Language issues in Europe
 

Hello all,

I'll be traveling to Europe for a few weeks in Aug-Sep 2011 and was curious how easy it is for a tourist to get around language wise. I can read Spanish decently but can't speak it for my life (hoping to go to Barcelona). I've been to Paris before and it seemed that I could make do speaking English (I tried to speak French when I could). What about places like Rome and Amsterdam? Is not speaking the native language going to be a problem for me?

Well, first off, don't forget that the primary language in Barcelona isn't Spanish, it's Catalan. That said, given the number of Castilian-speakers working in the city, it's a complete mix.

English won't be a problem in any of the places you've listed. In fact, in Amsterdam, the standard of English could put a lot of native speakers to shame. However, it's how you approach things that makes a difference.

A few key words (hello, thankyou, etc) go a long way, as does asking, at the start of each interaction, whether somebody speaks English, rather than assuming it.

As you can read Spanish, you'll do well with the other Latin languages too. That just leaves Dutch, but if you treat that as English with strange spelling and more phlegm, you'll get surprisingly far ;)

Paris is a little different in some ways, and you do hear various stories of English speakers being treated differently to French speakers. However, a lot of the time, it's not the language, it's the behaviour: Paris is often a surprisingly formal city. If you make sure you always greet the person you are dealing with properly, whether in a hotel, restaurant or small shop (a 'Bonjour' or 'Bonsoir' with 'Monsieur/Madame/Mademoiselle') as appropriate, it will go surprisingly far.

Oh, one other tip... If you are still arranging an itinerary, avoid Paris in August if possible. The city empties of its inhabitants for most of the month.

That sounds like a good thing! :P When I was in Paris last summer, the city was a crowded mess.

Impossible to agree with this enough.

The French are very sensitive about their language and about "foreigners" not speaking French in France and the Anglicisation of their language (google Toubon Law as an example .....) and Paris like many French cities should be thought of as many hundreds of small villages each a few streets wide with it's own local shops. So it is load of small communities where old fashioned courtesy is highly valued. You can get by without French, but when you try a few words - more often than not it is highly rewarded.

Enjoy your trip.

I had once better advice from a friend of mine: he said learn English, German and Swedish and you get Dutch for free. (And he was speaking from experience.)

In Europe, it seems the further south and the further east you go, the more difficult it is to get by with English. In the Netherlands, just about everyone is fluent in English and it's cosmopolitan enough that people are unlikely to give you any attitude about not being able to speak Dutch.

I've heard Italy can be a challenge and Poland certainly is. In France and Germany, most people know English but, as others have pointed out, you will be much better received if you greet people in their language and then politely ask if they speak English. I only know the most basic French and didn't find Paris to be any ruder than any other big city and even managed to have a couple of friendly encounters with English-speaking locals.

That's been my experience as well. Only places that have been "difficult" at times without the local language are parts of Spain, Portugal, and a very few places in the east...but in the East as long as you can find someone under 35 or 40 you're usually just fine.

Completely agree that in France a few words of French can go a long way and that it pays to be more formal when addressing people than we usually are in English. If you can say "Bonjour", "Merci", "Au revoir" and "Parlez-vous anglais?", that will go a long way towards oiling the wheels of social intercourse in shops and restaurants and so on. This is not entirely illogical: how would it seem to us if were shopkeepers in, say New York or London and a person walked in and just launched into French without asking if we could understand it? It would seem odd, at best.

Also, the French use "monsieur" and "madame" far, far more than we use "sir" and "madam" in English. So, it is perfectly usual to say to the shop assistant "Bonjour, monsieur" or "Bonjour, madame", similarly "Merci, monsieur", "Au revoir, madame", and so on. Indeed, a simple "Bonjour" can sound a bit brusque to the French ear.

By all means try more French than this, but you might find that once you've tried the person you're speaking to will happily try out his or her English, particularly if it's a younger person.

In Italy I've always found the locals great when it comes to the language. I try out my Italian (which is poor and gleaned from my knowledge of French), and they just laugh along with me (never at me): it often becomes very entertaining. Give it a whirl if you're there. The Italians have a most beautiful language, which they're rightly proud of, but they're not jealous of it when people speak it badly. Perhaps this is because most people also have a dialect that they speak in addition to the national tongue — I don't know.

Spanish I find much harder to pick up, but in the main tourist places you will find English speakers. Remember though that the native language in Barcelona is Catalan, a completely different language from Castilian Spanish (as different as, say, French is from Spanish). Even so, almost everyone will be able to speak Castilian, and I find that the locals will often address a tourist first in Castilian, presumably because they think that the visitor is more likely to know Spanish than Catalan. (Ironically, I find Catalan easier to understand than Spanish, although I can't say a word in it.)

In the smaller northern countries of western European that speak Germanic languages (the Netherlands, the Flemish part of Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) the standard of spoken English is often high — although it's not true that everyone will speak English. It's polite to assume that they might not on first encounter. However, most people involved in any way with the tourist trade in these countries are very likely to have at least an adequate command of the English language.

In Germany the general standard of spoken English is not quite as high, and in particular there are a lot of older people who really don't know it all. Even so, they do pretty well. A few words of German will not go amiss.

