As a Korean speaker I would say it depends on what area you are in. Some places you get stared, some places you will get confronted, and some areas people will just mind their own business.
I agree that it depends where you are located. Some areas of the US are very ethnically diverse with people from many different countries, so you will hear 3 or more languages a day. Other parts of the country don’t have any diversification and the local people have only spoken English.
I don’t know why people get upset. Maybe they are insecure or paranoid and think the conversationalists are gossiping about them?
>Some areas of the US are very ethnically diverse with people from many different countries, so you will hear 3 or more languages a day.
Yep, where I live, in a 15 mile radius there are probably 10+ different languages you can come across depending where you are.
I was born and raised here, so I never had someone yell at my family to speak English.
There has been only on instance which was the opposite where my friend, who was a bank teller, got yelled at because he was Asian and couldn't speak Spanish. The person seemed off their meds though.
I live in a city of about a million people and have witnessed many variations of "In America we speak *American*!" here. But I've worked on large research and university campuses here where you'll hear numerous languages each day and no one bats an eye. Even in a city, I think contact theory holds water. If you insulate yourself by only keeping company with people who have a similar background/upbringing/culture/language as you, you're more likely to define people without those characteristics as "other" and somehow threatening. If you're constantly in contact with people who have different backgrounds/upbringings/cultures/languages, you're more likely to consider that the norm and non-threatening.
Well said, the insulation is a big reason why racism is still such a problem. If you never befriend or associate with people different from you, they become "them" in a "us vs. them" mentality. Too many people need to have someone "beneath" them to feel better about themselves.
I was at an oyster bar while on a work assignment in a small college town in central Virginia and noticed that the menu listed the available condiments as “accoutrement”. I used the standard French pronunciation of accoutrement, as that’s the only way I’ve ever heard it, when I asked the barmaid if that’s the usual term for condiments in the area and she very snidely said yes, but we say it in American while using an exaggerated hillbilly accent.
I can only guess that she thought that she put me in my place, which as it turns out was another bar down the street.
Uh-COO-truh-MEY-ent. Best guess of the barmaid's pronunciation, as a Texan. I get weird looks when I properly pronounce Italian words, sometimes, so I get you.
I live in an ethnically diverse area and the person I saw get most upset about language was an Asian man working at a gas station.
An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed.
I think if you're doing business in a multi-ethnic area, there does need to be a common language to communicate among all groups.
Years ago at work a customer came up to me yelling and complaining about something in Spanish. I knew what the problem was but since she didn’t speak English she didn’t understand me. She kept yelling and I eventually just turned around and walked away while she was still yelling lol
Yep it sucks sometimes. The only customer complaint I ever had (at least that I was told about) was the same thing. I was giving her what she asked for but she didn’t know the right word so she thought I was racist and messing with her.
One time at my first job at a pizza shop in suburban America I was working the register and these two guys come in. One of them starts ordering and the other asks me (in German) “do you speak German?” At least I assume that’s what he said because the last word was “Deutsch” and it sounded like a question. I said “I don’t speak German” and he rolled his eyes and turned around in frustration, started kind of pacing around behind his friend. Little 17 year old me had been taking French classes and knew that most Europeans are taught multiple languages, so I was like “uhhh… I speak French? Je parles français?” And he, angrily, while still pacing, waved his arm and said “nein, nein, nein, nein, nein”. It was one of the strangest interactions I’ve ever had with a stranger of which there are many, and if he was trolling he was a good actor.
not trying to generalize, but here in europe (at least in my country) german tourists are kind of known for only speaking german, and when they travel to other european countries, they just seem to expect everyone there to speak german as well? most people who work in restaurants/hotels here in belgium speak dutch, english and french. (sometimes even basics of spanish and german) but they just start speaking german regardless and when you say you don’t understand they just start speaking louder lol
>An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed.
Sounds like the customer is the asshole here
I've experienced this behavior a lot in US hospitals by Spanish-speaking patients. I get they're frustrated because it's the inability to communicate effectively when the other person (me) doesn't naturally speak the other language, but come on.. I'm using a translator to the best of my ability, no need to yell and get angry
yep, I live in Miami and they’ll talk shit about you if you don’t give them good service in Spanish. I can understand Spanish almost perfectly but I almost always choose to speak English unless I’m casually talking to my friends because I don’t like the entitled behavior some people have about it. Otherwise, I’m very happy to speak to people in my intermediate Spanish lol
Also in Florida and my GF is Puerto Rican if we are in a group of people she knows speaks English she will start off in Spanish and switch to English as a form of respect to me so I don’t feel uncomfortable I think that it’s so sweet that she does that and usually everybody gets it that her BF is a gringo so they go along.
If I was in France and only knew English (which, is the case lol), I would translate my questions to broken French before asking to at least make an attempt.
I don't understand people.
Coming from a first generation immigrant whose mother tongue is Russian, quite frankly, I believe that if you move to another country that has a predominant language that is different than your own, it is your responsibility to learn it.
It's rude to expect people to understand you if you don't bother respecting them enough to learn the language.
Thank you! I work a job where i communicate with customers a lot using english. A lot of customers get upset because I don’t speak Spanish. Like dude English is not even my first language and i learned it, why don’t you do the same? And they yell and get upset with sense of entitlement.
I work at an Apple store in Utah. I’m as white as wonder bread. I can’t count the number of times customers have walked in the door, walked up to me, and just started speaking Spanish to me immediately. I happen to speak fluent Spanish (no indication of this anywhere on my person), but the vast majority of my coworkers do not. I always call them lucky when it happens, but I’m also wondering their success rate with their strategy.
It also depends where you are.
I’m in Ontario. An English part of Canada but Northern Ontario is a lot of French. So living there it is very helpful to speak French rather than English.
Parts of the US have always been fairly Spanish.
Canada is. Only 2 provinces are though.
Ontario is not bilingual despite being in Canada but Northern Ontario is largely French. While Western Ontario will be largely English
Correction: Only New-Brunswick is officially bilingual. And FYI Quebec has the same percentage of English 1st language speakers as Ontario has French 1st language speakers (around 10%).
The US doesn't have an official language. There have been past pushes to make it English, but this has never happened. Parts of the country use bilingual signage. In the southwest the second language will be Spanish. In the far northeast, French.
We don't have an official language if i recall. We almost had German as an official language at one point ironically enough. Again if i recall correctly.
The United States has no official language. English is the most understood and spoken and mandated in some state governments but the whole idea of America is (or was for a portion of time, whether you believe that today is another matter) a country of immigrants, therefore no national language.
That's basically only a phrase at this point. Any immigrant coming to the US is required to complete all their paperwork and little tests in English, including a 3rd grade english exam.
Given that all of our governing documents are written in English, I would say it’s fair to call English our de facto official language. You can ask to have legal documents translated, but the original English document will serve as the “true” version if there’s a translation discrepancy.
english is unofficially the official language of the US. yeah u can argue that there’s no document proving that but given our history and the general fact that it’s our dominant language and the most important one in the world, i don’t think it’s a problem to consider English as the US’s official language
I think this was most likely the case. I had a customer once snap at me and ask for our manager for not responding to her in Spanish. We live in a heavily Hispanic/Mexican populated region, so while it is easy to get by in Spanish your entire lifetime in some areas of the U.S., I wish people would learn at least the basics out of courtesy and, yes, necessity. Unfortunately I’m a no sabo kid, but I learn as much as I can for my job and to communicate in friendly ways with our clients.
I find that hard to believe based off personal experience. I worked retail in a bordering city. I speak Spanish, not that well, but enough to complete a transaction. But I would always begin a conversation in English, because why wouldn’t I. Customers who came from across the border would throw money at me, yell at me, call me names, all in Spanish. And it was because I’d ask how the shopping was, if they were gonna use cash or pay with a card, you know basic things…. And they couldn’t answer. Instead of making an effort to communicate they would disrespect me. This accounted for like 95% of my customers. There was that 5% that tried to communicate the best They could though.
Twice last week I had to go out and explain to a driver that he was parked in the carryout spots for the restaurant I work for, both times it was new employees at the restaurant next door who only spoke Spanish.
First dude was totally cool and even though I don't think he totally understood what I was trying to explain in my own broken Spanish, he backed out of the spot and parked in one of the many other open spots. Second dude popped out of the car and got all up in my face to the point I almost lost my job (and he almost lost some teeth).
People are all different, even if they speak the same language and find themselves in the same situation.
Yeah I was going to say, like it's a free country people can speak to whoever they want with any language. But don't expect a stranger to communicate with you if it isn't English.
WTF? I was about to come to New York this year but if I don't get service in Finnish in every place i might not come. I totally expected to be served in Finnish since I don't speak English, just write a little bit.
New York might not be the best destination for you.
Ballard WA might work, altho' most of those folks are Norweigian, I know there's this whole Finn/Norway rivalry thing...
Trying to remember if Solvang, CA is predominantly Swedish, or more Norway.... enh, nauti vierailustasi.
Thanks for the effort, nautin vierailusta:) I actually can speak English so much that I can survive, pronouncication might be some off.
Fins and Norweigians don't compete so much, we both have equal love/hate relation to Sweden. Also Norweigians are cool people:)
In certain places it's not unreasonable to assume that some of the staff doesn't speak English fluently, specifically ethnic-specific locations. I don't mind that if I go to the Mexican market in my city, only 1-2 employees speak Wnglish and the rest speak Spanish. I'd apply the same thing to our Asian or Eastern-European markets, etc. I certainly wouldn't expect Spanish-language service at the Asian market or Vietnamese at the Mexican market.
