Speak English! Options

[radhikaeatsraman]

Okay, here's the deal. Hosing (known as Hosing Yu in chat) works in retail twice a week. He will sometimes get customers who don't know English or even bother trying to speak it. It gets him pretty annoyed, and I can see where he's coming from. Yen, on the other hand, believes we shouldn't be angry or irritated with these people and try to be understanding.

I believe that while in the United States, you should at least make the effort to speak English, even if it's not the best. If you don't want to do that, stick with someone who can speak it. Don't go up to people expecting them to speak whatever language. Yes, this is the US, and yes, there are many different cultures here, but there is one language that unites us; that language is ENGLISH. I wish some people would just realize that.

[lalalaLANUH]

If they're immigrants they should try making an effort to speak english, but for some it can be very difficult. They may have recently started studying the language, but it can be very intimidating when actually trying to carry on a conversation in a diffrent language. Plus they may only know some phrases in English that aren't useful in their situation. And the fact is some people aren't as responsible as you and might not begin studying the language until they actually move to the US, and some people don't bother at all.
For the most part, I agree with Yen. We should be patient and understanding, as long as they try too. But then again, I can see how going through this on a daily basis can be annoying.