, you're right. Except my German town where German is spoken as much as English is. I do have an embarrassing story of being scolded by a nice older lady in Hokkaido, though. My American friends and Canadian friends were going on vacation to tent on a beach in Hokkaido. We decided to stop at an indoor shopping center before getting on the train. Out of the 10 of us, myself and my Canadian friend knew Japanese (we translated and interpretation for the military). So, we were bantering back and forth in Japanese. Just picking on each other. I said something that I found out that day is offensive to people in Hokkaido (though it was used by young adults a lot down in Kyoto). This woman turned around to tell me not to say that again. I immediately started to apologize. I felt like my mother was scolding me suddenly. 😂 She came up short and asked, "Are you from Tokyo?" I said I was, and I am so sorry that I didn't know that was offensive. She looked at all of us and this time, "Are you all Americans?" Yes. "Oh! You didn't know. Just that isn't something we say here. Don't say it again." My Canadian friend understood the whole conversation and told the rest of the group what just happened. They teased me all the way to the beach that I am still a child that needs to be punished. 😂 I felt so bad. But, almost 20 years later, and I remember it. She didn't tell me to speak Japanese in her country. I was scolded for using a phrase I didn't know was offensive in a part of the country. She could see I am obviously white, but was confused by my Japanese accent I think. I am working hard on my languages to become a parenting coach for immigrants to the United States. To help them with the culture shock and difference in parenting laws from their countries. I have been to other countries, and so happy to be able to speak their language. But, I always had a rag tag little group of Americans follow me around so that I could help them with the languages. I worked with the military since we don't expect our higher rank officers to learn the language they are stationed at. I think it is silly that we have these great language schools, but we don't expect our military officers to take training in them. Even orientation in Japan (which I took the one day Japanese class they forced everyone to take when we land) was very much comical. One day. Maybe 4 hours. And then let these Americans go with, "But the Japanese all know English because it's required of them. So, don't worry if you can't remember any of what we just taught you." Uh, what!? But we expect them to know English even on vacation to our country! And our country doesn't even have a national language! When I am talking with my kids in other languages, I am waiting for a Karen to show up and start screaming at us to speak English in America. I grew up in a French and German house, went to church in Latin, school in English and Spanish, took three years of Japanese, joined the military to translate/speak Japanese, Indonesian, and Mandarin, spent 4 years overseas with friends on my ship teaching me Tagalog... just to have some lady yell at me to speak English in a nation that doesn't have a national language? 😂

[@kekeke8988]

You left out the important part. What was the phrase?

[@francegamble1]

@@kekeke8988 I purposely left that out. I don't need to contribute to delinquency. 🤣

[@LNVACVAC]

It happens on most of Europe, even in Italy. So it happened in Brazil. It depends on how paranoid or suffering of low self steem is the other person.

[@infiniteinfinite3315]

I've met several Germans that's been uptight in that way, for example at a cash registry at the train station in Düsseldorf I think it was, I spoke english to the cashier who didn't understand it very well, we managed to communicate anyway, but the lady behind me told me in English that I'm in Germany now and should learn to speak German. I answered her that I was a tourist and that none of the German tourists I had met at home in Sweden had learned Swedish before they traveled there, to which she changed her tone and said something like "Oh you're from Sweden! That's such a lovely country!". Other times I've been told in German that I'm not in England now so I shouldn't speak English to them. Later on I learned German, but those kinds of responses wasn't very inspiring.

[@LadyNogard]

I am so glad you brought this topic up - it's quite sensitive, but also complex and interesting! I couldn't agree more with your view on the difference between each situation and the potential explanation. May I add, I think there is another factor in play here: tone and volume of the conversation in a foreign language. In the UK, I've definitely noticed how Spanish speakers do sound extremely loud, especially in public transport (I am Spanish myself, lived in the UK for some years). Even I got annoyed sometimes by someone elses' conversations in Spanish, because that was certainly the only thing I could hear 😂 Could that impact the sensitivity of native English speakers? I personally think so, but it'd be interesting to see what others think as well

[@tizgerard_9816]

I am an Italian language student at university, and I am currently studying for an exam in English linguistics, and I found your video extremely useful and interesting, as well as delving into topics that I already knew. Keep it up! Your work is great!

[@lunalui]

There is a phenomenon that I would call "linguistic neocolonialism" that you might want to comment upon. Because of the huge number of tourist speaking the language, there are some areas in the Balearic Islands where German is more widespread than Spanish or Catalan. I happened to visit Mallorca with my partner and we experienced two very upsetting situations: 1. A restaurant providing a German only menu. 2. People addressing us in German in the parking lot of a hotel. In the latter case, it wasn't in an apologetic "I only speak German" kind of way, but rather in a "Here you're supposed to understand my language" attitude. As for the former, probably the food wasn't something we would have eaten anyway, but still...

[@WeShallOvercome_]

The whole “speak English!” brigade is one of the most embarrassing things about being a native English speaker. However, it gets worse: On a holiday to Tenerife one summer, there was this drunk English yobo, football-hooligan type, who kept shouting out across the bar area asking people where they were from. When one poor woman, who was obviously trying to avoid him, answered back “Germany”, he shouted out “Heil Hitler!” and then did a full Nazi salute. This was in, like, 2015. There is worse out there than the “speak English” brigade, unfortunately.

[@sphtpfhorbrains3592]

Great video! In those situations, I like to remain aware of present company, but I'm also tolerant of people having a conversation in a language I can't understand. The worst time for me was when studying in Paris. We were a group of seven students on the same course: five Dutch, a Portuguese, and me, a Brit. When the five Dutch spoke Dutch to each other, the Portuguese and I felt excluded. I wondered whether to attempt French rather than ask everyone to speak English. In the end, I bonded with the Portuguese over the fact that we were being excluded.

