many people from English-speaking countries hold the mentality of "Everybody speaks English". You can speak English and they won't treat you as a fellow countryman unless you have a local accent. If you encounter difficulties in other places, such as when your car breaks down or you need to find the nearest hospital, you don't know the local language. If you encounter British or American people, they may not be very enthusiastic to help you because you can speak English. It's important to speak English because it's the language of business and academics,
but don't expect people in the English-speaking world to share the same intimacy with you. English has many accents, and English in Scotland, Ireland, Liverpool, the American South is sometimes more difficult to understand than German. Because the former is a local accent, the latter is not a native language, but the pronunciation is the standard English sms services or American pronunciation learned from books, so it is not difficult to understand. Know some Germans who speak much more standard English than German, because in the latter they have a thick regional accent. Therefore,
Hong Kong people have been away from the English-speaking world for a long time. When they travel to English-speaking countries, the intimacy is often one-way. You think the place is friendly, but the other person sees you as one of thousands unless they have experience in Asia. Sometimes when I talk about the history of Hong Kong to some people from Africa or the Commonwealth of China and the United States, they will be amazed that Hong Kong was once a British colony. Everyone has a common experience.