For my generation (Gen X), there was a lot of guilt felt over always using English for communicating with foreigners. It was popular in my circle to study some

For my generation (Gen X), there was a lot of guilt felt over always using English for communicating with foreigners. It was popular in my circle to study some foreign language to show you were making an effort, but the problem was that the language you studied was rarely the language of the person you needed to talk to at the moment. Also, since people didn't really need it, they rarely practiced their 2nd language enough to get decent at it. It seems generally acknowledged now that the best way for native English speakers to show courtesy is to practice Global English.