[@davidbraun6209]

My favorite story on this: Brown lady was on phone at an Arizona grocery store at checkout line. Behind her was an older white guy. After she had hung up on her call, he said to her, very slowly, "Ma'am, you're now in American, you're not in Mexico, you need to speak English." Her snswer: "I was on the phone with my mom. We are from here. She speaks only Navajo. If you want to hear English, go back to England!"

[@ronball7356]

Three thoughts immediately hit me. 1) In a retail sales situation I spoke a few words of my very small Japanese vocabulary to a Japanese couple who had a very limited English vocabulary. I said something like "O-kut-e-ma-se" or "understand?" They were surprised and didn't like it at all. A few days later I repeated the incident to my Japanese-American friend who told me a that I had invaded their privacy by speaking Japanese words. 2) Your dinner table companions were French. French and English people equals oil and water, sometimes. 3) As an American if immigrants try to blend in, which is what America is supposed to be all about; we welcome them. We love to hear about their country but don't want to hear any hint about how superior they think their country is. Maybe we're just paranoid? Love this episode! It's enlightening.

[@boethius1812]

My Protestant friend is like this. Protestant are the heirs of Martin Luther and German Lutheran culture. Be simple, humble, unadorned, not flashy, etc. They feel as if people speaking another language are acting superior, secretive and talking about them. This is most Anglophone Protestants.

[@kekeke8988]

You probably said something wrong because what you quoted doesn't even mean anything in Japanese.

[@nazarnovitsky9868]

Thank You very much for the new video ! 😊 😇👍🏻

[@Blacandrin]

The first story you mentioned, I understand that as rude. Sure. But, the second story... It seems little bit like a sort of entitlement. Like. People speaking different languages always come here. And talk to each other and even to the locals (even if the locals don't understand them) in their native language. And no one gets ever offended, so I that's why I see it as an entitlement with the second story. I will use my native language for as long as I wish, as long as americans (I've met at least 3 groups just this summer!) will use English to communicate here, among each other of course, talking with locals you should try to use their language.

[@metatronacademy]

Thank you for sharing your perspective and opinion with us 🙏🏻

[@Blox117]

no i dont think there's any explanation other than, some languages sound really annoying and id rather not hear them if i can.

[@shitpostingskeletonenterta50]

Muh entitlement.

[@telperion3]

In Esperantist contexts excluding someone being part of the conversation by talking in your own language with someone else has a specific name: "krokodili" (literally: to crocodile) But as you say it always depend on the context.

[@JohnSmith-rk7zy]

As a native anglophone for me attempting language learning has always been more of a hobby than a necessity.

[@bakters]

That's the case for most of non anglophones too. Speaking English becomes important if you travel abroad or have business that reaches there, but that's very far down the line from when you start. Those who would want to learn a language due to practical reasons, rarely do it successfully, it seems to me. You can't simply invest a few hours per week and eventually expect to reap the profits. From my experience, people learn a language because they want to learn the language, usually because of the culture they like.

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

@@bakters yeah, no, not in the third world. Most third worlders who don't live in isolated, self sufficient subsistence agricultural areas have a necessity to he bi or trilingual

[@JohnSmith-rk7zy]

@@derechoplano that sounds ironic

[@paulwalther5237]

I haven’t heard of that happening except in English speaking countries. I think like you said it’s due to the combination of English being a lingua franca and monolinguals not understanding how difficult it is to speak a foreign language at all times. I’ve had a couple experiences with this. When I visited Germany and I was a guest the Germans used almost all English even among each other to make sure I felt part of the group. I really appreciated this. I was actually learning German at the time but I only understood German when they slowed for me. When I was in Japan I spent time with many non Japanese and Japanese people alike. Again, I was trying my best to learn Japanese but I only understood Japanese when they slowed down to accommodate me. The groups included people from a variety of backgrounds and a variety of English levels. ALL of the non Japanese spoke English as much as posible in order to include everyone in the group. But not the Japanese people. They only spoke English when talking to the gaijin and they spoke Japanese with each other. Group culture is supposed to be a thing in Japan and when there’s a party often there’s one big group conversation so you think including everyone in the conversation would be something they would strive to do. But apparently not at least according to my experience. I’m American and I think on occasion I may have heard native English speakers telling non native English speakers they need to speak English but only a handful of times in my lifetime. More often though they’ll quietly complain about people who aren’t speaking English at a social gathering but it seems like they could be. Not so the people can hear though.

[@VoodooAngel63]

This is the rule of thumb that I was taught by my German "Host Nation" teacher. This was at a US Army elementary school in Germany. Frau Horn taught us that if we actually knew the host language we should use it except in cases where the person we were speaking to did not or in cases where it is appropriate to have a private conversation. So if you are with a group of German friends, speak German. If you are speaking to another person on a bus or in any place where you would not expect someone else to join the conversation,you may speak in whatever language is most convenient. However, as a host, if you invite someone who only speaks French into your group of German speakers and all members of the group speak French, use French. If it is not possible for everyone to speak French, then one person should act as a translator. Frau Horn taught us that you should always make conversations as easy as possible for all members of the group. No one should be made to feel that the other members of the group are talking about them. I think Frau Horn would lose her mind if she heard the girls in nail salons rattling on and on to each other in their mother tongue making their customers feek paranoid.

[@brycetheviewer9986]

this take about including social aspect of language learning in language-educational programes is lit❤ totally agree

[@FrancescoRossi-q4s]

Very interesting. As a lifelong multilingual, I have had many positive and negative experiences in various countries, but before mentioning them, I am going to read the other comments first, so as not to repeat things that other people have already said. For now. I will mention my experience in Catalonia at the height of the Independence crisis. With my family I usually speak in Spanish, but I acknowledge that I am in Catalonia, which has its own language. So, when speaking to Catalans, I start off with a greeting in their language (bon dia / bona tarda / bona nit) and I tell them that I can understand Catalan if spoken clearly. This usually achieves the desired result and I have had many pleasant and useful bilingual conversations. As regards the attitude of Catalan people to foreign people speaking in their own languages, I think they are indifferent and they expect them to do so. They are of course very pleased if the foreign visitor tries to speak at least some Catalan.

