I've never had a problem in France or Italy. I always have phrasebooks handy, but have rarely used them.
I speak very little Spanish. In a restaurant in Mexico, a friend was looking for an ashtray - none of us knew how to ask for one. I got creative and requested a "platito de fumar" (small plate of smoking - roughly). The waitress had a good laugh, but we got what we asked for! :)

I have never had a problem in the major and larger cities in Italy but I have often been in small towns and even smaller villages where no one speaks English. So, I have to depend on my pathetic Italian. Which makes me think the Italians must be very intelligent and clever because somehow I always get my message across, LOL.
BTW, I never get upset at them (why should they know my language) I just get upset at myself. And everytime I get a bit more fluent I stop using Italian and consequently forget everything I knew although it does seem to come back to me. The sad thing is when I was little I understood Italian as well as I understood English.

Hi--I'm new here, but this could definintely get addictive. :-)

It would have helped me to know more in Italy. I went a year and a half ago to Milan, Venice, Rome, and Florence, and the train stations, hotels, and, surprisingly, shops were not much of a problem (my language background--took Latin in high school and French in college, but hadn't used ANY of it in 10+ years; I tried to brush up on pronunciation and learn some vocab. before going and that was very helpful in most situations mentioned above). However, ironically, the rudest and least helpful people (most irritated by hearing English, or apparently worse, pathetic attempts at Italian) were consistently those working at typical tourist places--museums, gardens, galleries, etc. I do remember trying to ask for decaf coffee in one small cafe in Venice one of the few nights I was there--I tried variation on "decaf" (it was ~9 at night and didn't want to be kept up) before stumbling across "decaffeinato" and seeing understanding break across the waiter's face. A few minutes later I was presented with a cup of hot water and a packet of Sanka. :-) Ugh. That was (and will be) the only cup of decaf I ever order in Europe. The coffee is so good. It took several days after I came back to get used to American coffee again. I've since switched to French press exclusively, so maybe the tranisition won't be so bad this time--I leave for Paris (5 nights, solo) on Sept 28. :-)

We just returned from Southern Italy- we found very, very little English spoken. Our very little Italian was unintelligible to the locals. Know what? - it didn't matter one bit. Of course it is nice to learn polite words (please, thank you, excuse me), and it is helpful to know some key words. Most important, though, is to be open and friendly- and patient, and you will find that human beings have no problem understanding each other at all!

Croatia and Crotians are amazing. The place (and the people) are beautiful. It still feels on the cusp of discovery. Things seem kind of poor yet super tidy. Their language is crazy BUT so many of them speak English. It's quite humbling and ideal for a wonderful travel experience without the insecurity of language barriers.

In the Nordic countries almost everyone speak passably English. Many people can also speak a little German or French. Movies are not dubbed, and we have English in school from age 10 or earlier (may differ some from country to country)

In Spoleto, Italy very few people speak English! If you really want to learn the language, come here! However, if you plan to stay for an extended period of time, make sure atleast one person you are travelling with speaks some Italian.

Just came back from Prague, Budapest, Brugge and Amsterdam.

Having English as you mother tongue is almost not fair.

I took one look at the Czech and Hungarian words I normally learn (Hello, Good-bye, Thank You, Your Welcome, etc) and said "no way".

I was tempted to take with a few flash cards.

No need. Everybody right down to the taxi drivers spoke English and was very happy to do so.

They took the adventure out of the trip.

In the Scandinavian and Finnish capital cities virtually everyone speaks English, so it makes it very easy to get around without speaking Swedish, Finnish, Danish, or Norweigan. Some people in smaller towns speak English, but it is less prevalent. If you find yourself in a small town without an English language menu, this article is a cheat sheet to help you order fish http://neuropetravel.suite101.com/ar...dic_fish_guide.

Karlovy Vary CZ. Lost, didn't wnat to miss the train. Standing at a map of the town at the city hall. A group of Spaniards came up and together, in Spanish, we figured out the route to the station.

