I agree with the notion that what constitutes rudeness is quite relative.

For instance, in North America, we are a bit obsessed with keeping up a positive front. Whereas in Eastern Europe people tend to be a lot more blunt. For example, if one is wearing an ugly shirt, people in NA will tiptoe around the issue while a Russian acquaintance might simply remark that your shirt is ugly. It isn't meant to be a personal attack - if anything, it's a helpful reminder to reconsider your sartorial choices. But I'd wager that the average North American would take this as a rude and gratuitous attack when really it is nothing of the sort.

Much as cultural guidebooks to Asia always hammer home the importance of 'face' in some Asian cultures, North Americans are really keen on being superficially "polite". However, people who don't subscribe to that line of thinking aren't necessarily rude.

In France or Montreal, I stay with French, if I detect a French accent coming back to me. My fluency is fine, so I don't have to struggle to speak French. If I don't detect a French accent coming my way, I'll switch to English. Sometimes back and forth as a previous poster noted. Whatever works for easy and enjoyable conversation. I should add, I don't really "Think" about this much. It's kind of "Automatic".

In Berlin, I will slip back to English since I'm not nearly as fluent in German as French.

I don't think there is any problem whatsoever speaking the "Mother Tongue" of the Country you are in, if you are confident and not struggling. Whatever you are comfortable with.

What really confuses everything is where you find a common language that is neither of your mother tongues, nor the language of the country you are in! I've spoken to Italians in German and Spanish in French!

Well the article is written in English on an English speaking website and we are discussing it today in English. That does not make it "bogus"

To the credit of the study, even though probably taken from an English speaking audience, they did put the UK near the top on the rudeness scale.

:D^

I've only done this twice.

Once in SouthBeach, FL. Spoke to a Spanish guy in German. He didn't speak English, I don't speak Spanish (wish I did). We both spoke German as best we could, but it worked.

Once in Germany. Spoke French with an Italian. My Italian is as poor as my Spanish. :(

If I had the time, I'd learn Spanish and Italian. Two languages I'd love to master. I'm stuck with English, French, and German. Not bad, but not as handy as Spanish, IMO.

This happened to me in France years ago. I was staying with a friend and his family and I didn't speak a word of French and his mom didn't speak a word of English. It was frustrating for us both when no one was around to translate. That is until we somehow realized we both spoke a little Spanish. Success!

To topic, I know the French have a reputation for being rude but I didn't find that to be the case at all. Not in Paris or in the south. I managed to learn some basic words while I was there and I would start with them when asking for help. People always seemed more than happy to help a lost tourist.

Most of the people who tell me that the French are rude are people who have never been to France. Seriously.

Of course it does. The article implies that the world population decided which were the rudest countries. Obviously, that's not the case. Had the title of the article been "English speakers rate the world's rudest countries," then you would be correct. But, alas, it doesn't.

In Amsterdam one time I had a conversation with a Croatian woman in Dutch (not realizing she was Croatian). Eventually I reached the limit of my Dutch abilities and switched to English, but she continued responding in Dutch. Kind of rude, I thought. Eventually I figured out that she thought I was Dutch and was rudely trying to steer her toward English because I'd heard her accent. We had a good laugh about that in the end.

I did not, however, get her number. In case anyone was wondering.

The rudest people I have ever encountered are, without doubt, Noo Yawkers.

Before any American rush to protest that assertion, try entering the United States as an alien via any US international airport. If that is not enough, try walking along a Manhattan sidewalk. Someone is pretty sure to bump into one, broadside, and then complain that one did not get out of his/her way.

On the other hand, New Yorkers can be some of the kindest and the most generous people on the face of the planet. Go figure.

The rudest place in the world is surely Beijing. The rest of China apart from Hong Kong and Shanghai is pretty bad too. Parocialism seems to be the primary cause.

Miami is pretty bad too. Perhaps it's what happens when machismo is mixed with ostentatious wealth? It's very noticable that the moment you cross from Dade county into Broward county people suddenly become much more polite.

Whichever is more fluent is always a good choice. Another option, which I've used many times, is for both parties to use the other's language. This way both avoid using any words the other may not know, and mentally fixing errors you hear in your own language is pretty much effortless.

Agreed. As long as you open in French, even if it's just a "Bonjour Monseuir!", Parisiens are perfectly polite and helpful. What matters is that you've demonstrated making an effort at some French.

I thought New Yorkers were fine. However after i'd been there a couple of days my New York style road crossing skills got me shouted at - by another Brit! So maybe i'm not the best judge of politeness

If you would like to try for rudeness and rude people try a european cruise with about 3000 very nice people from all over the world(at the start) after 1 week everyone will say its the Germans that are rude..and the English, and the French, and the Chinese, and all them other people from all over,even the folk from the good old USA...who said all this the nice folk from Canada..ahaaa you just know folk from Canada are never rude..and as for the Irish they just don`t have time to be rude thats why they always got a big smile...