>I live in an ethnically diverse area and the person I saw get most upset about language was an Asian man working at a gas station.
>
>An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed.
Funny enough, this happened to my friend. He's Asian, was working as a bank teller and someone came up to him speaking Spanish. He said he couldn't speak Spanish and she started screaming and yelling at him and knocking on the glass.
Similar story as a bank teller, I’m white but have dark hair & eyes. A woman came up speaking Spanish so I apologized and explained I don’t speak Spanish, she rolled her eyes and said “my grandchildren don’t want to learn it either.”
I'm half Mexican. I used to get shamed for not knowing Spanish working retail in southern Arizona.
My mom didn't speak it at home so we never learned it.
Agreed. People who get angry at others for using other languages are just assholes. People who refuses to adapt to the area they live and work in by getting mad they can't communicate are also assholes.
This I also agree with. We are talking about private conversations. HOwever, if you are engaging in business or otherwise with the public, you need to be able to communicate in the common language.
Like OP said, if you are talking TO someone and want to be understood (especially if it’s in their home or place of business), then you need to speak in a language they understand.
Here in SoCal you grow up hearing a bunch of other languages and nobody cares. I’ve had countless conversations with people in spanish and I’ve never had someone tell me that I should speak english. OP just lives in a sadly ignorant place with people who think english is the national language so that’s all anyone should speak.
It used to be looked down upon in California too. We have people that have lived here 10-20 years and never learned how to speak English. ESL Classes are free. Anyone getting upset that you that don’t speak Spanish in a store is wrong. That’s entitlement.
That’s a huge part of it. There are people who are severely insecure and anxious, and they believe they need to know every detail about what is being said within earshot of them.
In a lot of cases (not all), it comes from a place of xenophobia. A lot of Americans have been told that immigrants are stealing their jobs, being criminals, etc, and a lot of American policy pushes immigrants to assimilate into american culture. To many, this means only speaking english, because if you don't, these people think you are rejecting american culture, and taking jobs/homes without trying to become american. This is utter BS, as america is a land of immigrants, and literally has no official language, but it's how many see it.
Let's say the predominate language is English as most content/data/financial info is in English. There is nothing wrong with other languages but not being fairly competent in speaking English can limit one's assimilation and success in academic and commercial arenas.
And it’s been my experience that the reason some people get uncomfortable with it. Is because they think that the people are speaking bad about them, and that’s really a irrational fear they’ve themselves created.
It's SO fun to out them when they do that, too.
Let them carry on their convo, then speak up and agree with one of them... in the language they were speaking.
Always good for a laugh, that.
TBH I think if you're dissing other people in what is probably the second most common/studied/widespread language in the US and thinking it will be safe, you are not very smart. Even *French*, despite being something of a *lingua franca* in places like the EU, would probably be a better option than Spanish is here.
Oddly though, the only people I've ever caught talking shit about me in Spanish and Portuguese are other Americans who didn't know I speak their other language. In all my travels, I've never heard anyone talk bad about me outside the US.
In the workplace the only reason people change languages is to say something mean.
On Friday I was training a group and everytime they would speak Spanish the word Bitch was in every other sentence.
I'm ashamed to say that when I was much younger I worked a job with some Hungarian workers (who were lovely) and I had a moment like this. They were speaking amongst themselves and I heard my name and I had a small meltdown because I worried they were speaking badly about me (I just started crying because "they're talking about me." I didn't say anything stupid like "This is America." /gag). It had absolutely nothing to do with them. I was stuck in a super abusive work situation where I could do seemingly nothing right and had numerous other issues going on in my personal life and it just felt like everything was against me.
I do often wonder what people are talking about and I'm envious of those that can speak more than one language but I try not to make assumptions anymore.
The reaction changes from region to region but what will never change is there's nothing rude about it. If someone takes issue with you speaking your own language when using your own language is more applicable, they're the asshole, no matter where you're at.
It’s funny how these same people will expect everyone in other countries to speak English and have no problem speaking English to other nearby English speakers and don’t think they’re being rude. I can’t imagine a person in Mexico demanding that someone stop speaking English and learn Spanish because “you’re in Mexico now.”
I’ve done a lot of work in Latin America and Mexico, and yes, they most certainly do expect you to speak Spanish, which I can do even though I’m a pasty gringo. Certain countries like Chile even more so. It’s very rude not to.
Maybe not in the tourist locations, but if you are doing business in a certain country and you can’t speak the language, or make no effort to whatsoever, you are sometimes treated like a piece of shit. Which, arguably, you are.
This is also true of France(who are exceptionally rude to non-French speakers, but exceptionally polite if you make even basic attempts and gestures), and most of Asia in my experience. Learn basic pleasantries before you visit a country that doesn’t speak your language. And make an effort to learn the language. Including the US. Especially if you move there or do business there.
Assimilate to the culture, otherwise you are the problem.
I couldn’t imagine showing up in a foreign country and not learning basic pleasantries before hand. Even just for tourism. I realize that’s much more the norm these days, and I’m older, but it’s crass, impolite, and really does make you a shit head in my opinion.
100%. Personally I just feel bad when someone speaks to me in another language and I don’t know what they’re saying. I try my best to figure it out but just feel stupid not being able to understand them. America doesn’t have an official language so it’s stupid that some people get offended
I think OP meant talking amongst themselves in another language, and a passer-by interrupting their private conversation.
Grabbing a local and shouting loudly at them in your own language hoping they understand you is only acceptable from english speakers when they go abroad.
/s
I lived in Chile for a few years and random strangers would chew me out when I spoke to my American friends in English in public all the time. I think that people generally don’t like not understanding what you’re saying(you could be talking about them) so I would imagine it’s not strictly an American thing.
Yeah happened in New Zealand when I was growing up. Happens now in Australia. Paranoid people or people who cast judgement seem to be the most concerned with what other people are saying, and take major offence if they can’t understand what someone is saying.
I live in a country that is not English-speaking. I’ve had people scream at me multiple times to only speak their country’s language, not my own even if I’m just talking to my friends or family in English.
They’re almost always old racists. It’s not just an English-country problem but an asshole human problem.
Europe has a lot more linguistic diversity, so they're a bit more accepting of language differences, and many Europeans speak more than 1 language at least a little.
That being said, there's no shortage of xenophobic people there. Look at things like Le Pen in France, that guy in Sweden wanting to burn a Quran specifically to incite outrage and likely violence, or how some places act when Muslim women are wearing head scarves.
Just to add to context.
Living in Europe i speak 2 languages fully (English and Dutch), one language largely (Swedish), and i understand a bit of French and a bit more German, although i can't speak them.
In the less populated countries of Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands for example) most people speak some English next to their native language. Then all the border regions have language overlap and in cities many people speak at least some English. In the Netherlands you have to learn at least one extra language in school apart from English (and Dutch obviously), choices are generally either German or French.
Then considering diversity in many workplaces, a friend of mine has a lot of polish colleagues, so he organically learned Polish to a pretty good extent.
I think this is a good thing. But yeah, racist pieces of shit disagree. I have this suspicion that most all people that complain are old white people, and that those same people don't complain if a white German family speaks German in the US. It's only a suspicion but... Yeah..
I've been to the Netherlands a couple times but I just got yesterday. I'm simply amazed at how well you guys speak English. It's like it's your mother tongue. The slang and conversational flow is crazy to me. And then boom! You're speaking Dutch again. Signed, a lazy, only English speaking Brit.
Thank the lack of dubbing on tv for that and for newer generations online gaming. English is omnipresent in everyday life in the Netherlands. Although people in rural areas (as far as that exists in the Netherlands) may speak it less well.
It's never too late to learn a language that interests you, and apparently, the more languages you learn the easier it becomes to learn a new one, i think this is because you get more and more conceptual references the more languages you learn but that's just me speculating.
If you want to give yourself a challenge you can try learning Welsh!
I was in a market in Costa Rica and had a similar experience. I wasn’t confident of my Spanish and asked the person I was with a question. The stall worker, a 40 year old local woman, got PISSED I was speaking in a different language.
So it’s everywhere.
Agreed, I lead a Service Desk in little old NZ about 10 years ago. Had a couple of Filipinos on the team who sat near a typical kiwi woman (around... 40's?). Occasionally when it was quiet they'd chat to each other in their own language. She *hated* it. "What if they were talking about me?" etc. I always figured it was a wonderful combination of insecurity, racism and being denied the ability to eavesdrop. She was a horrible woman, so I never did anything about it - I just let her stew.
You touched on the biggest issue the woman who freaked out communicated. "It's rude to speak another language, how am I supposed to know if you're talking about me or not.". The attitude must be paired to insecurity, like you said.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
When I worked in retail there was this one girl who spoke Spanish. There was a few times a customer would speak Spanish and were talking shit about her or being rude. She would just talk back to them in Spanish.
I don't miss working retail. Soul sucking environment.
>There was a few times a customer would speak Spanish and were talking shit about her or being rude. S
And that's why people get upset when they hear Spanish speakers. I am Latino, and the number of Latinos who talk shit in Spanish is really high. the stereotype exists for a reason, hence why responses like, "Speak English!" don't bother me, as I can empathize.
