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Originally Posted by Elsi
Even when you aren't traveling, it can be polite to know a word or a phrase in a language other than your "milk tongue". In my local Mexican restaurant, I usually say "hola" to the greeter and "gracias" to the young girl who drops off the chips and salsa. (I'll admit that I tend to follow that with the English equivalent -- Hola, hello!.) I don't know much Spanish off the top of my head, so other than attempting to properly pronounce the names of the dishes I'm ordering, that's about it.
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interesting point. we have a very diverse population here and a lot of foreign words have made their way into everyday language, but although i use them myself sometimes it wasn't really from any deliberate intention (and i use them regardless of whether the person i'm talking to is a native speaker). maybe that's because a lot of them are arab words and most of the arab immigrants i come in contact with are pefectly bilingual, so it seems perfectly natural to speak french with them.
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I *don't* expect the residents to speak English, so as an English-only speaker, I'm intimidated when I visit a country that isn't English-speaking and prefer to travel with someone who does speak the local language.
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paris is a very cosmopolitan city with a lot of tourists and plenty of american films in the cinemas, and quite a few people here do speak at least some rudimentary english (some of them butcher it badly), although not *everyone* does (the proportions go up in touristy neighbourhoods and retail shops and restaurants). however, i happen to know that some people will also pretend not to understand a tourist who doesn't say at least "bonjour" and just starts speaking in english. not that i would ever do that myself, of course. well, maybe sometimes. if they are rude. or if they're walking slowly and taking up the entire street...
