I admire the success, not the effort. English isn't some obscure language, it's a global one especially in the business and medical world. It's often not a choice, but a necessity to learn english.
I have to know bits of spanish at my job in order to help people, if they don't understand me then I'm not helping (and could actually hurt them). My fiance is Vietnamese and lots of people in her family only know a little bit of english but they try their best to get their ideas across. I understand what you mean by "making an effort to communicate with others", but if I can't understand the person then what is the point.