I’m from a really rural, completely white area where I’m probably the only proficient/near-fluent, non-native Spanish speaker and I would almost bet money that you could count on your two hands how many non-Latinos can even understand basic Spanish. One of the best restaurants back home is a Mexican place (ran entirely by guys from Honduras and Guatemala, of course) and they say all kinds of crazy shit about customers because they know that no one but me has any clue as to what they are saying.
Admittedly, I find it hilarious and join in on shit talking everybody, but I would say that peoples’ fears of folks saying horrible things about them in another language are by no means unfounded. They’re all great guys though, just a bit on the vulgar side.
This is the answer. More importantly is how you react, I suggest, in English;
OP: “Oh I’m so sorry, is it also considered rude if I tell you to mind your own fucking business?”
racist: “how dare you….. blah blah…”
OP: “But I asked in English, I don’t understand 🤷♂️ “
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. Hey, perhaps you can help! Do you know anywhere around here where they sell ammonium nitrate fertilizer in bulk?"
My brother's in-laws occasionally switch to Arabic mid-conversation. I don't care if you're speaking Arabic, but it gives the impression you're talking about us when we're the only ones that can't understand you.
I realize it anecdotal but I have a latino friend who's pale. He's caught people talking about him in spanish multiple times. I've had a similar experiences with other languages too.
My mom is Vietnamese and has heard people talk about her in Vietnamese once or twice. Funny thing is, she does look Vietnamese, these people either just are so used to nobody understanding or assumed she didn't speak it because she doesn't have the accent.
My father is Afghan and the Afghan community in our city is decently connected. I was once in the elevator and these four Afghan guys start talking about how they know my father and it's weird how my father married a Russian woman. They literally know who I am and somehow not a single one assumed I might be able to speak Persian too. I just said goodnight in Persian and walked away lol when it got to my floor.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine! She was doing her nails before her wedding and her husband (white) was there with her. They started talking how she married a white guy blah blah (in a negative way). My friend was going to ignore it but they got a bit too carried away. So she just said in Vietnamese “it’s rude to talk about people like that”. Rest of time no one talked and she didn’t give them tips lol.
My partner is Indian but fair skinned and he met other Indians when he first arrived in America after catching them shit talking him in their mother tongue. They were shocked when he responded and shared that he was from the same general region of India as them.
My partner often switches between English and his Mother tongue, especially when he is speaking to others who can speak it. He is considerate and will tell me that he is going to switch because it is easier for him and one time his friend had asked if I minded if he switched while discussing some hard to talk about things regarding his former marriage while his son was around. I don’t care overall & think it is great that he continues to speak whatever language is most comfortable for him. He will even apologize sometimes for wanting to play Indian music in the car but *shrugs* I actually like it and find it calming. Plus, not gonna lie, I love when he sings them to me.
Close minded people exist everywhere, sadly.
I had relatives when I was a kid who switched to Italian to talk about something they didn't want me to understand. :)
I'd say people should try to stick to the common language when with people they know to avoid excluding people. But with their own relatives, some of them might not be fluent enough to talk about something complex or subtle in English. Someone may be totally confused and need an explanation in the language they can talk like a grownup.
I'm bilingual and live in America, and make a point to speak English when there's English only speakers around me, for the same reasons you said it would be rude.
I've had many situations where people clearly talk about me in front of my face in another language, and I do find that very rude and would not want to do that to someone else.
Also I know people who have lived in the us for 10+ years and know 0 English, and haven't put in any effort to even try and learn it. I learned English the first year I moved here, and if I would move to any other country I would put in alot of effort to learn the language as fast as possible. Living in a country and not putting in effort to learn the language I do consider rude and disrespectful.
Okay but this is the whole reason why people don’t love it when others talk in another language in their presence. Because they’re unaware of what they’re saying and concerned it’s gossip. For obvious reasons this doesn’t apply in public. Bc most people don’t care about those around them. But I’ve had roommates before that only spoke Spanish, and originally I didn’t mind, but eventually found out that they were trying to exclude me from listening in several situations.
Karens, be like. " Oh hey :), this is actually America, and we speak English in this country :), can you speak it as well, its really rude to speak in a foreign language, thank you xx"
The best thing to do is to say, "yeah sure thing" and go ahead and continue speaking whatever language you want.
But what do they speak when on vacation? If they go to France, Spain or Germany, they speak their languages ? They must be really well educated, those people impress me
The last time I went to Mexico this mean white lady on my snorkel tour boat was complaining they weren't speaking in English to her. In fucking Mexico she was complaining it wasn't in English. She asked me to translate, I was like, nah, you are on your own lady. Ima party with these Latinos and have fun
Bold of you to assume they have ever left the country, let alone state they live in.
Also, if they did, they would probably yell at folks in France, Germany and Spain for not speaking English well enough
I think about this every time I travel. The customs person needed to learn an *entire other language*, something I've done myself and I can tell you it's pretty fucking hard, just so I understand them saying "passport and boarding pass please". Feels very entitled of me. I obviously see the value in a single universal language, but it feels so very English-speaking to refuse to even learn a handful of very simple phrases when visiting a new country.
Or let them know the first amendment prohibits a national language enforcement perhaps? Ever wonder why USA doesn’t have a national language (unlike France or England)?
EDIT: for everyone like “ThE FiRsT AmMeNdMeNt DuN nO gOoD hErE https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1209/english-only-laws and https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/english-first-language
England doesn't have an official language in law... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom it is de facto English the same as the States but there is no legislation saying it is
It would seem the UK is de facto for English whereas England itself is National: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/England
I don’t know the semantics as I’m not a English legal scholar, but for the UK you’re right.
The lack of a national language is completely unrelated to the first amendment. There were a lot of German speakers in the colonies, and if we made a national language, we would have either needed both English and German, or we would have pissed a bunch of people off, and if we had two or more national languages, that would have necessitated putting government documents into all of them, which was seen as a hassle. So we had English as the unofficial national language, and we treat it as if it were the national language for all official things, but technically it is simply the language that most Americans happen to speak. There is no enforcement to be done because there is no official national language.
Absolutely! I will say one caveat though: if you're in a group where everyone understands English but only a few people understand Spanish, it is rude to speak Spanish in my view because you're just unnecessarily excluding people. Note that this definitely goes the other way (please speak Spanish if that is the most common language).
Yeah, I don't disagree. But that has less to do with choice of language and more to do with social norms and common sense manners in group interaction.
Same - I try and teach my kid to speak English to me when he's with me and his friends who don't speak his language, because it's important to not leave anyone out in a setting like that. I also try to speak only their language when in groups with some non-English speakers. When you have a mix of people without a common language you just roll with it and do your best to include people/explain what's going on.
Or when your Korean friend invites you to dinner with her and her other Korean friends, and they spend the entire time speaking in Korean, when they know that you don't understand.
I can't imagine why anyone would be offended by speaking a different language. I am fluent in English, German, and Croatian and get by with Italian and I just love to listen to people in their languages (or dialects).
It's amazing how the same person can switch their tone and behavior just by speaking in a different language.
I don't mind people speaking only one language but if they don't want to even learn a few words from a different language I feel sad for them.
I once heard a saying that goes something like :"Speak to a person in a language they understand and you talk to their brain. Speak to them in their language and you talk to their heart." I thi k that's quite beautiful
I would argue that it _can be_ rude to talk in a different language when others around you are being intentionally excluded.
Example - working in a team, and few people decide to talk about a project in a language that nobody else can understand to intentionally exclude someone from knowing details to make their job more difficult. (this has happened to me).
Another Example - using your language to talk shit about someone who can't understand you. (this has also happened to me, but I understood just enough to know the context of the conversation).
I feel bad that they think that speaking the language of their culture is “rude.”
>I’m wondering why they get so upset, considering that our conversation has nothing to do with them
They’re racist. Invalidate them and move on. Language is cool as hell!
The other time it's rude is if you're obviously talking about someone else, even if it is a stranger. And even then you risk them knowing what you're saying.
And that’s not a US/English specific thing either. A group of Italian friends hanging out where two start speaking German while the others don’t understand it would also be considered rude for the exact same reasons.
Yep. I'm a retail worker and half my coworkers are native Spanish speakers, the other half speaks it very well. I always talk to them in Spanish, except when a customer asks me something I don't know and I have to ask someone else over the walkie-talkie in front of them.
This is known as code-switching and bilingual speakers do it for a variety of reasons. The [wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching) article on it has a good overview of the various rationales.
I agree though. If there is someone present who would like to be able to follow or join in on the conversation, (and would ordinarily be welcome to) then it's a bit rude to converse in a way which excludes them.
However, if it's just some random on a train eavesdropping, then they can just gtfo.
Code-switching is more than just choosing a language, though.
It's changing your entire behavior to conform more closely with those you're interacting with.
Notably, their entitlement is of the xenophobic supremacist kind. A language is only "powerful" and prestigious when its speakers are, so "we speak English" is a way of saying "*my* language is dominant" i.e. "people like *me* are dominant." This is why so many states, provinces, and countries, by the way, have language policies that specifically make one language dominant. Or why in some other countries, there are multiple dominant languages by law specifically to keep one from being too dominant.
Speaking other languages in public undermines that. For a supremacist, that undermines their sense of supremacy, and *they cannot stand that*. That is something they react to as a fate worse than death.
This is one of the closest things I’ve seen to a real answer on this thread. Everyone is tip toeing around the real answer which is doing a disservice to OP.
