"and the condescension is well-deserved, IMO" Really? You are to be expected to speak fluently in every language of any country you might visit? Or is it tha

"and the condescension is well-deserved, IMO" Really? You are to be expected to speak fluently in every language of any country you might visit? Or is it that you are expected to be polite and refuse to visit any country where you can't speak the language? Criminy, there are far too many languages and interesting foreign countries around to be holding yourself to that standard. As english is the most common lingua franca, knowing it allows one to travel freely to the vast majority of the world and communicate on some level with some locals. I am friends with a linguist - speaks 9 languages - if German wasn't one, would condescension still be well-deserved? Would you be condescending to a german/thai/ecuadorian visiting your hometown if they couldn't speak english? Get over your self loathing and enjoy your travels...