[@thegreekguy1124]

I got a story about that topic. I have a friend who's working in tourism in Santorini. What he describes as "the worst tourists to deal with" are the Italians. Particularly Northern Italians. Mind you this guy knows fluent Italian,cause he's Greek-Italian. He tells me that when Italians,usually northerners,come to Santorini,they just expect the employees to know Italian and always are super snobbish and kind of disappointed if they don't. They always try to speak Italian first with every employee and then diss him or complain in Italian when the employee tells them to speak English cause he doesn't know Italian. They're also pretty embarrassed when my friend answers in Italian,asking them if they speak Greek there. Personally I have only ever visited Southern Italy,and people there were really nice and welcoming,and they usually liked it when they realized I was speaking Greek with my friends. After all we and southern Italians are cousins and I heard una fazza una razza many times there😄 But then I just don't understand why the two experiences are so dramatically different

[@adidog6243]

You raise a good point Metatron. In my opinion, a great deal of Grace is required when dealing with Social interaction in general. Whether the issue be Language or Social Norms, the foreigner really needs to be somewhat appraised of local customs and words of courtesy. At the same time Locals really should cut the foreigner a bit of slack. If needed, suggestions rate better than commands.

[@mydogisbailey]

Oh this happens in France and Quebec too

[@steveasman1506]

My daughter had somewhat the opposite problem while the was at university (in the US). Several of her housemates were from Germany and my daughter had studied German for 4 years in high school. But when ever she tried to have a conversation with them in German they always responded in English and wouldn't speak German with her. I have heard that Germans who speak English are proud of their skills (most Germans I've met speak excellent English) and don't like to hear their native language spoken badly.

[@Thindorama]

I don't like hearing people butcher English either. But oh well.

[@leticiabarros7585]

Something similar also happens with brazilians in Portugal.. People there get bothered when we speak brazilian portuguese in Portugal.. it's bizarre..

[@jasperkok8745]

Hear, hear! I completely agree with you. It’s perfectly fine if you speak your own language (that is different from the dominant language in the area you’re visiting) in public with someone who speaks the same language without interacting with the people around you, but not so much when you are visiting someone at their house and then you start talking your own language if your hosts don’t understand it (unless you experience communication problems when speaking this second language to your compatriot - or someone else whose language you have in common). I remember when I just started my university studies in a city in another region of my country (the Netherlands) than where I grew up. It attracted substantial numbers of students from the south of the country (the province of Limburg) where dialects are spoken that have other historical origins than standard Dutch. Although there is no standardisation among those dialects, they are generally considered to constitute a minority language. Some of these students had a habit of talking in their dialect during breaks, even when there were fellow students, like me, around who had a hard time understanding them at all. I’ve always found that rather rude, but then, even if they spoke standard Dutch with their regional accent it was not always easy to understand them. I sometimes see an excerpt from a local newspaper circulating on the internet where people on a bus complain that a dark-skinned mother spoke a “foreign” language to her child and was told off for doing so. She should have spoken English. Then someone else came to their rescue, saying that they were in Wales and this mother was actually speaking Welsh. Now this may been an urban legend, or the fellow passenger could have defended her while she actually spoke another language than Welsh, but I found it highly demonstrative of the double standard that many monolingual English speakers apply. And yes, I also agree with you that being a (native) English speaker can be both a blessing and a curse, and that learning to speak a foreign language well takes a lot of time and effort.

[@i-craftsdesign3175]

Extactly same thing happened to me in South Africa. Me and and my mom were travelling on the bus and speaking to each other in Portuguese and a certain lady wasn't happy about it and told us to shut up. Funnily enough we reacted by continuing speaking it and ignored her. In the UK the opposite reaction happened, also with me and mu mother. The person was keen on knowing what language we were speaking and we had a nice conversation. Thinking back, in the UK we spoke English for the remaining of the ride because we had a good time.

[@13tuyuti]

Which one of the 11 official languages of South Africa did the lady expect you to speak.

[@margueritelouw5790]

Just shows you it can happen anywhere...in South Africa they should be use to hearing many languages... I for one only speak 2 out of the 11 official languages. Ps. I am a South African. 😅

[@gustavoolivieri6568]

I've been using a conversation app to learn Italian for a year, and I realize that the Italians are super happy to know you are learning Italian! Recently I began to learn Czech, and it's funny to realize that their reaction is usually surprise and perplexity: "Really?? Czech?? Why??" 😅 It is very rude to do as these people you saw, except maybe in your own house, although it would be nice to do it in a less imperialistic way. Which makes me remember a sentence from 1992 film Last of the Mohicans: Major Heyward says to the general: "I thought British policy was to make the world England, Sir." In a way, it's in their culture for a long time. They are still trying to make the world an English speaking world. In general, we are free. There's no law that forbids you to speak whatever language in the US or in England. Of course you want to be polite, and include your interlocutors. Language choices are, as you said, a matter of empathy. Yours is a great idea: lessons at school about cultural differences. Cheers, Gus, Rio

[@JohnA-l4g]

As an American on a public bus I would reply on the bus. This is America and I’ll speak whatever I want.

[@gabriellawrence6598]

Interesting issue. In my POV, the content of my private conversations concerns only to me and to the person I'm talking to, and it's no business to the general public. While in the case of being in a friend group and starting to talk to your fellow countryman in your native language sounds unpolite to me. On another note, it's really a monolingual thing to mock other people's accent and grammar mistakes - one who doesn't know the struggle of learning and speaking thinks that learning and performing is easy.