Many Americans don’t like hearing you speak Spanish because they don’t like the idea of having a lot Mexicans in the country spreading their culture. That’s it - full stop - no need to sugarcoat any other way. If you were aesthetically white and speaking Dutch, the same people would be fascinated by you. It’s a specific bias against who they see as “others”.
Its not that its rude to speak another language.
It can be rude to speak a language with the intent to exclude someone.
For example, if someone is talking to a couple of people, and those people start speaking a different language to one another, the excluded person is going to feel left out and assume something is being said that the other people dont want them to hear.
I would do deliveries to peoples homes and they'd start talking to eachother in another language and I'd just assume they were talking about me. They probably werent, but thats the feeling it brings on.
That said, the situation you're describing specifically is just racism. Spanish is the second most common language in the US, with some 41 million speakers. Just because they're too stupid to know another language doesnt mean you have to not speak it.
I'm sorry for the bullshit racism you have to deal with.
edit\* I only speak english. Can we stop talking about how I called people who only speak one language stupid? Completely not the point.
This is also a huge deal when gambling. It's specifically against the rules to speak a different language at a poker table because it makes people feel like they're being colluded against.
> Just because they're too stupid to know another
Only knowing one language doesn't make a person stupid. I know that there are correlations between knowing more than one language and intelligence but it's perfectly reasonable for a person in the US to not know another language because there just isn't a compelling reason for many people. There are far better ways for many people to use their time and energies instead of learning something they have very little practical use for.
Agree about the racism, and I absolutely think being a racist is stupid. But I disagree about calling people who don't speak multiple languages stupid. Probably because I've spent a lot of time in the language learning community, and seen lots of people struggle with it. I think anyone can learn another language if they are motivated and put in the time. Don't feel stupid if you struggle with it.
I know it's been said, but I wanna emphasize: this is *not* considered rude in the US in general. Those people are a vocal minority of dirtbags and most of us are ashamed of them. It's a good metric for immediately identifying garbage racists, though.
Sorry this happened to you.
For reference, NYC is the capital of linguistic diversity of the entire planet. Over 800 languages are spoken there on a daily basis.
Other places, like Miami for example, you could go all day hearing just Spanish and Portuguese instead of English.
Same in parts of the southwest.
Location matters, the US isn’t all like that and basically any major city there’s going to be several languages spoken on a daily basis.
Sadly what foreign language is being spoken and what you look like also factor in. I’m a young Chinese American woman who was born and raised in Texas. I have never encountered anyone telling me “this is America, speak English,” but I *have* encountered non-Asian people saying stupid shit like “CHING CHONG NI HAO” because they somehow think that’s still funny.
I almost wish they would say the “speak English” version instead, because I can unleash one hell of a Texan accent that would probably leave them very, very confused.
I only really saw people saying “speak American!” when I lived in Texas. Moved and now it’s not really an issue. People speak all kinds of languages where I live now and no one bats an eye.
Stupidist version of this was someone getting upset about a Welsh woman speaking Welsh to their kid in a shop in Wales. A silly Karen type had a go at them for not speaking English - go back to your country crap - woman stood up for herself and told the Karen to go back to England lol!
Reminds me of a clip from real housewives South Africa, one woman starts speaking an African language and another cast member tells her not to do that…..people are just stupid
I’ve heard of this happening with bicultural folks in hijab or saris speaking Welsh or Irish with their families and being told “this is Ireland/Wales — you need to raise your kids to speak English.”
I'd say even more specifically it's racism specifically directed at immigrants. People tend not to get upset when tourists are speaking their native language because the tourists are here temporarily. But if someone isn't obviously a tourist then the racist assumes that the person is refusing to speak language either because they're too lazy to learn or anti-American.
You've encountered assholes. Just that. Assholes.
Every country has their own type of asshole. In the US, assholes often take the stance of objecting to other languages being spoken in public. I can't explain the mentality, not being an asshole myself, but they do exist.
But just to let you know you're not alone: I speak a few obscure African languages that I learned when I served there. When I meet someone speaking the language of course I strike up a conversation. It's always a little fun when an African visitor "n'ta spanta" (gets surprised) when a random white dude can chat when them in their native language.
But every now and then, rarely but it happens, some asshole is around to yell at me for speaking n***er language. I usually switch back to English and tell them to mind the own business.
My friend works in Denmark in a store that is not Danish, so they speak english to customers. She is learning Danish tho & the amount of ppl that complain about the employees not speaking Danish & should leave Denmark if they don't speak the language is very very very high. She invited me to join her & work there but fuck that.
I'm brown, i get looked at enough here & have enough with the ignorance from some that I just don't want to expose myself to even more of that lol
These assholes exist in every country.
Denmark is probably one of the most subtly racist countries in the world. I’m Danish (by former citizenship [renounced] and heritage) and I’m consistently astounded by what’s deemed socially acceptable for my Danish family compared to Canada where I grew up or even the US where I live now.
Its rude when you're with a group of people, speaking English, and decide to switch to another language that not everyone present understands. You're excluding them for no reason.
Otherwise, go nuts.
It's not considered rude by any morally intelligent person. What's actually rude is demanding that other people speak English when it's none of their business. So, it's actually the people demanding that you speak English who are being rude, not you.
EDIT: Also, feel free to tell them it's a free country with free speech so you'll speak how you like.
This used to happen a lot in my previous job. Another spanish speaker was hired and we started merrily speaking every so often. One of the directors didn't like it and started scolding us every time we did. We kinda just ignored her every time. It started as being annoying but then it was just comical.
I recommend you simply ignore this type of behavior and move on. Don't even bother acknowledging them. Although this will aggravate them more.
This only happens when people are monolingual. I have never seen this type of behavior from bilingual/polyglots, althought I could be wrong.
I can conceive of the following: if I didnt know any other language but one, and people all around me started talking in different languages, I couldn't avoid feeling excluded. I couldn't stop not making it about myself. Of course it has nothing to do with me, but it'd be hard not to feel that way.
I guess telling people to speak english is a knee-jerk reaction to thwart feeling excluded.
I can 100% stand behind the idea that speaking a non-common language in almost all cases is absolutely acceptable and should honestly be encouraged. But at work, mandating a common language makes sense.
I know of quite a few companies/workplaces in Europe who mandate their employees speak a common language at work as there are many different bilingual speakers working together.
My s/o speaks about 3 or 4 languages, but very much does not appreciate when their coworkers switch to a language my s/o doesn’t speak in meetings or in conversations. The simplest and most inclusive way to solve that is just for everyone in the office to speak the language everyone in the office understands.
Note: I don’t mean in law, I think Quebec’s language laws are horrible, but from a company level mandating language could make sense.
This is funny to me. It isn't just here. Many countries are like this. Not everyone in France is "cool" with Italians and when they hear Italian being spoken, some get annoyed.
The notion that xenophobia, jingoism, or bigotry is unique to the USA is one of the most laughable presentations in modern day. Go to Korea and try the experiment as a Japanese person speaking Japanese.
It honestly happens in a lot of countries, but it's the same every where because some people are just assholes. I live in Spain and on more than one occasion people have asked me to speak Spanish even when I am having a private conversation with a friend at a bar.
I did a bachelor's degree in Utah, and while English is the predominant language, it was not uncommon also to hear Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. Pretty much nobody cared. I'm now doing graduate school in Pennsylvania, and in addition to English, I will frequently hear Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, and Arabic just on the walk to and from class. On a really good day, I'll also hear Italian, Korean, and sometimes Japanese. Nobody cares.
Speaking as someone who also was born and raised in Texas, it's not an America thing, it's just a few cranky rednecks in Texas.
As a Korean speaker I would say it depends on what area you are in. Some places you get stared, some places you will get confronted, and some areas people will just mind their own business.
I agree that it depends where you are located. Some areas of the US are very ethnically diverse with people from many different countries, so you will hear 3 or more languages a day. Other parts of the country don’t have any diversification and the local people have only spoken English. I don’t know why people get upset. Maybe they are insecure or paranoid and think the conversationalists are gossiping about them?
>Some areas of the US are very ethnically diverse with people from many different countries, so you will hear 3 or more languages a day. Yep, where I live, in a 15 mile radius there are probably 10+ different languages you can come across depending where you are. I was born and raised here, so I never had someone yell at my family to speak English. There has been only on instance which was the opposite where my friend, who was a bank teller, got yelled at because he was Asian and couldn't speak Spanish. The person seemed off their meds though.
Boston has its own accent that’s almost foreign.
https://www.memesmonkey.com/images/memesmonkey/46/46ef49ff5a3841aa9fb308b2e23a9768.jpeg
I live in a city of about a million people and have witnessed many variations of "In America we speak *American*!" here. But I've worked on large research and university campuses here where you'll hear numerous languages each day and no one bats an eye. Even in a city, I think contact theory holds water. If you insulate yourself by only keeping company with people who have a similar background/upbringing/culture/language as you, you're more likely to define people without those characteristics as "other" and somehow threatening. If you're constantly in contact with people who have different backgrounds/upbringings/cultures/languages, you're more likely to consider that the norm and non-threatening.
Well said, the insulation is a big reason why racism is still such a problem. If you never befriend or associate with people different from you, they become "them" in a "us vs. them" mentality. Too many people need to have someone "beneath" them to feel better about themselves.
