dustintorch wrote:
I work with several people who speak spanish. So my favorite thing is when I'm talking to somebody in English and a Spanish speaking person will come over and switch the conversation to spanish, completley blocking me out. When I object to this, they tell me to stop being immature.
SPANISH? HA! With ME it is currently Spanish, telegu, tamil and, probably, others.
In the US it is historically considered RUDE to not speak english when in the presence of other groups. English, whether others like it or not, is now a "lingua franca". It is NOW where French, German, and Latin once were. Latin was THE language. Then it was German, aas I recall. Then it was French. When I was a kid, English, French, and German were considered THE languages to learn, and probably in that order. Especially in an english speaking country, it is only logical and fair that ENGLISH should be the language of open conversation, and that speaking in public should be to the public.
Other countries, of course, have their own languages, and let THOSE conversations be in THAT language. Even in SWITZERLAND, where they have FOUR official languages, most open communication is in GERMAN, though a particular canton may prefer THEIR language THERE. They ARE effectively another country, so why not?