[@wellgaroa]

here in Brazil its extremelly rare that foreigners speak portuguese, and we don't care, but apreciate when people speak portuguese. But we were "colonized" by the anglophones to view their language as superior, hence most companies here are founded with an english name to gain prestige. Unfortunately silly. Besides, Brazilians tend to not like when store employees and foreigners speak chinese or spanish, but find it awesome to see someone speaking english. C'mon people. I only learn english to play games, listen to music, reach some content (That's how I reached Metatron's Hema and history content). No interest in germanic cultures. Being from Brazil I'm mainly descendent from Portuguese people, which in ancient times were Lusitanians, Gallaeci celts and Celtici (almost just like Spain), so I identify more with these cultures. Then hollywood and media only focus on germanic content, like vikings, norse peoples, etc, and sometimes giving some light to the celtic Arthur tale amd Halloween because of the land they obtained and the anglo-saxons, but that's celtic. so why care? I don't mean to dislike germanics, I have nothing against them. I'm against empires, being it military or mercantile. If you want to enter and get to know and enjoy another culture, be happy, I do it, but always be proud of your own culture as well. Empires come and go.

[@Tenosyn]

As an American, I noticed how strange are relationship was with other languages. With the exception of living close to the southern boarder, you only see and hear English. You can easily go decades of your life only ever hearing English. Learning other languages are treated more as a novelty than anything else. I remember reading history books written 100+ years ago and was amazed how common it was to be multilingual, at least it seemed that way.

[@gentronseven]

I highly doubt you can go a decade without hearing spanish even in most small towns

[@Tenosyn]

@@gentronseven You can in the north. Spanish is common around the south and cities.

[@ComputingTheSoul]

As an Englishman from England, I suspect this has a lot more to do with the fact we have the view that when you're in Rome you do as the Romans, and that means assimilation. I know as somebody who has married a foreigner and has a lot of interactions with foreigners that it can be very irritating when people refuse to do this. We have had problems with minorities refusing to integrate in the past, which has led to quite abhorrent situations (such as the Rotherham gangs) and perhaps people are sick of putting up with it. I'm also quite surprised that the French aren't considered similarly, although they manifest this in a different way.

[@13tuyuti]

Do Englishmen really believe that when in Rome you should do as the Romans? English people abroad aren't exactly known for assimilating.

[@ComputingTheSoul]

Nobody said it cuts both ways.

[@13tuyuti]

@@ComputingTheSoul so it's more like: when in England, do as the English and when in Rome do as the English.

[@Zetact_]

I think that for something like a vacation that it's pretty understandable and acceptable if someone doesn't know even a lick of the language, but that if someone is intending a longer stay then it's really beneficial for everyone if they try and pick up the local language and so the person should be encouraged to do so. There are a lot of immigrants who I think lose out by not really trying to learn the native tongue if there's a large enough immigrant community in the local area - yeah, they can get by because of that but they miss out on things by being more or less forced to stick to areas that speak their language. And in either case, making an attempt is worthy of respect. Stopping strangers for speaking in their native tongue amongst each other is still ridiculous, but if they're the ones approaching you and asking for some sort of help but not using body language or otherwise more or less acting like a native would understand a foreign language it comes across as the foreigner seeming rude.

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

I'm of the opposite idea. If you have a practical need to come (to any country), then come, no questions asked. But if it's for leisure, you'd better be fluent before you place a foot on its territory.

[@LuDa-lf1xd]

You make no sense. Do you know what tourism is?

[@Zetact_]

@@LuDa-lf1xd A brief visit for a couple weeks, maybe a month or two if it's particularly long. Not something that really matters for someone to spend years getting fluent at a language before doing so, especially if the person has a whole vacation plan laid out and it includes guides who speak the local language. How is that lacking in sense? It's like expecting someone who is picking up a video game just to check it out to know every mechanic and the competitive meta instead of just saying, "Yeah just go on in at whatever level you're comfortable."

[@artugert]

I've lived my whole life in the US, and while I've heard of such things, I've never witnessed it myself. I think people saying that must not live in a place like NYC, where you might hear a dozen different languages being spoken within a couple minutes just walking down the street! I (a white American) talk to my wife only in Mandarin, even in public, unless a non-Mandarin-speaker is involved in the conversation. Nobody has ever made a negative comment about it. On the contrary, I often hear comments on how cool it is that I can speak the language.

[@danvasii9884]

Very interesting aspect, thanks a lot, Metatron!

[@paalluw]

I live in a border town, on the US-Mexico border. In my job, everyone knows Spanish. Most of the employees were raised in Mexico. Two of us (myself included) are raised in the US with mexcian parents. My boss is also mexican-american. She speaks spanish to everyone except me and the other US-raised employee. To us, she speaks either english or spanglish. My coworker responds in English or spanglish but I respond in Spanish, however i text her in English. I'm not sure why i do that. At home i only speak spanish since my parents had a Spanish only rule for the house. My dad in particular was fairly strict about it. Therefore i have a hard time switching to English even when I've been told to do so to be polite to an anglophone guest. It just feels wrong. I wouldn't expect a foreigner to speak English or Spanish to their family just because I'm there, even if they're all bilingual or trilingual.

[@FlagAnthem]

Being from the Asterix village near Rimini sometimew I take the joke of "if you struggle with Italian we can speak English, don't worry we have your back" (Which I reply with the most loaded Romagnol I got from my fsmily )

[@WeShallOvercome_]

On a school trip from England to Belgium by train, we got absolutely screamed at by a Dutch-speaking passenger because we couldn’t speak Dutch or French. He went absolutely berserk. A French speaker came to our rescue and told him to STFU - in French of course. I learnt two things on that trip: how expensive Snickers bars are in Belgium, and how nice the Walloons are :)

[@danielharris9403]

I'm interested to hear if this concept similarly applies to sign languages.