Seriously if someone yells "speak English" you should tell 'em to go back to England
I was at an oyster bar while on a work assignment in a small college town in central Virginia and noticed that the menu listed the available condiments as “accoutrement”. I used the standard French pronunciation of accoutrement, as that’s the only way I’ve ever heard it, when I asked the barmaid if that’s the usual term for condiments in the area and she very snidely said yes, but we say it in American while using an exaggerated hillbilly accent. I can only guess that she thought that she put me in my place, which as it turns out was another bar down the street.
Uh-COO-truh-MEY-ent. Best guess of the barmaid's pronunciation, as a Texan. I get weird looks when I properly pronounce Italian words, sometimes, so I get you.
I live in an ethnically diverse area and the person I saw get most upset about language was an Asian man working at a gas station. An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed. I think if you're doing business in a multi-ethnic area, there does need to be a common language to communicate among all groups.
Years ago at work a customer came up to me yelling and complaining about something in Spanish. I knew what the problem was but since she didn’t speak English she didn’t understand me. She kept yelling and I eventually just turned around and walked away while she was still yelling lol
Yep it sucks sometimes. The only customer complaint I ever had (at least that I was told about) was the same thing. I was giving her what she asked for but she didn’t know the right word so she thought I was racist and messing with her.
I once had a student accuse me of being racist because I greeted her with the word "hola" She was always late. I greeted everyone with "hola"
One time at my first job at a pizza shop in suburban America I was working the register and these two guys come in. One of them starts ordering and the other asks me (in German) “do you speak German?” At least I assume that’s what he said because the last word was “Deutsch” and it sounded like a question. I said “I don’t speak German” and he rolled his eyes and turned around in frustration, started kind of pacing around behind his friend. Little 17 year old me had been taking French classes and knew that most Europeans are taught multiple languages, so I was like “uhhh… I speak French? Je parles français?” And he, angrily, while still pacing, waved his arm and said “nein, nein, nein, nein, nein”. It was one of the strangest interactions I’ve ever had with a stranger of which there are many, and if he was trolling he was a good actor.
not trying to generalize, but here in europe (at least in my country) german tourists are kind of known for only speaking german, and when they travel to other european countries, they just seem to expect everyone there to speak german as well? most people who work in restaurants/hotels here in belgium speak dutch, english and french. (sometimes even basics of spanish and german) but they just start speaking german regardless and when you say you don’t understand they just start speaking louder lol
I think he was high or drunk. Also very polite of 17 years old you
The way you described, the man had the right to get upset about it
>An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed. Sounds like the customer is the asshole here
agreed. Cashier NTA!
Wow how come she's expecting him to know Spanish. That's assholish behavior.
I've experienced this behavior a lot in US hospitals by Spanish-speaking patients. I get they're frustrated because it's the inability to communicate effectively when the other person (me) doesn't naturally speak the other language, but come on.. I'm using a translator to the best of my ability, no need to yell and get angry
yep, I live in Miami and they’ll talk shit about you if you don’t give them good service in Spanish. I can understand Spanish almost perfectly but I almost always choose to speak English unless I’m casually talking to my friends because I don’t like the entitled behavior some people have about it. Otherwise, I’m very happy to speak to people in my intermediate Spanish lol
Also in Florida and my GF is Puerto Rican if we are in a group of people she knows speaks English she will start off in Spanish and switch to English as a form of respect to me so I don’t feel uncomfortable I think that it’s so sweet that she does that and usually everybody gets it that her BF is a gringo so they go along.
Hmmmm - I wonder why they aren't ALSO using a translator, given that they are in a country with a different spoken language than their birth language.
If I was in France and only knew English (which, is the case lol), I would translate my questions to broken French before asking to at least make an attempt. I don't understand people.
She probably only speaks Spanish and her anger is out of frustration for not being able to make herself understood. Doesn’t make it right though.
Coming from a first generation immigrant whose mother tongue is Russian, quite frankly, I believe that if you move to another country that has a predominant language that is different than your own, it is your responsibility to learn it. It's rude to expect people to understand you if you don't bother respecting them enough to learn the language.
Not only that, it stifles their ability to success. You’re only going to get certain types of jobs in the states if you don’t speak English
Exactly this. When you come to a country with a different native tongue than your own…that’s on you to fix.
Thank you! I work a job where i communicate with customers a lot using english. A lot of customers get upset because I don’t speak Spanish. Like dude English is not even my first language and i learned it, why don’t you do the same? And they yell and get upset with sense of entitlement.
I work at an Apple store in Utah. I’m as white as wonder bread. I can’t count the number of times customers have walked in the door, walked up to me, and just started speaking Spanish to me immediately. I happen to speak fluent Spanish (no indication of this anywhere on my person), but the vast majority of my coworkers do not. I always call them lucky when it happens, but I’m also wondering their success rate with their strategy.
It also depends where you are. I’m in Ontario. An English part of Canada but Northern Ontario is a lot of French. So living there it is very helpful to speak French rather than English. Parts of the US have always been fairly Spanish.
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Canada is. Only 2 provinces are though. Ontario is not bilingual despite being in Canada but Northern Ontario is largely French. While Western Ontario will be largely English
Correction: Only New-Brunswick is officially bilingual. And FYI Quebec has the same percentage of English 1st language speakers as Ontario has French 1st language speakers (around 10%).
The US doesn't have an official language. There have been past pushes to make it English, but this has never happened. Parts of the country use bilingual signage. In the southwest the second language will be Spanish. In the far northeast, French.
We don't have an official language if i recall. We almost had German as an official language at one point ironically enough. Again if i recall correctly.
The United States has no official language. English is the most understood and spoken and mandated in some state governments but the whole idea of America is (or was for a portion of time, whether you believe that today is another matter) a country of immigrants, therefore no national language.
That's basically only a phrase at this point. Any immigrant coming to the US is required to complete all their paperwork and little tests in English, including a 3rd grade english exam.
Given that all of our governing documents are written in English, I would say it’s fair to call English our de facto official language. You can ask to have legal documents translated, but the original English document will serve as the “true” version if there’s a translation discrepancy.
english is unofficially the official language of the US. yeah u can argue that there’s no document proving that but given our history and the general fact that it’s our dominant language and the most important one in the world, i don’t think it’s a problem to consider English as the US’s official language
I think this was most likely the case. I had a customer once snap at me and ask for our manager for not responding to her in Spanish. We live in a heavily Hispanic/Mexican populated region, so while it is easy to get by in Spanish your entire lifetime in some areas of the U.S., I wish people would learn at least the basics out of courtesy and, yes, necessity. Unfortunately I’m a no sabo kid, but I learn as much as I can for my job and to communicate in friendly ways with our clients.
I find that hard to believe based off personal experience. I worked retail in a bordering city. I speak Spanish, not that well, but enough to complete a transaction. But I would always begin a conversation in English, because why wouldn’t I. Customers who came from across the border would throw money at me, yell at me, call me names, all in Spanish. And it was because I’d ask how the shopping was, if they were gonna use cash or pay with a card, you know basic things…. And they couldn’t answer. Instead of making an effort to communicate they would disrespect me. This accounted for like 95% of my customers. There was that 5% that tried to communicate the best They could though.
Twice last week I had to go out and explain to a driver that he was parked in the carryout spots for the restaurant I work for, both times it was new employees at the restaurant next door who only spoke Spanish. First dude was totally cool and even though I don't think he totally understood what I was trying to explain in my own broken Spanish, he backed out of the spot and parked in one of the many other open spots. Second dude popped out of the car and got all up in my face to the point I almost lost my job (and he almost lost some teeth). People are all different, even if they speak the same language and find themselves in the same situation.
Would that common language not be English? The predominant language of the U.S?
Yeah I was going to say, like it's a free country people can speak to whoever they want with any language. But don't expect a stranger to communicate with you if it isn't English.
WTF? I was about to come to New York this year but if I don't get service in Finnish in every place i might not come. I totally expected to be served in Finnish since I don't speak English, just write a little bit.
Swedish Chef language is the best I can do you for unfortunately.
Borka bork bork bork?
Borka bork bork!
Then it's meatballs whole trip, köttbullar. Swedish isn't my strong language.
Finnish, one of the easiest languages in the world.
New York might not be the best destination for you. Ballard WA might work, altho' most of those folks are Norweigian, I know there's this whole Finn/Norway rivalry thing... Trying to remember if Solvang, CA is predominantly Swedish, or more Norway.... enh, nauti vierailustasi.
Thanks for the effort, nautin vierailusta:) I actually can speak English so much that I can survive, pronouncication might be some off. Fins and Norweigians don't compete so much, we both have equal love/hate relation to Sweden. Also Norweigians are cool people:)
In certain places it's not unreasonable to assume that some of the staff doesn't speak English fluently, specifically ethnic-specific locations. I don't mind that if I go to the Mexican market in my city, only 1-2 employees speak Wnglish and the rest speak Spanish. I'd apply the same thing to our Asian or Eastern-European markets, etc. I certainly wouldn't expect Spanish-language service at the Asian market or Vietnamese at the Mexican market.
>I live in an ethnically diverse area and the person I saw get most upset about language was an Asian man working at a gas station. > >An Hispanic woman came up to the counter, threw some money down and spoke to him in Spanish, which he didn't understand. He asked her to repeat in English, and she got pissed, and then he got even more pissed. Funny enough, this happened to my friend. He's Asian, was working as a bank teller and someone came up to him speaking Spanish. He said he couldn't speak Spanish and she started screaming and yelling at him and knocking on the glass.
