"Colourful" Language
Have you ever experienced being a guest in a bilingual household where the dominant language spoken was not English, but one you did not understand at all? And instead of speaking English, your host speaks this other language to the other members of the house while you're in the room, knowing full well that you do not understand a word being said. Would you consider this rude?
I would, and do.
Twice in 3 days was I put in a situation where the majority of people present spoke two languages: English and either Punjabi or Spanish.
The first instance was with my supervisor from work. The plan was we would get a ride to the ferry together (to save the company my cab fare) for a conference in Vancouver. However, on the way we had to stop at her parents house so that her father-in-law could drive the car to the ferry and let us walk on. I figured it would be a 15 minute stop at most. Nope. We were there for over an hour. Normally, this wouldn't bother me at all. Except in this situation everyone around me was speaking in Punjabi. Hardly any English was spoken. I felt like a deaf-mute. I could neither listen to the conversation nor contribute to it. It was as if they were purposely excluding me from the conversation, because not only is there no way they did not know I couldn't speak Punjabi but also the father-in-law finally acknowledged my existence after more than half an hour in clear English. I couldn't help but be pissed off by the situation. I couldn't even watch the TV because it had Punjabi-speaking shows on.
The second situation was much different. While in Vancouver I roomed with a girl, Astrid, who could speak Spanish. She invited me out to the Richmond mall to meet her friend Carolina, who I found out could also speak Spanish. I resigned myself to the fact that once again I would feel like an outcast via language. However, to my surprise they both took my "monolingualism" into consideration. Carolina had trouble speaking English but she tried, and anything she spoke in Spanish Astrid translated for me. I felt so much better and really appreciated their consideration.
Essentially, I think, it boils down to manners. It's no different than poor table manners, which shows disrespect for those with whom you are eating. Speaking a language you know your guests or companions don't know is disrespectful because it indicates to them that you don't care how they feel...
Alright, that ended up being something of a venting session...it's something that's been bothering me since I went to Vancouver. Bad manners just hit a nerve with me.