Originally posted here by debwalin
Hmmm, IMO, isn't expecting everyone to know a little bit of English a little rude. I mean one of the most common complaints in America is that people come here and don't bother to know English. Wouldn't going to another country and expecting them to speak English to accomodate us be the same thing?
I don't *expect* everyone to speak a little bit of English, but it would help them to do so because it's the internationally recognised language. Of course, some people will speak/write/read more English than others, because it's their first language (as is the case for me). I don't mean to force anyone to learn English.

I can't see how Americans can complain about people not bothering to speak English, because they have corrupted parts of the language anyway by leaving out letters such as the "u" in colour, which really annoys me because I have to learn all these mistakes in order to create proper HTML - in English it would be bgcolour="#ffffff", but because America started the internet I have to use bgcolor="#ffffff", which is not correct!

If I go to France, I would expect them to expect me to speak some French in order to communicate, after all it's only polite to speak to people in the language to which they are accustomed if you are a tourist. BTW though, if you go to Gibraltar and speak to them in Spanish they would probably be offended - they're the most patriotic British people I know of!