If I approach situations in my severely broken French, people figure out quite quickly that their English is better than my French The stereotype incorporates

If I approach situations in my severely broken French, people figure out quite quickly that their English is better than my French The stereotype incorporates the inherent rudeness of city dwellers (particularly compared to the rest of a country). My belief is that the stereotype also comes from monolingual Americans who start off in English and assume (or appear to assume) that everyone speaks (or should speak) English. If you start in French, it shows some amount of effort and respect for their culture.