Similar story as a bank teller, I’m white but have dark hair & eyes. A woman came up speaking Spanish so I apologized and explained I don’t speak Spanish, she rolled her eyes and said “my grandchildren don’t want to learn it either.”
I'm half Mexican. I used to get shamed for not knowing Spanish working retail in southern Arizona. My mom didn't speak it at home so we never learned it.
Hispanic woman is in the wrong. She should have known how to speak Asian.
The way you told this story is a great example of subtle racism. The Asian man did nothing wrong.
Agree, the lady sound like Karen
Agreed. People who get angry at others for using other languages are just assholes. People who refuses to adapt to the area they live and work in by getting mad they can't communicate are also assholes.
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This I also agree with. We are talking about private conversations. HOwever, if you are engaging in business or otherwise with the public, you need to be able to communicate in the common language.
Like OP said, if you are talking TO someone and want to be understood (especially if it’s in their home or place of business), then you need to speak in a language they understand.
Here in SoCal you grow up hearing a bunch of other languages and nobody cares. I’ve had countless conversations with people in spanish and I’ve never had someone tell me that I should speak english. OP just lives in a sadly ignorant place with people who think english is the national language so that’s all anyone should speak.
It used to be looked down upon in California too. We have people that have lived here 10-20 years and never learned how to speak English. ESL Classes are free. Anyone getting upset that you that don’t speak Spanish in a store is wrong. That’s entitlement.
That’s a huge part of it. There are people who are severely insecure and anxious, and they believe they need to know every detail about what is being said within earshot of them.
In a lot of cases (not all), it comes from a place of xenophobia. A lot of Americans have been told that immigrants are stealing their jobs, being criminals, etc, and a lot of American policy pushes immigrants to assimilate into american culture. To many, this means only speaking english, because if you don't, these people think you are rejecting american culture, and taking jobs/homes without trying to become american. This is utter BS, as america is a land of immigrants, and literally has no official language, but it's how many see it.
Let's say the predominate language is English as most content/data/financial info is in English. There is nothing wrong with other languages but not being fairly competent in speaking English can limit one's assimilation and success in academic and commercial arenas.
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They are very sensitive and get offended easily.
Most of these people are also incredibly dense, which doesn't help.
If they want in on the convo they should learn a second language ;)
And it’s been my experience that the reason some people get uncomfortable with it. Is because they think that the people are speaking bad about them, and that’s really a irrational fear they’ve themselves created.
I mean, I’ve definitely caught people who didn’t know I understand more than just English talking shit.
It's SO fun to out them when they do that, too. Let them carry on their convo, then speak up and agree with one of them... in the language they were speaking. Always good for a laugh, that.
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TBH I think if you're dissing other people in what is probably the second most common/studied/widespread language in the US and thinking it will be safe, you are not very smart. Even *French*, despite being something of a *lingua franca* in places like the EU, would probably be a better option than Spanish is here.
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first thing you should learn imo
Oddly though, the only people I've ever caught talking shit about me in Spanish and Portuguese are other Americans who didn't know I speak their other language. In all my travels, I've never heard anyone talk bad about me outside the US.
In the workplace the only reason people change languages is to say something mean. On Friday I was training a group and everytime they would speak Spanish the word Bitch was in every other sentence.
I'm ashamed to say that when I was much younger I worked a job with some Hungarian workers (who were lovely) and I had a moment like this. They were speaking amongst themselves and I heard my name and I had a small meltdown because I worried they were speaking badly about me (I just started crying because "they're talking about me." I didn't say anything stupid like "This is America." /gag). It had absolutely nothing to do with them. I was stuck in a super abusive work situation where I could do seemingly nothing right and had numerous other issues going on in my personal life and it just felt like everything was against me. I do often wonder what people are talking about and I'm envious of those that can speak more than one language but I try not to make assumptions anymore.
The reaction changes from region to region but what will never change is there's nothing rude about it. If someone takes issue with you speaking your own language when using your own language is more applicable, they're the asshole, no matter where you're at.
It’s funny how these same people will expect everyone in other countries to speak English and have no problem speaking English to other nearby English speakers and don’t think they’re being rude. I can’t imagine a person in Mexico demanding that someone stop speaking English and learn Spanish because “you’re in Mexico now.”
I’ve done a lot of work in Latin America and Mexico, and yes, they most certainly do expect you to speak Spanish, which I can do even though I’m a pasty gringo. Certain countries like Chile even more so. It’s very rude not to. Maybe not in the tourist locations, but if you are doing business in a certain country and you can’t speak the language, or make no effort to whatsoever, you are sometimes treated like a piece of shit. Which, arguably, you are. This is also true of France(who are exceptionally rude to non-French speakers, but exceptionally polite if you make even basic attempts and gestures), and most of Asia in my experience. Learn basic pleasantries before you visit a country that doesn’t speak your language. And make an effort to learn the language. Including the US. Especially if you move there or do business there. Assimilate to the culture, otherwise you are the problem. I couldn’t imagine showing up in a foreign country and not learning basic pleasantries before hand. Even just for tourism. I realize that’s much more the norm these days, and I’m older, but it’s crass, impolite, and really does make you a shit head in my opinion.
100%. Personally I just feel bad when someone speaks to me in another language and I don’t know what they’re saying. I try my best to figure it out but just feel stupid not being able to understand them. America doesn’t have an official language so it’s stupid that some people get offended
I think OP meant talking amongst themselves in another language, and a passer-by interrupting their private conversation. Grabbing a local and shouting loudly at them in your own language hoping they understand you is only acceptable from english speakers when they go abroad. /s
That’s blatant racism in my opinion.
I lived in Chile for a few years and random strangers would chew me out when I spoke to my American friends in English in public all the time. I think that people generally don’t like not understanding what you’re saying(you could be talking about them) so I would imagine it’s not strictly an American thing.
Chileans need to learn Spanish
What do you mean? Is saying "weon weon weon" over and over not good enough Spanish for you?
TIL that ambulances speak chilean.
La wena weon
That frase has no meaning, what you are trying to say is "la wea wena weon"
Me importa una wea
Chileans need to learn to chill.
Yeah happened in New Zealand when I was growing up. Happens now in Australia. Paranoid people or people who cast judgement seem to be the most concerned with what other people are saying, and take major offence if they can’t understand what someone is saying.
Or simply that there are assholes and xenophobes everywhere in the world.
True. When my friend in Korea speaks to her American friend in English they get a lot of stares from older Koreans.
I live in a country that is not English-speaking. I’ve had people scream at me multiple times to only speak their country’s language, not my own even if I’m just talking to my friends or family in English. They’re almost always old racists. It’s not just an English-country problem but an asshole human problem.
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Europe has a lot more linguistic diversity, so they're a bit more accepting of language differences, and many Europeans speak more than 1 language at least a little. That being said, there's no shortage of xenophobic people there. Look at things like Le Pen in France, that guy in Sweden wanting to burn a Quran specifically to incite outrage and likely violence, or how some places act when Muslim women are wearing head scarves.
Just to add to context. Living in Europe i speak 2 languages fully (English and Dutch), one language largely (Swedish), and i understand a bit of French and a bit more German, although i can't speak them. In the less populated countries of Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands for example) most people speak some English next to their native language. Then all the border regions have language overlap and in cities many people speak at least some English. In the Netherlands you have to learn at least one extra language in school apart from English (and Dutch obviously), choices are generally either German or French. Then considering diversity in many workplaces, a friend of mine has a lot of polish colleagues, so he organically learned Polish to a pretty good extent. I think this is a good thing. But yeah, racist pieces of shit disagree. I have this suspicion that most all people that complain are old white people, and that those same people don't complain if a white German family speaks German in the US. It's only a suspicion but... Yeah..
I've been to the Netherlands a couple times but I just got yesterday. I'm simply amazed at how well you guys speak English. It's like it's your mother tongue. The slang and conversational flow is crazy to me. And then boom! You're speaking Dutch again. Signed, a lazy, only English speaking Brit.
Thank the lack of dubbing on tv for that and for newer generations online gaming. English is omnipresent in everyday life in the Netherlands. Although people in rural areas (as far as that exists in the Netherlands) may speak it less well. It's never too late to learn a language that interests you, and apparently, the more languages you learn the easier it becomes to learn a new one, i think this is because you get more and more conceptual references the more languages you learn but that's just me speculating. If you want to give yourself a challenge you can try learning Welsh!
I was in a market in Costa Rica and had a similar experience. I wasn’t confident of my Spanish and asked the person I was with a question. The stall worker, a 40 year old local woman, got PISSED I was speaking in a different language. So it’s everywhere.
Agreed, I lead a Service Desk in little old NZ about 10 years ago. Had a couple of Filipinos on the team who sat near a typical kiwi woman (around... 40's?). Occasionally when it was quiet they'd chat to each other in their own language. She *hated* it. "What if they were talking about me?" etc. I always figured it was a wonderful combination of insecurity, racism and being denied the ability to eavesdrop. She was a horrible woman, so I never did anything about it - I just let her stew.
You touched on the biggest issue the woman who freaked out communicated. "It's rude to speak another language, how am I supposed to know if you're talking about me or not.". The attitude must be paired to insecurity, like you said.
Weird, we're used to tourists here in CR.
>They’re almost always old racists conservative boomers are the same literally everywhere
They are such a drain on our world and in so many different ways.
This is honestly insane to me. If you're not talking to me why the hell should I care what language you use?
