EU holidays - language barrier

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Do you find that you ever have an issue or can you make do with English?

I guess most have done french and german at school. Maybe a bit of Spanish. But what about when you go elsewhere?

I generally find everyone speaks English but I'm trying to improve my language skills so I can at least say basic things and understand menus

Google translate.

phrase book.

If you’re off to a tourist destination in Europe then most people will speak some English. Also Google translate is quite good - you speak into it and it translates what you’re saying. It’s not always very accurate but people get the jist.

Which country?

Most countries in Europe teach English in state schools.

I would learn the basics in any language before I travel there.

Depends where you go. My skills stretch no further than hello, please and thank you in French, German and Spanish. If you are in a touristy area, quite a few people will have passable english. Google translate can help somewhat. We hit the jackpot in Fuerteventura, when looking for somewhere for the obligatory holiday tattoo we found a place owned by a guy who was half Spanish half American and spoke both fluently.

Depends where you go. There are many places where people don't speak English so you'll need to use Google translate or try and learn the local language. You don't have to go far away from 'the Costas' in Spain to find that most people don't speak or understand English.

Barcelona, Greek Islands and Amsterdam, people were very kind about speaking in English to us they were fine and confident to do so. Berlin, Rome, parts of Wales (!) and Paris absolutely not they would rather you squirmed in broken words of their language than they speak English... which is their prerogative but I know they can speak some English they wanted to make a point of it rather than being genuinely unable to speak it. Some found using google translate amusing some didn't have the patience for google translate or our broken language. This made the culture and people seem unfriendly to me... but a lot of Europe is fed off of 'foreigners' and British tourists specially since Brexit.
If you stay in touristy place you can get away with English and google translate more than rural areas. I would say learn hello please and thank you at least.

Phrase book?
I coped in Portugal and Slovakia that way.

I tend to go places where I can speak the language (Spain). Most people in the hospitality industry do speak some English.

Otherwise, I learn a bit before I go: please, thank you, what do you call this? names for common food items or things I might need, use google translate when needed.

Most touristy areas speak English. DP is Portuguese and speaks English to everyone. We were in the Philippines and the Filipinos, Brazilians and Koreans all spoke English to each other. It’s only English people who think speaking English to people abroad is bad.

Hello and thank you are always useful then pointing/ google translate if you’re in a pinch.

I speak reasonably good French and i can get by in Spain with my basic Spanish.
I’ve found that many ordinary French people don’t speak much English at all, apart from those who work in tourist areas.
They certainly treat you better if you can speak some French, IME.

Does anyone know any regional languages? How in Spain there's Catalan and Galician?

Trying learning the language?

I speak good French and Spanish, and did German to A'level. However, I rarely holiday in these countries. Anywhere in Northern Europe you will find excellent English spoken everywhere. For elsewhere in Europe, I enjoy having a go and trying to get by. Google translate helps. I learnt the Cyrillic alphabet so I can decode Ukranian, Russian and Bulgarian - so often for foods the words are the same as Western languages, just written differently.

I tried learning some basic Catalan before going to Barcelona but kept mixing it up with Italian & my equally basic Spanish.

I’m doing Norwegian Duolingo ready for a holiday in September, I know I’m unlikely to need it much but it’s so much more fun when you understand / can read at least some of the language & it feels politer too.

I remember really being worried about this as a late teenager in Australia about to come and backpack in Europe. Because I am rubbish at languages, I couldn’t get my head around the fact that the vast majority of non-native English speakers speak a decent bit of English. That’s especially true in anything remotely hospitality-related, like any accommodation, restaurants, tourist attractions, public transport providers, etc. And anyone under the age of 40.

We are lucky that English is the common language every everyone. Keep in mind that, for example, a Norwegian is unlikely to have learnt Croatian or a Dutch person to have learnt Greek or a Polish person to have learnt Italian, yet everyone in Europe still holidays everywhere in Europe.

I too always make the effort to learn a minimum of hello, thank you, good morning etc. I'm better at French, Italian and Spanish and only know few words in others such as Icelandic, Hungarian, Slovakian.

Sicily was the only place where the odd person took offense at my attempts in Italian, rather than Sicilian. I took it as an opportunity to learn some local dialect which went down well though.

Yeah I went to Barcelona and tried to use my Spanish and it was NOT appreciated they preferred English.

in all seriousness Duolingo for a few months before I go generally gets me to please thank you two beers sort or level.

I’m fluent in French which is great in France although sometimes I’m asked if I’m Belgian! Conversely in Belgium, in the Flemish areas, they’d rather you spoke Flemish (not happening, German (I have a bit) or English than French! I usually try to learn a few basic phrases when elsewhere.

I used to have an Easten European phrasebook which was very well used. I always try to learn hello, goodbye, please thank you etc wherever we go.

I couldn't even manage hello in Hungarian though!

I have visited Rome, Paris, and Berlin many times. I have never encountered this at all!

The only place that I’ve ever been where nobody really spoke English and it was a bit of an issue was Poland. But this was 20 years ago, so things may have changed.

If you know zero local language, you just stay at tourist areas, use tourist/international services, and pay the tourists prices for that. In case of troubles you use your insurance for translation.

When you get some experience with the local situation or learn a bit of the language, you can expand your radius in the destination.

I know - when I go to Italy, which I do quite a lot, I try to speak Italian most of the time, & I can more or less get by in French. But I’m not planning to carry on with Norwegian after this holiday, so I’m happy with the basics.