Originally Posted by
Melki
When I'm in the US, I cautiously stick to English when I need to speak with someone who looks Latino, unless I'm certain that my conversation partner is REALLY latino. In this case only, I switch to Spanish. All the Latinos I spoke with seemed to be glad, not even surprised, to talk to a foreigner in their mother tongue.
On the other hand, speaking Spanish to a brown person who appears not to be Latino would be awkward and even offending. That's why English is always safer.