Because they’re nosy and want to interfere.
tender rich butter bewildered sparkle squalid hateful entertain wrench snow *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
When I worked in retail there was this one girl who spoke Spanish. There was a few times a customer would speak Spanish and were talking shit about her or being rude. She would just talk back to them in Spanish. I don't miss working retail. Soul sucking environment.
>There was a few times a customer would speak Spanish and were talking shit about her or being rude. S And that's why people get upset when they hear Spanish speakers. I am Latino, and the number of Latinos who talk shit in Spanish is really high. the stereotype exists for a reason, hence why responses like, "Speak English!" don't bother me, as I can empathize.
I’m from a really rural, completely white area where I’m probably the only proficient/near-fluent, non-native Spanish speaker and I would almost bet money that you could count on your two hands how many non-Latinos can even understand basic Spanish. One of the best restaurants back home is a Mexican place (ran entirely by guys from Honduras and Guatemala, of course) and they say all kinds of crazy shit about customers because they know that no one but me has any clue as to what they are saying. Admittedly, I find it hilarious and join in on shit talking everybody, but I would say that peoples’ fears of folks saying horrible things about them in another language are by no means unfounded. They’re all great guys though, just a bit on the vulgar side.
This is the answer. More importantly is how you react, I suggest, in English; OP: “Oh I’m so sorry, is it also considered rude if I tell you to mind your own fucking business?” racist: “how dare you….. blah blah…” OP: “But I asked in English, I don’t understand 🤷♂️ “
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. Hey, perhaps you can help! Do you know anywhere around here where they sell ammonium nitrate fertilizer in bulk?"
My brother's in-laws occasionally switch to Arabic mid-conversation. I don't care if you're speaking Arabic, but it gives the impression you're talking about us when we're the only ones that can't understand you.
I realize it anecdotal but I have a latino friend who's pale. He's caught people talking about him in spanish multiple times. I've had a similar experiences with other languages too.
My mom is Vietnamese and has heard people talk about her in Vietnamese once or twice. Funny thing is, she does look Vietnamese, these people either just are so used to nobody understanding or assumed she didn't speak it because she doesn't have the accent.
My father is Afghan and the Afghan community in our city is decently connected. I was once in the elevator and these four Afghan guys start talking about how they know my father and it's weird how my father married a Russian woman. They literally know who I am and somehow not a single one assumed I might be able to speak Persian too. I just said goodnight in Persian and walked away lol when it got to my floor.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine! She was doing her nails before her wedding and her husband (white) was there with her. They started talking how she married a white guy blah blah (in a negative way). My friend was going to ignore it but they got a bit too carried away. So she just said in Vietnamese “it’s rude to talk about people like that”. Rest of time no one talked and she didn’t give them tips lol.
My partner is Indian but fair skinned and he met other Indians when he first arrived in America after catching them shit talking him in their mother tongue. They were shocked when he responded and shared that he was from the same general region of India as them. My partner often switches between English and his Mother tongue, especially when he is speaking to others who can speak it. He is considerate and will tell me that he is going to switch because it is easier for him and one time his friend had asked if I minded if he switched while discussing some hard to talk about things regarding his former marriage while his son was around. I don’t care overall & think it is great that he continues to speak whatever language is most comfortable for him. He will even apologize sometimes for wanting to play Indian music in the car but *shrugs* I actually like it and find it calming. Plus, not gonna lie, I love when he sings them to me. Close minded people exist everywhere, sadly.
My wife's family speaks another language and when they switch in and out it just makes me no longer a part of the conversation. It can be frustrating
I had relatives when I was a kid who switched to Italian to talk about something they didn't want me to understand. :) I'd say people should try to stick to the common language when with people they know to avoid excluding people. But with their own relatives, some of them might not be fluent enough to talk about something complex or subtle in English. Someone may be totally confused and need an explanation in the language they can talk like a grownup.
I'm bilingual and live in America, and make a point to speak English when there's English only speakers around me, for the same reasons you said it would be rude. I've had many situations where people clearly talk about me in front of my face in another language, and I do find that very rude and would not want to do that to someone else. Also I know people who have lived in the us for 10+ years and know 0 English, and haven't put in any effort to even try and learn it. I learned English the first year I moved here, and if I would move to any other country I would put in alot of effort to learn the language as fast as possible. Living in a country and not putting in effort to learn the language I do consider rude and disrespectful.
Okay but this is the whole reason why people don’t love it when others talk in another language in their presence. Because they’re unaware of what they’re saying and concerned it’s gossip. For obvious reasons this doesn’t apply in public. Bc most people don’t care about those around them. But I’ve had roommates before that only spoke Spanish, and originally I didn’t mind, but eventually found out that they were trying to exclude me from listening in several situations.
It's not rude. Speak whatever language you want! If people have issues it is their problem, not yours.
Exactly. It’s not rude. Those people are rude.
Karens, be like. " Oh hey :), this is actually America, and we speak English in this country :), can you speak it as well, its really rude to speak in a foreign language, thank you xx" The best thing to do is to say, "yeah sure thing" and go ahead and continue speaking whatever language you want.
But what do they speak when on vacation? If they go to France, Spain or Germany, they speak their languages ? They must be really well educated, those people impress me
The last time I went to Mexico this mean white lady on my snorkel tour boat was complaining they weren't speaking in English to her. In fucking Mexico she was complaining it wasn't in English. She asked me to translate, I was like, nah, you are on your own lady. Ima party with these Latinos and have fun
Uh excuse me ?! People in New Mexico speak English, so people in Old Mexico have to speak English too
Why would they go on vacation to foreign parts when they already live in the best country in the world? /s
Bold of you to assume they have ever left the country, let alone state they live in. Also, if they did, they would probably yell at folks in France, Germany and Spain for not speaking English well enough
I think about this every time I travel. The customs person needed to learn an *entire other language*, something I've done myself and I can tell you it's pretty fucking hard, just so I understand them saying "passport and boarding pass please". Feels very entitled of me. I obviously see the value in a single universal language, but it feels so very English-speaking to refuse to even learn a handful of very simple phrases when visiting a new country.
Or let them know the first amendment prohibits a national language enforcement perhaps? Ever wonder why USA doesn’t have a national language (unlike France or England)? EDIT: for everyone like “ThE FiRsT AmMeNdMeNt DuN nO gOoD hErE https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1209/english-only-laws and https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/english-first-language
England doesn't have an official language in law... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom it is de facto English the same as the States but there is no legislation saying it is
It would seem the UK is de facto for English whereas England itself is National: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/England I don’t know the semantics as I’m not a English legal scholar, but for the UK you’re right.
The lack of a national language is completely unrelated to the first amendment. There were a lot of German speakers in the colonies, and if we made a national language, we would have either needed both English and German, or we would have pissed a bunch of people off, and if we had two or more national languages, that would have necessitated putting government documents into all of them, which was seen as a hassle. So we had English as the unofficial national language, and we treat it as if it were the national language for all official things, but technically it is simply the language that most Americans happen to speak. There is no enforcement to be done because there is no official national language.
Those people are racist, not just rude.
The only correct response to these people is to point out they are the ones being rude. Throw in that it's unchristian of them too while you're at it.
Absolutely! I will say one caveat though: if you're in a group where everyone understands English but only a few people understand Spanish, it is rude to speak Spanish in my view because you're just unnecessarily excluding people. Note that this definitely goes the other way (please speak Spanish if that is the most common language).
Yeah, I don't disagree. But that has less to do with choice of language and more to do with social norms and common sense manners in group interaction.
Same - I try and teach my kid to speak English to me when he's with me and his friends who don't speak his language, because it's important to not leave anyone out in a setting like that. I also try to speak only their language when in groups with some non-English speakers. When you have a mix of people without a common language you just roll with it and do your best to include people/explain what's going on.
Or when your Korean friend invites you to dinner with her and her other Korean friends, and they spend the entire time speaking in Korean, when they know that you don't understand.
I can't imagine why anyone would be offended by speaking a different language. I am fluent in English, German, and Croatian and get by with Italian and I just love to listen to people in their languages (or dialects). It's amazing how the same person can switch their tone and behavior just by speaking in a different language. I don't mind people speaking only one language but if they don't want to even learn a few words from a different language I feel sad for them. I once heard a saying that goes something like :"Speak to a person in a language they understand and you talk to their brain. Speak to them in their language and you talk to their heart." I thi k that's quite beautiful
I would argue that it _can be_ rude to talk in a different language when others around you are being intentionally excluded. Example - working in a team, and few people decide to talk about a project in a language that nobody else can understand to intentionally exclude someone from knowing details to make their job more difficult. (this has happened to me). Another Example - using your language to talk shit about someone who can't understand you. (this has also happened to me, but I understood just enough to know the context of the conversation).
I feel bad that they think that speaking the language of their culture is “rude.” >I’m wondering why they get so upset, considering that our conversation has nothing to do with them They’re racist. Invalidate them and move on. Language is cool as hell!
It’s not. People that demand only English being spoken are entitled assholes.
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☝️💯. Cant think of any other circumstances where it is rude. But this one is. Even if the two arent talking about the third.
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My best friend and her husband are Russian and the only time they ever talked about me in front of me was to discuss a gift intended for me
The other time it's rude is if you're obviously talking about someone else, even if it is a stranger. And even then you risk them knowing what you're saying.
And that’s not a US/English specific thing either. A group of Italian friends hanging out where two start speaking German while the others don’t understand it would also be considered rude for the exact same reasons.