In Copenhagen, you will absolutely find everyone speaks English! They will happily accomodate you and have a sixth sense about greeting you in English. They're very good natured, the Danes, and nice people.

Ok this isn't Europe but

Althuogh I don't work as an interpreter I am actually trained as a brtish sign language / english interpreter.

Last summer I spent 5 weeks travelling around south america, I knew NO spanish. I found my sign language very useful - it occurs that the lady above who couldn't remember the words for needle and thread would have got by miming the action.

I'm most proud of a 'conversation' I had in a laundry in Quito - I managed to explain that I wanted my washing done - Ok that's not difficult I'm a tourist in a laundry with a bag of clothes - what else would I want? But I also managed to explain that I couldn't collect the laundry the following day as I was going to Otovalo for 2 days and to unerstand her reply that my laundry would be delivered to my hotel room.

In Greece once I met a German guy who complimented me that I spoke very good English, for an American.

Non-essential, but helpful places:

Barcelona (will actually laugh at your attempts at Spanish -- even after you've been in Spain all summer learning the language), Paris (in the touristy spots), Amsterdam

Essential places:

San Sebastian, Valladolid, Segovia, Salamanca, and certain non-touristy areas in Paris

As an American I find it very helpful when in the UK that I have some training in the native tongue.

In France or Italy or South America it can be incredibly useful to have some knowledge, too. It's nice to be able to ask the fellow in front of you on the bus "If possible, Can you please close the window?" rather than just sit and suffer.

If nothing else, it is wise to learn to say "I don't understand" in the local patois. Also "Hello", "Good morning", "please" and "Thanks". "Do you speak English" is useful. "Where is the bathroom" is an absolute must for most of us (and usually takes about 10 minutes to learn - but a liftime to forget.)

Oh, and "I am SO sorry" will come in very handy when begging for anything, including leniency from a judge.

Most of germany you can find just about anyone who can speak at least a little english except in my house I am an american married to a german and my in laws not only have no idea what I am saying more than half the time in german or english

The greatest cab driver I ever had in Paris barely spoke French OR English*. Being from New York, I felt right at home.

*He was Chinese, but still managed to convey on the ride in from CDG that he would pick us up at our hotel the morning we would be leaving for home if I would write down the date and time. He showed up half an hour early that day, a beautiful snowy morning.

The Languedoc is quite untouristic compared to other regions of France. Most places didn't have English menus and most people didn't speak English.

We have a French guide but it didn't seem as helpful as we had hoped. We struggled by with the little bit of conversational French we know and had several surprises while dining.

Umbria was a challenge at times. English menus not common and we also had a few surprises while dining. I have the Italian word for liver forever etched in my mind "fegato". The one night we forgot our Italian translator back at the hotel my husband ended up with a dinner that look like 3 turds on his plate...it turned out to be liver.

Brussells & Brugge the trains had electronic message ribbons in German, Dutch and Flemish, but no French until almost in Paris. I had a panicky moment trying to understand the train stations, when an elderly couple took pity on me & leaned forward to assure me in halted Flemish that "ziud" = "midi", even tho I am pretty sure Ziud is Dutch for south. It was the right stop for me.
I have found no English in Italy & Spain. Brussells and Paris had plenty of English.
After I return from a trip, I often wonder how people manage without being conversant, but then, I love language, so I seek out chances to speak it. When I explore outside of the ones I know- like to Russia, Greece or China it should be quite an experience!

Two stories:

Once in Wales, we had just finished dinner and I had gone to the restroom. When I returned, my husband had struck up a conversation with a man and introduced me to him. The man said something to me, but I didn't understand a word of it. I must have looked blank, because my husband immediately said "He asked how you like Wales."

At a restaurant in Paris, I ordered something that I knew was fish (because of the heading on the menu and some of the words in the description), but I didn't know what kind of fish it was. I didn't really pay attention to what the fish was called (rascaille, I think it was), not thinking it would be necessary. Before he brought our food, the waiter returned to our table and apparently asked who had the fish, but neither of us could understand what he was asking. Finally, in exasperation, he said "the feesh!"

Kim