If on vacation, fine, speak only your own language, but don't expect to get anywhere with it. If living in a primarily English speaking country,regardless of whether it is a melting pot country or not, and not speaking English is just short sighted and a little bit stupid, in fact, its even rude.
If I were to go to most countries in the world with a dominant language other than English, I would be expected to learn at least the fundamentals of this language. Its kind of like my trip to Paris a number of years back, there were my family and myself who went around and we tried to speak French to the French. While we weren't very good at it, people appreciated us at least trying and thus were generally friendly. However, on our trip around Paris, we came across a number of people who expected the French to speak English to them, even though they were in France, and didn't even bother trying to speak French. The French they tried to speak to were not happy and generally ignored them.
As long as someone makes an effort to speak English to me, I'm fine, expecting us to speak their language is rude.
When talking to others who speak your own language in a foreign country, I have little problem with it, especially if you are on vacation, however, if you plan on living there, it is polite to speak the language everyone else speaks. A number of people are innately suspicious when they here things being said they can't understand. Imagine walking down a street and hearing everyone whispering instead of talking. It would be odd, and you would wonder why they are doing it, and what they have to hide. It is very similar with people speaking foreign languages whilst living in a predominantly English country. People can not understand what you have to say, and thus some become suspicious.
Speaking in English whilst living in an English speaking country is polite, it allows those around you to understand what you are saying, shows at least some effort to try and understand those around you and an acceptance of their culture, and proves that you have nothing to hide to any who might become suspicious.
In countries where English is not the predominant language, these ideas apply, only for the dominant language rather than for English. If there are multiple dominant languages, then these ideas apply to all dominant languages, and people living in the country should make the effort to learn at least one of them, preferably the one that is more dominant around where they are living.
These are my views on the matter, and I feel they are reasonable. You should at least try to learn the language of the country you are living in, and in return for your effort, people in that country should encourage you and be thankful for you at least trying rather than putting you down for not speaking their language as well as they can well.
If I were to go to most countries in the world with a dominant language other than English, I would be expected to learn at least the fundamentals of this language. Its kind of like my trip to Paris a number of years back, there were my family and myself who went around and we tried to speak French to the French. While we weren't very good at it, people appreciated us at least trying and thus were generally friendly. However, on our trip around Paris, we came across a number of people who expected the French to speak English to them, even though they were in France, and didn't even bother trying to speak French. The French they tried to speak to were not happy and generally ignored them.
As long as someone makes an effort to speak English to me, I'm fine, expecting us to speak their language is rude.
When talking to others who speak your own language in a foreign country, I have little problem with it, especially if you are on vacation, however, if you plan on living there, it is polite to speak the language everyone else speaks. A number of people are innately suspicious when they here things being said they can't understand. Imagine walking down a street and hearing everyone whispering instead of talking. It would be odd, and you would wonder why they are doing it, and what they have to hide. It is very similar with people speaking foreign languages whilst living in a predominantly English country. People can not understand what you have to say, and thus some become suspicious.
Speaking in English whilst living in an English speaking country is polite, it allows those around you to understand what you are saying, shows at least some effort to try and understand those around you and an acceptance of their culture, and proves that you have nothing to hide to any who might become suspicious.
In countries where English is not the predominant language, these ideas apply, only for the dominant language rather than for English. If there are multiple dominant languages, then these ideas apply to all dominant languages, and people living in the country should make the effort to learn at least one of them, preferably the one that is more dominant around where they are living.
These are my views on the matter, and I feel they are reasonable. You should at least try to learn the language of the country you are living in, and in return for your effort, people in that country should encourage you and be thankful for you at least trying rather than putting you down for not speaking their language as well as they can well.
