I disagree with the statement that living in a country where you have to speak a foreign language can cause serious social and practical problems, as most locals and tourist interactions that I have encountered where the foreigners try to speak the local language generally end in a good note.
The first reason why I disagree with the statement is that I believe speaking a foreign language wouldn’t cause any social problems as the locals in the said country would respect you for trying, For example, in the country where I lived in Indonesia I have seen tourists or foreigners have to try to speak Indonesian and as what I can observed I see no problem or does cause any social problem, believe it or not, it is quite the opposite as locals praise and admire the dedication for a foreigner to take their time to learn the local language.
The second reason is that even if it is a must then learning slowly from locals as the statement said living with no set duration meaning that assuming that I have to moved in as a residence and manage to live for about a year or so in that country, unless you or I do it in a way where it feels like for them in a form of mockery but still a few minor accent wouldn’t cause a serious social issue.
The third and final reason is that generally, locals in those specific countries wouldn’t get upset by minor mistakes as they would help you or help me in correcting those mistakes without like the statement said causing a serious social issue, but the overall serious social issue wouldn’t happen but a minor one might happen depending on how you and I speak and used the foreign language.