Amy Alkon, Linguistic Parasite
I try to yank a new word or two (or five, if I can) out of every French-speaking stranger I talk with: ìOui, oui...and...oh, sorry, how do you say ìme neitherî? ìMoi, non plusî? Gee, merci! Of course, this goes over best if you make it seem you're doing it to further their comprehension of your end of the conversation, not trying to use them as a walking Le Robert (dictionary).

That said, perhaps because I looked kind of French today, I was asked, in French, five times!! for directions. A new record. (And I do know my way around Paris, so I can actually give them.) My favorite requesters were two Australian ladies (d'une certaine age), who started painstakingly putting together their request in French out of a mini Berlitz bookÖîEst-ce que vous pouvez noooose deeerectayÖî Me: Oui, je peux, MadameÖbut Iíd also be happy to tell you in pretty passable English, if that would work for you.