[@collewis6681]

As a New Zealander, I have had many people speaking many languages. I'm a taxi driver, so I pick up from different countries. Some use english to talk to me, but if they are to each other, then they use their own language

[@thorthewolf8801]

Boy do I have a story for you. First, english is my second language. I was going to England through Calais, France by ship. As per my understanding, at a harbour there are a lot of international people, its basically a border, so people who work there should be able to speak english, the lingua franca, the international language. But NO! They spoke no english. A guard spoke the best english among them, who held up my passport and asked "what is this?" Since I didnt know what she meant, I just told her passport. Somehow she managed to communicate that she meant to ask where I am, the passport is from, which country.

[@unadomandaperte]

Sounds like a classical case of do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do?

[@AstralHealthGuy]

I would say that a lot of people don't understand when British people are joking. Although I can also believe they were being rude. Also when visiting family in Italy they do get upset that I don't speak Italian and know very little neapolitan . Something I'm finally starting to learn. Though I will also accept that might be because they are family and want me to embrace my Italian side.

[@WF2U]

I'm completely and comfortably triligual. When I'm home here in the US, and there is someone with me who speaks one of my other languages, but also speaks English, I always converse with that person in English when we're in English speaking company. The only time I converse in another language, is when there is no English speaking company around. I do the same thing when I'm in another country where I speak the language. I wouldn't feel comfortable if when interacting with people, some started to converse with each other in a language I don't understand (while they can also speak in the language common to the group), and the others in the group don't understand either. My first thought is: what do these people have to hide from the rest of the group? Are they talking about us? It'd feel uncomfortable. I extend the courtesy of not giving others the same feeling I'd have. When people speak a different language among themselves, when nobody else is involved in their conversation, I don't care what language they're using, it's their private business.

[@tzor]

I can't speak for the UK, but I think I can see some of the reasons for this in the US. The United States is mind-numbingly huge and generally (except for the cities) just English speaking. Some people aren't used to conversations in other languages even if just overhearing conversations (which even in English might be considered rude to listen into). But on the other hand, I have also seen examples where the opposite is true; natives, particularly of a certain culture, among people of their same culture, having conversations in that language. Walk down the Polish neighborhoods, and native-born Americans who learned Polish growing up at the same time as English might just be talking to each other in Polish.

[@yorgunsamuray]

A bit unrelated with this, but I remembered this. I was an exchange student in Japan. On my first weekend, my Turkish senpai there and his Indian neighbor, invited me to the Kamakura trip they were planning. The senpai of the Indian guy would join us too. So we'd be two Turks and two Indians. I was looking forward to hear the "Indian language" (didn't know much about India back then) and I was surprised that they were speaking English with each other. I quickly concluded that they didn't want to be rude and tried my best not to speak too much Turkish and stick to English or Japanese. Then we entered this Indian restaurant...well the staff consisted of a Bengali and a Tamil...same as those two Indian friends of us. Both sides spoke their respective languages briefly then all of us switched to English for convenience. There I saw the real reason of English, it was also their common language. Of course they could have spoken in Hindi but that might have been rude too. Later on, I learned more about India, the linguistic situation there, existence of English and Hindi medium schools, their English being better than Hindi (which is my closes assumption of "Indian language", etc.

[@eh1702]

I found this in south-west England where people working in shops were always convinced that Welsh people were only speaking Welsh to each other in order to say things about the English people eating at the next table or standing next in line at the checkout.

[@freon500]

Yes, this social linguistic problem can be solved easily by a class that deals with these social, ethical, moral issues. The material could also be incorporated into existing classes to good effect. When you are learning a language it's like when you're buying a house, you are asking to be accepted into that neighborhood's community. Social acuity, like most sensitivity, is an important intelligence factor that is sharpened generally by acquiring languages.

[@arturalmeida9295]

I witnessed something similar when I lived in a region of Brazil where there are many Pomeranians and their descendants. Older people were generally uncomfortable with younger people when they used Portuguese. Sometimes they interrupted and say "Speak in Pomersch, you're a Pomeranian". However, I believe that this is a different context, taking into account that the language is already dead and, today, with little Little influence. But it happened and I thought it would be interesting to comment.

[@quain5063]

Long time Anglophone country resident (UK and US) here - I'm a native Mandarin speaker who also learnt several other Chinese languages (Wu, Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese), Greek and Spanish. My principle is: if you can speak something other than English then we speak that other thing. Switching to English just for Anglophones is ludicrous to me - I have every right to speak any language. If I wanna engage with you I'll use English; if I don't I'll just stay in Chinese. In Greece I try my best to speak Greek even though I'm still at the intermediate level - I managed to buy a computer in Greece using my broken Greek instead of English! If English weren't the lingua franca, I wouldn't even choose to learn it. Simple as that.

[@EchoLog]

Interesting that America and the UK dont have English as official languages, only de-facto. Does this ring true in Australia? Only unofficially official?

[@shawnotoole1421]

It may be a Germanic aspect of the Anglosphere. When I was in Hamburg, Germany, a German asked for my help with his car. Though I was willing to help him, he wanted me to go away because I did not speak German. He was rude about it.

[@greatestcait]

I grew up a native English speaker in Amish Country in the Midwest. The Amish generally are bilingual, speaking a form of German called Pennsylvania Dutch as their mother tongue as well as English. I've seen plenty of them speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, but I've never really seen anyone give them any trouble for it. In the past, when I heard them speaking PA Dutch, I worried that they were saying nasty things behind my back, but after a certain point I realized that if someone is rude enough to bad mouth me behind my back (foreign language or not), their opinion is not one I should care about.

[@ChanyeolsHaneul]

As someone that live in a Greek touristic island, I don't think I ever heard people complain about what language other people talk. But Americans that come here tend to get entitled that everyone and their grandmother's speak English to them. Germans also expect others to talk to them in German to them, they tend to dislike you if you speak them in English. Italians are easygoing. I speak them in Spanish they speak me in Italian and we understand each other ( my accent is Argentina so we get along well)

[@gandirf01]

As being a German, I am always delighted to hear people speak in their own tongue. A short time ago I was in an Aldi and the only thing that annoyed me was that I was not to know which Chinese Language was spoken. On the other side, there are a lot of Germans who do not understand English.

