Why can't people be straight forward?

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I was attempting to converse with people in my college last week.

I have a conversation starter that I use.
I ask them what they like to cook and/or bake.

I asked someone that question and they told me "I no speak English." (That's English!)
I wasn't taking any of their silliness and told them to stop being stupid, it's obvious that the person could speak English as they were in a group of people.

If they did not want me to converse with them why did they not tell me that they did not want me to talk to them? It's straight to the point.

Saying "I speak no English" does not mean that they are fluent in English. Giving them grief for this is not a nice thing to do.

Sometimes, phrases like that are the only English they know, even though they don't know exactly what they're saying.

I agree with ford

Je nais parle pas Francis
Ich can nicht Deutsche sprechen
Mish kalemi Arabi

Doesn't mean I'm fluent in any of those languages. I know enough for tiny snippets of conversation, but if a native speaker comes over to me and starts talking away I'd be lost.

I think if someone said "I no speak English" then that should kinda tell you that they probably don't speak English because the way they said it is grammatically incorrect. Then again some people pretend NOT to speak English and I've totally had that happen before.

As others have said, just because others say "I no speak English" it means they are not fluent in it. They might only know a few phrases or words and that sentence but that is it. I know some Spanish words but that is it. I speak no Spanish meaning I am not fluent in it. I wouldn't be able to read Spanish or understand it and communicate in it. And that person using poor grammar with their English is a sign they really don't speak it.

It really depends on the situation and setting because the "I no speak english" can let someone know that you don't want to be bothered. That happened to me once when I went on vacation and I happened to be on a beach. I tried talking to a couple who said "We don't speak English we speak Spanish." So I tried to converse with the little Spanish that I know but they ignored me. So I ignored them only to notice that this couple were speaking english to each other.

As for people being straight forward I know it.