For younger people everywhere, the ubiquity of English-language pop songs means that it is difficult to exist without at least some knowledge of English. And in travelling terms, English is the most common lingua franca in most places: if a Hungarian is talking to a Swede or a Chinese person is talking to a Spaniard, the language that they are most likely to have in common is English.

To this point, because it is customary in France to greet the shopkeeper upon entering a shop (and vice-versa), the mistake many Americans make is to ignore the shopkeeper upon entering - since in many larger US cities the custom is "hope you don't mind if I just look, I'll ask you if I have any questions" which exceeds many Americans' French skills.

However, just ignoring the shopkeeper sets a rude tone which may well get returned, and some people come back saying "gee the French were so rude to us." Well . . . not exactly . . . but you can see how these things happen. So a few words can, in fact, go a long way.

Yup, when I was in Paris last summer a friend of mine did this and it was really awkward. I always great people anyway, even in the U.S.

I know this may be off topic, but because I'm a U.S. resident with a U.S. passport, I don't need a Schengen visa correct? I will have a Tier 4 (General) (Sponsored) Student Visa from the UK since I'm interning there. But I can travel within the Schengen zone without a visa, right?

Definitely agree about greeting shopkeepers; this applies to most places in Europe and beyond. It may be less essential in a large chain store; you don't have to walk out of your way to greet the supermarket checker who's scanning another customer's items. But if you walk into a small shop within sight of an employee, definitely say hello and goodbye/thank you.

So far I've never been anywhere in Europe that I couldn't get by not knowing much beyond English (even in Macedonia, when the airline lost my luggage). However, anywhere you go, it's always good to know at least 6 things:

- yes
- no
- hello
- goodbye
- please
- thank you

That alone will get you far, even if only to appear like you're trying. It's also helpful to know "Do you speak English?" and "I'm sorry, I don't speak/understand <local language>."

My personal Paris story: my first time there, the person who ended up coming across rude was, accidentally, me. I was arriving on a TGV train to Gare de Lyon and leaving on the Eurostar from Gare du Nord. I had a short connection time to figure out how to transfer on the RER, so as the train was pulling into the station, I grabbed my luggage and headed for the door. A woman said something to me in French - it could have been "what's your hurry, take your time and enjoy life!" or "are you lost? can I help you get somewhere?" or even "you Americans smell of elderberries". I wasn't expecting to have to converse with anyone during this short period of time and, somewhat flustered, I blurted out "je ne parl pas francais" in a way that I think came across as "I don't bother with your %@#! language." I at least prefix that with "pardon" now.

You can visit for a total of 90 days in any 180 day period without a visa.

I think the point is that the issue is not only language, it is more really a matter of culture. For example, in many, if not most, European countries in the countryside, it is normal to say good morning or good day when you pass people. The language is not so important. So, an Italian passing a Frenchman might say buongiorno or an Englishman in the same situation could say good day. It is saying the greeting that is important, not the language.

There's some great advice in this thread, which I won't repeat except to reinforce the hint about younger people.

If you had asked the question 20-25 years ago, the advice would have been different. English was not quite the language passport it has become, and many in what we used to call Eastern Europe had to learn Russian as their first foreign language. Since the outbreak of democracy, younger people now generally learn English as their first foreign language, to the benefit of all. :)

In my youth, for example, French politicians absolutely refused to speak English in interviews. This was encapsulated when President Mitterrand came to London and was interviewed on BBC TV in French without sub-titles (it was live). No matter that his English was pretty good from his wartime exile in London. These days - and we are EU partners, of course - they are generally more than happy to speak English to get their points across. ;)

Also, once you start using those few words of French/Italian/Spanish/whatever, the person you're speaking with will more likely than not speak to you in English. The effort is worth it.

To sum up my experience:
Northern Europe (Scandinavia, Benelux, Denmark) English is not a problem at all.
UK - I find to be quite a language barrier for some first-time native-speaking American visitors.
Germany - young people pretty much all speak English. Majority of older people (older than 50), especially in the west, speak English. In Eastern Germany it's hit and miss. I find that if I start talking in German, people may or may not switch to English.
Austria, Switzerland - everyone speaks English. I for the life of me don't understand Swiss German (along with some of my German friends).
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia - younger people all speak English. Older people are more likely to speak Russian. In some countries the level of perception in Russian is a bit better than in others, and receptiveness to using Russian varies quite a bit too.
In Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria and Russia you will generally find English spoken only in touristy places, but many young people are starting to pick it up as well.
In Italy, it depends where you are. In the north, English is not a problem at all. The further south you go the more problems you may encounter (except for touristy areas). While in Rome it may not be a problem, in Naples it will be more difficult to find English speakers. In general, the younger generation is also speaks better.
In Turkey it's hit and miss. I've used English, German and, at times, Russian.
In France, the only thing people hate more than speaking English is hearing poor, broken French. As I don't speak the latter too well, I start with it and then switch to the former. The effort is appreciated and a connection is established :D. It's all about the attitude.
In Spain, Castillian (which is basically what the rest of the world knows as Spanish) is spoken everywhere, including in Catalonia. English is not widely spoken even by the younger generation. When I "forgot" my Spanish (at one point it was more advantageous to do that), the guy that was not happy that I was not speaking Spanish to him and he didn't know English.
In Portugal, you'll find English spoken by more educated older people and most young people. Much easier to get around with English than in Spain. Speaking a few words of Portuguese gets you many extra points.