[@frida507]

I was sharing a flat In Florence with two German and one Austrian girl and they were like "didn't you learn German in school?". Well it was my third foreign language after English and French so... if I'm asked for directions by some elderly tourists who don't speak English I'll do my best but ... They also called me "die Schwedin" when I was present.Quite rude. Most Germans I met through work for example are very nice though and speak English very well.

[@gandirf01]

@@frida507 Yes, there are Germans wo speak English, but there are also many wo don't speak it.

[@ChanyeolsHaneul]

I understand when the problem is they do not speak the language but the rude Germans I meet here are people that do know English cause when you make them understand you are the one that doesn't speak German at all they finally agree to start speaking English but then telling " We Germans come to this island a lot more than the English, you should already know how to speak it" Having to smile to those people and tell them they are right always made me so angry.

[@frida507]

@@gandirf01 these German and Austrian girls spoke English well like most young middle class people from north west Europe. I've met middle aged to older Germans who don't. I guess people who grew up in DDR would be less exposed to English and Anglo-saxon pop culture? (During their formstive years)

[@petelobl]

Originally from NY/USA, and so many place names are based on native Am languages. Beautiful words (often anglicized but still)… What would the bus lady have done if two people were speaking Algonquin? Would like to witness that.

[@Naggstek]

I imagine it's something like peoples inner feelings of shame or fear of their own ignorance of other languages. Hard to know if it's the position of the English language or just that English speaking countries just happened to be the most entitled. As an English only speaker in Australia I've certainly seen the sentiment of people being unhappy or uncomfortable with other people speaking a foreign language to each other. For some reason their minds always go straight to suspicion. The example of speaking English on holiday in other countries was an interesting one, it seems more accepted.

[@dlevi67]

Couple of reflections: 1. Both the US and Britain are highly "exceptionalistic" cultures (and so is France, BTW), due to their imperialistic and colonialistic past (or, in the case of the US, present), where a significant part of the population believes that 'they' are different if not better than the rest, leading to things such as using USC rather than metric, driving on the left, or calling a byte 'octet'. So is Japan, but Japanese culture is very odd in this regard, and Japanese people - while considering themselves as inextricably and fundamentally different from anyone else - are very humble about it, at least in public situations. 2. In the two examples you presented at the beginning, one is a 'low sharing' environment, the other is 'high sharing'. People on a bus 'share' less, or are a less tight social group if you prefer, than people invited to someone's house for a meal. The expectation that people sharing a meal also share in the conversation (and therefore speak a language that is, to the extent possible, shared by all) I would consider perfectly legitimate, unlike the expectation that 'strangers' that are sharing open-to-all, public transport with me speak "my" language when speaking among themselves.

[@lugo_9969]

During 'The troubles' in Northern Ireland , the irish language was used as a cyber-code whenever the British Army were nearby.

[@cadileigh9948]

like welsh Rugbi teams using Cymraeg on field to baffle the other team

[@FeralMina]

I’m American, and I joyfully celebrate diversity, including diversity of language. My thought is- Don’t use language to exclude people who are within your group, that can be hurtful and is probably rude. However, don’t worry what anyone else **outside** of your group thinks. Speak freely and joyfully in your language wherever you are, I support you! Since I’m American, I’m just dying for some ignorant American Karen to tell me “We’re in America, speak English!” while I’m speaking a language that is indigenous to this land. I dare them! 😂

[@scottmiller6958]

Well put!

[@domenicomiletti7366]

For myself, someone who is an allophone/anglophone born and bred in Montreal Quebec, minorities getting told to speak French in public by some Quebecois does occur. Not as common as in the 1990s, but I does happen

[@yannsalmon2988]

It’s really a case by case scenario. Maybe the best way to pinpoint if it’s rude or not is by imagining that you are whispering instead of talking another language. In cases where people are whispering to each other during a meal with other persons, yes that could be considered rude. But if you are whispering to each other in a public transportation full of strangers, it’s definitely not rude. Even though, in those cases telling someone « here in [blank] we speak [blank] » is of poor taste. I’d understand more something like « could you share your conversation with all of us? ».

[@ctam79]

Many years ago traveling through Europe on a tour the only country I would get dirty looks from in using a foreign language was in France, particularly Paris. I am American, and I was not very confident in my French at the time so being Paris I chose to ask in English basic questions about how to get to X, or where do I find X, and could you please get X for me, etc... I would get some impatient looks from people working in hotels and restaurants and stuff like they find it exasperating to deal with someone who isn't speaking your native language. Outside of Paris, the people seemed to be nicer, so maybe it was just the effect of living in an expensive city that turned people like that.

[@13tuyuti]

You don't get dirty looks for speaking a foreign language in Paris. You don't get dirty looks for anything in particular in Paris. You just get dirty looks in Paris because Parisians' faces are just like that. They don't even necessarily mean anything bad by it.

[@shitpostingskeletonenterta50]

Haa, they get mad if you don't speak French and get mad if you speak French. You really can't win with western Europeans.

[@JMM33RanMA]

I was in the subway and a couple of tourists were stressed out and trying to make sense of the map. I have asked if I could help others similarly distressed in the past. They were speaking German, and I have a very limited German ability, so I asked them in English if they needed help. If they had answered in German I would have tried my poor German, ditto if they had difficulty with English. After helping them I tried to remember how to explain in German and it would have taken longer and been much less clear as linguistic gender is for me like color for the blind.

