About to tour europe?

hi all,

i speak spanish fluently and am about to tour europe. i realize that french and german and maybe dutch or more spoken there.

i don't expect have any problem in spain or portugal because i can make myself understood in portuguese. when i'm in italy should i ask in italian in anyone speaks english or should i say that i speak spanish and try to get by?

also when in germany france should i ask in english if they speak english or in there mother tongues. i am trying to brush up on my german and french but i'm certainly not fluent.

also without causing an argument, in which countries or areas might i find more english speakers in and where might i find less people with whom i can speak.

thanks for the help. by the way, would like to travel by train and stop at not-tourist areas.

English: everywhere in Europe.

In some Eastern European countries, like Russia or Ukraine it is not very spoken out of the touristic places. In some Mediterranean countries, like Portugal, Spain or Italy is not very spoken out of the touristic places. In France or Germany is more studied.

Spanish: it is useful in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and south of France. In Italy you can use a mixture of English and Spanish. There are some Hispanic and Spaniard minorities in some countries. It is also fourth most studied language in Europe after English, German and French.

Almost all people in France and Germany know at least a basic English.

you can diresctly use English without asking people in northern European countries: UK(of course), Netherlands, Flemish belgium, Denmark, Scandinavia. You can in Germany and Austria even if it is better to ask of they speak it before.

Never do it in France! and always ask if the person can speak a bit of English. Most younger people would be able to use a few english words, but it is considered very rude to use English directly, assuming the it is a normal language to use there. A lot of people don't speak it and English is still seen a the language of the eternal enemy. So always ask before using it if you don't want that people being rude with you.
You can try Spanish in France, a lot of people have learned it at school, you'll be better treated if you don't use English.

The same in Spain, try to avoid speaking English.

In Italy, you can use English in touristic places, but you'll pass for

"it is better to ask of they speak it before"

it is always a lot better


"You can try Spanish in France, a lot of people have learned it at school"

in my experience absolutely no one understands Spanish in France

It depends on which part of France you were. In Southern France (Tolouse, Nimes, Perpignan, Montpellier French Basque Country) Spanish is far more useful than English according to my experience.

Basic English everywhere.

" in my experience absolutely no one understands Spanish in France "

a lot of people does. Spanish is the second foreign language in France. It is the highest rate of of Europe of people who learned spanish.

Secondly, Spain is the country with whom France has the longest borders: so a lot of regions have been direct in contact with spanish (+basque and catalan) speaking world.

Aquitaine, Midi-pyrénées, Languedoc, west of Provence; the majority of people can speak Spanish there, some of them fluently (+Basque and Catalan).
Toulouse, Bordeaux, montpellier, Perpignan, Nimes, Arles are heavily Spanish-influenced cities. Even local folkore is hispanized: land of Gypsy kings, corridas, ferias, bodegas...

Southern France is being hispanized very fast.

" Southern France is being hispanized very fast "

What do you mean? france is not hispanizing nowadays, this influence is a thing of the past (sometime very long time away).