Originally Posted by
Rejuvenated
I'm not saying this applies to you. But quite often if a native Cantonese speaker hears your accent and can tell you are not a native speaker or a CBC, that native speaker often has a tendancy to respond to you in English.
Again I'm not implying that you are necessarily one of these and not all native Cantonese speakers treat CBCs this way, but this is often the case when Hong Kongers and CBCs engage in conversations.
YMMV - depends on whether the native Cantonese speaker is 1) comfortable speaking in English (or Mandarin) to you if you're a non-native speaker, and whether they appreciate you speaking their mother tongue (similar to many Mexicans who appreciate you speaking Spanish even if your accent is atrocious). I've encountered both situations as a non-native Cantonese speaker (and my accent is far from native).