[@MM-jm6do]

Something I’ve noticed is an anglophone learning another language is usually learning it out of passion, not necessity. But, English learners tend to feel forced to learn English, so there’s a kind of disdain. I think English is a super beautiful language. A lot of people think it’s simple since they’ve only learned international English

[@ImaginatorJoren]

My dad told me a story about my Pop Pop (his father) during a trip to Italy. Pop Pop’s parents immigrated from Puglia at the turn of the 20th century. The “Italian” that Pop Pop grew up learning from his parents was closer to the Ginosa dialect than standard Italian. So when they visited their relatives and someone noticed my Pop Pop speaking to another relative in their common dialect, they said to the relative (in Italian I believe) “Hey, speak Italian!” To which he replied, “He doesn’t speak Italian!”

[@giorgiodifrancesco4590]

Because it was not standard Italian. It was the local variety of the regional idiom called 'Apulian'. This language is not a dialect of Italian, but a dialect of Latin (like Italian).

[@HweolRidda]

As an English Canadian I have a problem in Québec. I have a moderate command of French grammar and vocabulary, but a terrible accent. If I am in a small town people can seem annoyed that I speak to my wife in English, but they are equally annoyed if I speak in bad French. We have never had enough courage to speak to each other in heavily accented French to see if anyone tells us to speak English instead. 😊 BTW I live in Toronto, where English is the lingua franca. About a third of the conversations on the subway are in some other language. That is normal.

[@keithkannenberg7414]

When I was in high school in New York City there was an international school located near my school and as result I'd often enough encounter kids speaking French on the public bus headed to school in the morning. I clearly remember feeling annoyed by this, saying to myself "speak English, you #&*^$*^!". (Not that I ever said it aloud.) It just felt natural to teenage me that people should speak the native language in public, especially since I had a pretty negative view of the French language at the time. Now I find these memories kind of funny since I started studying French as an adult.

[@MissMagic]

There does seem to be an expectation among SOME anglophone monoglots that everyone else should just learn English and nothing should ever be expected of them. I have no idea where this attitude comes from and I've not personally known anyone express it but I think the way languages are taught in England is part of the problem. It's still the case that the majority are not offered any language lessons until entering high school (age 11-12) and none of what is on offer is particularly useful for later life/career and so is not valued. BTW, please do a video where you try to understand malagueño Spanish 👍

[@rexhydro]

From my point of view, being an immigrant in Canada, using your language in public is fine but not for conversations in a group that doesn't speak it. I say this because being together in a group (as was the example of the family) has the implication that you are all there to interact together and share conversations. Can't do that if you speak a language someone doesn't understand. So it's really out of politeness. You could say that there are situations that can arise where individuals are discussing a topic you don't understand, however, you can still understand the language (but not the concepts) and furthermore you can ask if you are interested in learning about it. So it's a different dynamic

[@alexanderboulton2123]

I feel like a lot of this attitude is starting to shift in America, since Mexican and Latine culture are so widespread, that Spanish is almost considered a second lingua franca; maybe you don't know it, but you know that a lot of ppl do, and there's an expectation that ppl who speak Spanish are gonna speak Spanish.

[@MBP1918]

Interesting

[@SweetBananaDigital]

I do have one anecdote at Italians getting mad at someone not speaking Italian in Italy, although it was toward another Italian. Some years ago I attended an international seminar in Rome where the official language to be spoken was English. There were some speakers whose English was not proficient enough, so they spoke in their native language and headsets with interpreters were provided. However, one of the main speakers was Italian, but quite proficient in English, so he decided to speak in English. A large number of the Italians in the audience were quite upset, and started loudly jeering from the audience. I can understand why they would expect an Italian to speak Italian in Italy, but at the same time it was established from the beginning that the seminar was to be given in English, so the level of displeasure from the audience seemed a little strange to me.

[@seamussc]

It's very hard to divorce politics from this conversation, but a lot of it is the role of cultural hegemony English plays, which is why an American who speaks only English is likely not going to care if a tourist from France speaks French in the US, but is far more likely to say something to some one speaking Spanish. French is not perceived as a threat, but Spanish is. But as an American, I feel pretty strongly that freedom of speech applies to all languages, not just English.

[@JaredaSohn]

This issue (?) is nuanced and as such requires a nuanced answer. First thing that needs to be addressed is the linguistic ability of the foreigner(s). If low or nonexistent outside of their native tongue, this is a non-issue as it wouldn't be rude in any way shape or form to be speaking in their tongue. If advanced enough to converse in the foreign country's tongue, it may be rude depending on the circumstance or situation if they converse in their own native tongue rather than the foreign one that they and the other conversing party are able to. The second thing that needs to be addressed, this is where the nuance comes into full display and become of full efficacy, is whether it is a private or public setting. In a private setting, such as one's personal home, whatever rules the "authority figure" outlines should be adhered to as much as is possible. In a public setting (barring a group specific engagement) no such rule could be dictated as such, unless the correspondence is in and of itself rude in its nature (such as mocking others or things of that kind) it would not be rude to converse in their native tongue rather than the foreign one.

[@rodzioh3395]

Some time ago I was a facebook comment by a turkish guy saying somethin like "this is polish group, we speak polish here, poland for poles and turks"

[@EresirThe1st]

Upholding the standard of your language in your own home - be that your actual house or your home country - is a natural and understandable reaction. Sure it’s too much to expect a tourist to learn a language for their two week holiday, but plenty of people are so entitled they will live in a place for years and not even know the language.

[@lean7938]

Te comento mi experiencia, soy un argentino viviendo y trabajando en Portugal, comparto trabajo con portugueses, brasileros y 4 nepalies, los nepalies no hablan una palabra de portugues y entre ellos obviamente hablan nepali, nunca ningun portugues les dijo "aca en Portugal se habla portugues "

[@lugo_9969]

Irish-polyglot here. I enjoy holidays in Spain, touristy places. The spanish locals assume i cannot understand them. So i let them b1.tch about me for an hour. And they look horrified when i surprise them.

