Why English Is (But Shouldn't Be) the International Language

Paris. At a cafe outside the Pantheon, I see a group of Japanese tourists, all women between their 20's and 50's, telling a waiter in broken English, "Something to drink, please...non-alcoholic."

Costa Rica. Far away from any major city, I get an ear infection and have to go to the doctor, who asks me if I speak Spanish. I can chat in the language, but I couldn't discuss my medical status in necessary detail in Spanish. The doctor speaks to me in English.

Seoul. At dongtaemon (which is the place to shop in central Seoul), I see an American male telling an attendant at one of the shopping malls "I'll be back" in English. The attendant looks as if he understands.

Tokyo. At the TMG (Tokyo Metropolitan Government building) in the Shinjuku district, I see an indignant American lady asking a customer service employee why the shop only sells models of the North Tower and not the South. The lady speaks in English. The Japanese employee tries to speak in English.

Stuttgart. My German friend and I arrive at our other friend's house early. The front door is locked. It is raining. The neighbors come home and invite us to have a seat in their house until that friend's parents come back. I speak no German. The neighbors have no trouble switching to English.

Ho Chi Minh City. I go out with a friend who is bilingual in Cantonese and Vietnamese. I speak Cantonese and no Vietnamese. We stay at the house of one of his friends who speaks only Vietnamese. The friend tries to communicate with me in English.

I am quite annoyed when Americans tour the world expecting to be understood when they speak in English (granted, not every American is as such, but you have to admit Americans, especially teenagers and twenty-somethings, don't have a great reputation abroad). I am probably even more irritated when I see or hear non-native speakers of English from outside of the greater English-speaking world going to a foreign country where English is not the official language and trying to get around by speaking English.