That ' s definitely TY . If he messes up big , he ' ll make up for the mistake shortly after . Too bad it cost him this time . <| sep |> I caught her scissoring Mrs . Buttersworth . <| sep |> A scholar most likely . <| sep |> It all depends what you want . If you just want to knock off the transaction in the easiest way possible , they will have a better idea when to switch then you . Let them lead the language of conversation . You often don ' t even have to use English substitute words to show it , and they will switch to English . However , if you want to improve and also earn brownie points in whatever short interaction you are having , don ' t do anything . Proceed with German regardless of what they do and do not even bother explaining yourself . Its not necessary , they understand the situation . I have thanked people who have obviously had a lot of patience with me and stuck with clear , slow german , but it does not add anything to have an explanation in the middle of the conversation . In the rare event that you persist with German and they persist with English . just switch to Russian and say you don ' t speak English I guess . They are probably an asshole who doesn ' t like a foreigner butchering their language .