[@LadyNogard]

😂 well done, you! Rude people are common across all nationalities and languages, I am afraid

[@seustaceRotterdam]

I am Irish living in Holland. I use Dutch everyday and speak it nearly perfectly (so they tell me). I have been in countless situations where someone answers “sorry I don’t speak Dutch” and they are mainly L2 speakers from Western Europe. In my opinion that is rude considering Eastern Europeans and people from the Middle East speak a useful level of Dutch!

[@joshhiebert5474]

Nice Dogen Tougana hoodie!

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

i think its multifaceted i think if you live in a country you shoud assimilate to the culture and language but i also understand talking more naturally to your friends and family especially on the phone or having to explain/translate a unknown word or sentence i do live up to this also i plan to learn the languages of the places that i will go on vacation to its the best way to fully understand the locals also i think code switching is cool and its funny seeing our chinese friends making fun of my brother in mandarin to make him learn it faster the best is when they are talking about their own thing then they slip in his name just to make him wonder if they are actually talking about him

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

@@ConontheBinarian which part

[@BozheTsaryaKhrani]

@@ConontheBinarian thats a fun one

[@margueritelouw5790]

It's happened to me...at some work places here in South Africa, they have language policies stating you may only converse in English to avoid misunderstandings between staff.

[@cyrielwollring4622]

The only situation I can think of is that in the Netherlands people from Limburg like to speak dialect among themselves, even though there are major differences between the Limburgian dialects. It has to do with the fact when you speak Algemeen Nederlands, general Dutch everyone can understand what you are saying. So, for non-Limburgers it is form of respect. How does your father feel when you are speaking Sicilian dialect among each other? Or does he understand Sicilian because he lived in Palermo all these years?

[@13tuyuti]

My experience with people from Venlo is that they do try to speak standard Dutch around people from outside the region. I've heard that people from the extreme south of Limburg don't want outsiders to learn their dialect and that people who have lived there for years sometimes pretend they don't understand out of politeness because that is what is expected of them by the locals.

[@monikalala3810]

Here in Austria, and certainly also in Germany, this could happen as well in regard to speaking German. I may self work in an international environment. Everybody speaks English. But when some coworkers are among their own nationality they often switch to their own language. Especially we Austrians, as we are the biggest group. But also the Italians, Russians and Spanish together with other Latinos.

[@Avram_Orozco]

What are English speakers called in this situation? The English? Anglos? Please don’t use Latin as word to describe Spanish speakers from the new world. They are Hispanic or insert nationality.

[@raulsalguero5948]

I went to study in Japan with people from many different countries and of course the common language was english, and when we were in a group talking it was rude having people suddenly talking in their own language between them, every time my latinamerican friends did that I stick to english. Some people have empathy others don't.

[@dlevi67]

...and sometimes it's very difficult to figure out which party to empathise with, particularly if very different language skills levels are present.

[@alpacamale2909]

You are the one who has no empathy or understanding of people. sometimes talking on your own language is a form of relaxation after making an effort to speak in another language, and sometimes people feel more connected when they speak in their mother tongue. is that so hard to understand? you are not as empathic as you think.

[@RodrigoFernandez-td9uk]

I suppose that English speakers who interrupt other people's conversations to demand that they speak in English are the same people who travel to other countries and demand to be spoken to in English. That's just being a jеrk. In those cases, nothing is more fun than pretending not to understand or saying something like "I'm really sorry, but I can't help you because I don't speak English." On the contrary, it's always appreciated when someone tries to speak your language, and congratulations do not hurt.

[@theresemalmberg955]

Where I have a problem with people speaking their own language is in the workplace. It makes it very difficult to communicate instructions if you don't know if the other person can understand you. Maybe they can, maybe they can't. But if I never hear the other person speaking my language, only theirs, and I don't speak their language, and there is no interpreter around, what am I supposed to do? We aren't talking tourists or guests here--if you are in the workplace, it means you intend to stick around for quite a while and therefore I think it only reasonable that you make an attempt to at least SHOW you understand what is being said. I'm not asking for fluency. If I moved to another country or an area where my language wasn't spoken, I'd at least want to know enough of that language to communicate basics. I can't imagine being in school or at work or even traveling around and not knowing a word of the language around me--how do people function in such cases?

[@tedluna624]

In ((MY)) town we have very heavy mixed of american/indian/spanish and noone cares what you use unless it is buisness related..when you are at work speak whatever but if about job etc it has to all be done in english or whatever the most spoken laguage there is so everyone is on track of whats happaning.

[@susanam.826]

I was riding the bus in Germany, speaking on the phone to my mother in Portuguese, and I heard "in Deutschland spricht man Deutsch". Never heard that sort of thing anywhere else. In Portugal, no one cares what language you're speaking. Especially in Lisbon, with all the tourists and different languages. I believe you have the right to speak whatever you want if you're in a public space, having a private conversation. If you're in a group of people and you start talking to one of them in a language that is not understood by the rest, it can come across as rude.

[@giorgiodifrancesco4590]

Not every Englishman knows only one language (the official language of his country). Fifteen years ago I visited a place 70 km from London: Chelmsford. I discovered that a group of residents regularly met in the home of one of the members to spend an evening speaking only French. What surprised them most was that I spoke that language too (I live 20 km from the border), being Italian. They also wanted me to speak in my regional language. In short, the English are not all the same. Those who behave as you say are the people who have no interest in languages and who are used to finding foreigners to help them (for economic reasons or out of sheer courtesy).

[@frop_8750]

If you're learning some language, it usually means you are interested in some nation and it's culture. If you're learning English, you're not doing this because of your interest in Big Ben or big love for american cuisine. You just need it. It's a necessity.

[@alfonsmelenhorst9672]

I was speaking Dutch to someone in a public place in my own country, the Netherlands. Then an American told us why we don't speak English, because all Dutch have to know that language. He was not a part of the conversation and he didn't know if we know the English language.

[@zaqwsx23]

Now I'm afraid to visit the USA. Learning Navajo is very difficult.