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Using Russian of Necessity

I have been learning Russian for more than a year now.  Like most Brits I am shy of using another language other than English.  I desperately want to, but it is just too easy to let the other person speak English, especially when they are so accomplished at it.  Today, however, I had an encouraging experience; at the bus stop was a lady and after a while I said something to her in English, naturally.  She indicated that she did not speak English.  I asked if she was Polish, she said Lithuanian.  A light dawned and in Russian I asked if she spoke Russian and she did and a little conversation took place between us which we otherwise could not have had.  I have a Russian friend but she speaks excellent English so the incentive to use Russian is just not there. I need to get out of my cozy little village and find some Russian speaking people who are not good at English.  Two things could happen; I could improve my Russian and now as I am a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language, they could improve their English, always with the proviso that they continue to speak Russian with me.

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