I am often surrounded by native speakers of another language. It is always the same. Due to shyness or something similar, whenever I ask if they speak English they will say, 'no'. The fact is, they do but don't want to use it, fearing they will be grammatically incorrect.
I'm fortunate, both lolas, lolo, nanay, all kuyas and auntys speak English well. Only tatay and my little bro-in-law and nephews don't speak so well. But we use sign language and with my tatay the convergence of language that the bottom of a glass of Tanduay brings.
Occasionally, I find myself in situations where I don't understand what is being said, particularly Suriganon and Bisayan. My wife often translates but I don't expect her to all the time as it would be rather tedious for everyone. I'm just happy to see her smiling. And when someone appears to ask me a question I quickly reply 'sige' which is always apt and makes everyone laugh out loud.
T