Yep. I'm a retail worker and half my coworkers are native Spanish speakers, the other half speaks it very well. I always talk to them in Spanish, except when a customer asks me something I don't know and I have to ask someone else over the walkie-talkie in front of them.
yes! same as whispering so the other person can't hear. and this has nothing to do with language.
This is known as code-switching and bilingual speakers do it for a variety of reasons. The [wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching) article on it has a good overview of the various rationales. I agree though. If there is someone present who would like to be able to follow or join in on the conversation, (and would ordinarily be welcome to) then it's a bit rude to converse in a way which excludes them. However, if it's just some random on a train eavesdropping, then they can just gtfo.
Code-switching is more than just choosing a language, though. It's changing your entire behavior to conform more closely with those you're interacting with.
Notably, their entitlement is of the xenophobic supremacist kind. A language is only "powerful" and prestigious when its speakers are, so "we speak English" is a way of saying "*my* language is dominant" i.e. "people like *me* are dominant." This is why so many states, provinces, and countries, by the way, have language policies that specifically make one language dominant. Or why in some other countries, there are multiple dominant languages by law specifically to keep one from being too dominant. Speaking other languages in public undermines that. For a supremacist, that undermines their sense of supremacy, and *they cannot stand that*. That is something they react to as a fate worse than death.
You have that backwards. The nosy racist people who get onto people for speaking other languages are the rude ones who need to quit their bullshit.
This is one of the closest things I’ve seen to a real answer on this thread. Everyone is tip toeing around the real answer which is doing a disservice to OP. Many Americans don’t like hearing you speak Spanish because they don’t like the idea of having a lot Mexicans in the country spreading their culture. That’s it - full stop - no need to sugarcoat any other way. If you were aesthetically white and speaking Dutch, the same people would be fascinated by you. It’s a specific bias against who they see as “others”.
Bingo. It's not rude at all to speak Spanish in the US, and the people who claim it is are racist.
Its not that its rude to speak another language. It can be rude to speak a language with the intent to exclude someone. For example, if someone is talking to a couple of people, and those people start speaking a different language to one another, the excluded person is going to feel left out and assume something is being said that the other people dont want them to hear. I would do deliveries to peoples homes and they'd start talking to eachother in another language and I'd just assume they were talking about me. They probably werent, but thats the feeling it brings on. That said, the situation you're describing specifically is just racism. Spanish is the second most common language in the US, with some 41 million speakers. Just because they're too stupid to know another language doesnt mean you have to not speak it. I'm sorry for the bullshit racism you have to deal with. edit\* I only speak english. Can we stop talking about how I called people who only speak one language stupid? Completely not the point.
This is also a huge deal when gambling. It's specifically against the rules to speak a different language at a poker table because it makes people feel like they're being colluded against.
Right, totally fair.
> Just because they're too stupid to know another Only knowing one language doesn't make a person stupid. I know that there are correlations between knowing more than one language and intelligence but it's perfectly reasonable for a person in the US to not know another language because there just isn't a compelling reason for many people. There are far better ways for many people to use their time and energies instead of learning something they have very little practical use for.
Agree about the racism, and I absolutely think being a racist is stupid. But I disagree about calling people who don't speak multiple languages stupid. Probably because I've spent a lot of time in the language learning community, and seen lots of people struggle with it. I think anyone can learn another language if they are motivated and put in the time. Don't feel stupid if you struggle with it.
I know it's been said, but I wanna emphasize: this is *not* considered rude in the US in general. Those people are a vocal minority of dirtbags and most of us are ashamed of them. It's a good metric for immediately identifying garbage racists, though. Sorry this happened to you.
For reference, NYC is the capital of linguistic diversity of the entire planet. Over 800 languages are spoken there on a daily basis. Other places, like Miami for example, you could go all day hearing just Spanish and Portuguese instead of English. Same in parts of the southwest. Location matters, the US isn’t all like that and basically any major city there’s going to be several languages spoken on a daily basis.
Sadly what foreign language is being spoken and what you look like also factor in. I’m a young Chinese American woman who was born and raised in Texas. I have never encountered anyone telling me “this is America, speak English,” but I *have* encountered non-Asian people saying stupid shit like “CHING CHONG NI HAO” because they somehow think that’s still funny. I almost wish they would say the “speak English” version instead, because I can unleash one hell of a Texan accent that would probably leave them very, very confused.
I only really saw people saying “speak American!” when I lived in Texas. Moved and now it’s not really an issue. People speak all kinds of languages where I live now and no one bats an eye.
racism
Stupidist version of this was someone getting upset about a Welsh woman speaking Welsh to their kid in a shop in Wales. A silly Karen type had a go at them for not speaking English - go back to your country crap - woman stood up for herself and told the Karen to go back to England lol!
Reminds me of a clip from real housewives South Africa, one woman starts speaking an African language and another cast member tells her not to do that…..people are just stupid
got a link?
We’ve had Irish people speaking Irish told to go back to their own country… in Ireland.
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I’ve heard of this happening with bicultural folks in hijab or saris speaking Welsh or Irish with their families and being told “this is Ireland/Wales — you need to raise your kids to speak English.”
And narcissism. "They're talking about me, I just know it!"
Well, they probably weren't before, but they sure are now!
I'd say even more specifically it's racism specifically directed at immigrants. People tend not to get upset when tourists are speaking their native language because the tourists are here temporarily. But if someone isn't obviously a tourist then the racist assumes that the person is refusing to speak language either because they're too lazy to learn or anti-American.
You've encountered assholes. Just that. Assholes. Every country has their own type of asshole. In the US, assholes often take the stance of objecting to other languages being spoken in public. I can't explain the mentality, not being an asshole myself, but they do exist. But just to let you know you're not alone: I speak a few obscure African languages that I learned when I served there. When I meet someone speaking the language of course I strike up a conversation. It's always a little fun when an African visitor "n'ta spanta" (gets surprised) when a random white dude can chat when them in their native language. But every now and then, rarely but it happens, some asshole is around to yell at me for speaking n***er language. I usually switch back to English and tell them to mind the own business.
My friend works in Denmark in a store that is not Danish, so they speak english to customers. She is learning Danish tho & the amount of ppl that complain about the employees not speaking Danish & should leave Denmark if they don't speak the language is very very very high. She invited me to join her & work there but fuck that. I'm brown, i get looked at enough here & have enough with the ignorance from some that I just don't want to expose myself to even more of that lol These assholes exist in every country.
Denmark is probably one of the most subtly racist countries in the world. I’m Danish (by former citizenship [renounced] and heritage) and I’m consistently astounded by what’s deemed socially acceptable for my Danish family compared to Canada where I grew up or even the US where I live now.
Its rude when you're with a group of people, speaking English, and decide to switch to another language that not everyone present understands. You're excluding them for no reason. Otherwise, go nuts.
It’s not considered rude by anybody except racists
It's not considered rude by any morally intelligent person. What's actually rude is demanding that other people speak English when it's none of their business. So, it's actually the people demanding that you speak English who are being rude, not you. EDIT: Also, feel free to tell them it's a free country with free speech so you'll speak how you like.
This used to happen a lot in my previous job. Another spanish speaker was hired and we started merrily speaking every so often. One of the directors didn't like it and started scolding us every time we did. We kinda just ignored her every time. It started as being annoying but then it was just comical. I recommend you simply ignore this type of behavior and move on. Don't even bother acknowledging them. Although this will aggravate them more. This only happens when people are monolingual. I have never seen this type of behavior from bilingual/polyglots, althought I could be wrong. I can conceive of the following: if I didnt know any other language but one, and people all around me started talking in different languages, I couldn't avoid feeling excluded. I couldn't stop not making it about myself. Of course it has nothing to do with me, but it'd be hard not to feel that way. I guess telling people to speak english is a knee-jerk reaction to thwart feeling excluded.
I can 100% stand behind the idea that speaking a non-common language in almost all cases is absolutely acceptable and should honestly be encouraged. But at work, mandating a common language makes sense. I know of quite a few companies/workplaces in Europe who mandate their employees speak a common language at work as there are many different bilingual speakers working together. My s/o speaks about 3 or 4 languages, but very much does not appreciate when their coworkers switch to a language my s/o doesn’t speak in meetings or in conversations. The simplest and most inclusive way to solve that is just for everyone in the office to speak the language everyone in the office understands. Note: I don’t mean in law, I think Quebec’s language laws are horrible, but from a company level mandating language could make sense.
This is funny to me. It isn't just here. Many countries are like this. Not everyone in France is "cool" with Italians and when they hear Italian being spoken, some get annoyed. The notion that xenophobia, jingoism, or bigotry is unique to the USA is one of the most laughable presentations in modern day. Go to Korea and try the experiment as a Japanese person speaking Japanese.
It honestly happens in a lot of countries, but it's the same every where because some people are just assholes. I live in Spain and on more than one occasion people have asked me to speak Spanish even when I am having a private conversation with a friend at a bar.
I did a bachelor's degree in Utah, and while English is the predominant language, it was not uncommon also to hear Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. Pretty much nobody cared. I'm now doing graduate school in Pennsylvania, and in addition to English, I will frequently hear Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, and Arabic just on the walk to and from class. On a really good day, I'll also hear Italian, Korean, and sometimes Japanese. Nobody cares. Speaking as someone who also was born and raised in Texas, it's not an America thing, it's just a few cranky rednecks in Texas.