It's Not Babel, It's Babbling
The idea of using only one language wherever they go has long been an erroneous choice by some Americans. Of course, because English is spoken almost everywhere as a lingua franca, many who venture outside their native country don't bother to study another language. Or they simply do their best to unlearn the little they learned in high school of Spanish or French, let alone Italian or German, the other two most offered. It seems that belief has rubbed off on a few people in Spain. There was a meeting of important members of the Real Madrid soccer club a few days ago. The members got to air their complaints. One referred to a game played against Liverpool in Kiev. He complained that, when asking directions of a police officer in Kiev, the officer replied in English. The member stated that he is Spanish, he doesn't have to know English, "es que soy español, no tengo que saber inglés." My dear sir, when Spanish reaches the level of lingua franca, then you can expect ...