English in Non-English Europe

Interesting! How about English speaking, is it possible to get by there? Socialise?

Yes, I know this effect everywhere. Currently at work in Germany (to be fair: also because it was previously just not practical; I should ask for speaking more german now), or when my girlfriend studied in the Netherlands she said the same. When I was in Finland, people spoke English really really well, but when I looked for an internship, there was not much available in the first place, and that which there was, all required speaking either Swedish or Finnish. (Probably this is better in the ca

so wrong... when you live in non-english speaking country, you will be quite isolated from the rest of the world, even if your freinds speak english. it's just they won't speak english all the time...

The OP asked for a place where he/she can speak English as well, and unfortunately this is not really the case.

I don't think you understand the proficiency needed to comfortably consume content in another language. Save for a few hotspots (Benelux, Nordics) most people say "yes, I speak a second language" because when they focus hard, they can say "me wants toilet" and that's enough for their use case (holiday abroad once a year). My mother is a teacher of English but when I brought a friend who only spoke English, I had to translate the conversation between them. This is th

Language is a considerable problem. You basically need it for the post office, your bank, your landlord, ISPs etc.My 6 years of learning German (in public schools) didn't help much. I'm learning now everyday, for more than a year, and I still cannot understand my doctor and my neighbors.As a fallback you just smile a lot and hope for the best.

Because a large percentage of Germans probably speak English so you can still communicate with them without learning German. This is not the same as a single language country.

It's not verbose but it seems pretty self-evident to me. In Europe most people speak only the local language and little English, if you don't speak the language you're not integrated.Your local businesses won't speak English, your baker, the cab drivers, the people working the public transport, at your local convenience store, the government officials, the deliverymen, your child's school-teacher, other parents at school, 90% of the people you will cross path with on

There is a good reason: not being antisocial to the people in the country you are visiting. Most Germans speak English, sure, but dealing with someone that doesn’t speak your native language is incrementally harder and your friend is externalizing that cost onto everyone he interacts with.

In parts of central Europe, I've found it easier to just speak English even when I know what I want to say in the native language. Lots of people from other countries who are also there getting by with English only, and people are so used to speaking English with foreigners that they're not used to hearing their own language in a foreign accent.