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Speaking Another Language in Front of English-speaking Friends - Page 2

post #16 of 29
4/7/10 at 10:49am
somewhat related and idiosynchronatic, I get pissed off when a Chinese person in China (or a Korean in Korea), says something to me in English, they just assume I don't speak the native language and don't even try. It's pretty insulting, especially since they don't really even speak English, just TRY and say jie guo yi xia first, don't just assume I'm some cunt idiot backpacker who doesn't give a shit about your language or country. I don't know why this annoys me but it does.
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post #17 of 29
4/7/10 at 11:16am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eason View Post
somewhat related and idiosynchronatic, I get pissed off when a Chinese person in China (or a Korean in Korea), says something to me in English, they just assume I don't speak the native language and don't even try. It's pretty insulting, especially since they don't really even speak English, just TRY and say jie guo yi xia first, don't just assume I'm some cunt idiot backpacker who doesn't give a shit about your language or country. I don't know why this annoys me but it does.
The opposite usually happens to me and I find that mildly bothersome. Whenever I'm in Greece for example, sales people will speak to me in Greek assuming I understand it. I manage but it would suck for those who don't speak Greek -- fortunately, a majority speak English quite well. I suppose it depends on the country, people, etc.
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post #18 of 29
4/7/10 at 11:26am
I don't like it very much, but I do it with my wife every now and again when we don't want people to understand us.
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post #19 of 29
4/7/10 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eason View Post
somewhat related and idiosynchronatic, I get pissed off when a Chinese person in China (or a Korean in Korea), says something to me in English, they just assume I don't speak the native language and don't even try. It's pretty insulting, especially since they don't really even speak English, just TRY and say jie guo yi xia first, don't just assume I'm some cunt idiot backpacker who doesn't give a shit about your language or country. I don't know why this annoys me but it does.

I'll assume from this you are some cunt idiot, who may or may not have a backpack.
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post #20 of 29
4/7/10 at 11:46am
I'LL TAKE A CANE TO YOU MOTHERFUCKER GO STRAIGHT STEAL YOUR ORGANS I'M NOT A CUNT
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post #21 of 29
4/7/10 at 11:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrG View Post
I don't think I'd react at all. I'm not going to stand up and tell them it's rude to speak in a language no one else can understand, but I do think it's rude. It's akin to whispering between two people when they're in a group.

Two of my friends and I would sometimes lapse into extremely Southern speech whenever the latin friends among us would do it. It was pretty funny. Both "sides" could only understand about 1/4 of what the other was saying.
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post #22 of 29
4/7/10 at 1:07pm
And this is precisely why I ONLY speak American = so as to not isolate anyone else and make them uncomfortable
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post #23 of 29
4/7/10 at 1:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidko19 View Post
And this is precisely why I ONLY speak American = so as to not isolate anyone else and make them uncomfortable

American is a language
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post #24 of 29
4/7/10 at 1:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidko19 View Post
And this is precisely why I ONLY speak American = so as to not isolate anyone else and make them uncomfortable
but what if english is nto the common language?
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post #25 of 29
4/7/10 at 3:54pm
I went to a wedding once where the groom was greek and his bride was not. About half of the guests were greek. One of the speakers was a cousin of the groom and proceeded to give part of his speech in english and finished it for about 10 minutes in greek, a language that half the guests and the bride could not understand.

It seemed a bit rude to me.
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post #26 of 29
4/8/10 at 12:14am
Like Andrew Dice Clay used to say: "I light up a cigarette and tell them to get the fuck out of the country."

Seriously, I would just walk away.
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post #27 of 29
4/8/10 at 4:13pm
I would find it quite rude. Almost, but not as bad as whispering between two people in a larger group. If someone started a non-English conversation with me in said situation I would certainly keep it as brief as possible.

Here is a different but related situation. What about introducing an English-only friend to my group of non-English speaking (not native speakers) friends. They do speak English but it is a bit of an effort from them. Would it be expected from them to keep the entirety of their conversation for the night in English?

What do you think?
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post #28 of 29
4/8/10 at 9:08pm
Usually if I'm speaking Japanese in front of non-Japanese speaking friends, it's to interpret or order in a restaurant, so it's to their benefit. And I attempt to keep it brief.
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post #29 of 29
4/10/10 at 11:55am
If I'm with a group of all English speaking friends, and one switches to another language talking about the same topic as the group, I'll usually respond in the language and then ask them to proceed in English. If they continue in the foreign language I'll ask the group to excuse us. If a non-English speaking friend runs into me somewhere and I'm with an English speaking friend, I'll greet them, share a few words and carry on with my other friend. Just comes down to whoever I was speaking with first
Matt
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