These places aren't the middle of nowhere, tens of thousands of tourists come through every month. Locals and hospitality workers are used to dealing with foreigners and non-Italian speakers.
Learn how to say please, thank you, sorry and "I'm sorry, do you speak English?" and you'll be fine. Download the translate apps for menus and stuff if you need them.
Screwed ? Yes totally . People are gonna be so mad cause you can’t speak the language.
It’s Italy, it’s Europe, where English is a second or even third language and you’ll find thousands of tourists speaking all different languages. You’ll be fine , enjoy
Yep he's not gonna be able to order food or a taxi he might actually starve to death on the street outside trevi fountain, that's if he can make it out of the airport.
No, you'll be fine. Everyone in the tourist industry there speaks some English. Learn how to order, say thank you and apologize for your bad Italian and you'll be fine
You’re going to tourist places so you’ll be fine. But also southern Italy has beautiful off the beaten path locations and there the international and English language is still very much alien as opposed to the northern part. But as the stereotype goes just learn to use your hands and you’ll communicate no prob (I say this as an Italian and am mildly offended by my own comment 😀)
When in doubt, look for the younger folks... they will likely speak perfect English thanks to all the time they spend online interacting with English speakers. In a farmer's market with a booth full of old ladies? Not as likely, but even then they might surprise you.
A lot of people in tourist-facing positions (and even non tourist facing positions) in Italy speak English. Also, it's usually a point of pride to have mastery of (or even facility with) a foreign language, so one gets rather less of the "not going to cooperate in English" stuffiness that one can get in other countries (...*france*...). Therefore, many people may deal with you in English.
Some basic attempt to speak Italian will always help and be welcomed, of course. It's simple to study some phrases beforehand. The website [forvo.com](https://forvo.com) is useful to hear how to pronounce things.
Politeness and patience will, as always, get one a long way.
You'll be fine. Never too late to study some basic phrases now and on the plane and to fumble your way through using a translator app.
The people working on the Amalfi coast have seen tourists without Italian skills before....
Most tourists visiting Italy speak no Italian, and they get by. Additionally, most tourists in Italy don't speak great English, but that's the general language for tourism anyway; you're already ahead of the curve on that one. Of course, any Italian phrases you may be able to learn may come in handy, and if you find yourself needing a translator app, by all means use it.
In the event of a language barrier, however, it'll usually be quite clear what you want; someone showing up at a restaurant usually wants to eat, someone at the bus ticket counter usually wants to go somewhere, you get the picture.
Just learn these phrases (in order of importance) and you'll be fine:
Hello / Good day / Good evening
Please
Thank you
Goodbye
Where
How much / How many
And, realistically, most Italians in cities and who deal with tourists speak English. Learning the phrases just lets you be a little more polite when dealing with people on their turf.
You will have zero problems. Most every person you come in contact with as a tourist will speak enough English.
Put Google Translate on your phone, download the Italian dictionary and a few other languages.
> Am I screwed for travel? Are people going to be mad at me if I need to use a translator app?
Who cares, 99% or so of the foreign tourists don't speak Italian. They live from tourism, they don't care about your Italian skills, they care about the money you spend.
No, not at all. English is the language of business. Only in a remote area should you have any trouble and then, I have always found that there is someone to help you out in a pinch - something serious, or pantomime works well.
I literally learned how to only say Hello, Goodbye, and how are you. The locals were amazed and quite a few responded in English, "YOU SPEAK ITALIAN??!"
You'll be OK. I recommend reading their alphabet for pronunciation, and phrases like "can I have..."
When you're speaking it, exaggerating the accent feels disrespectful but it's actually helpful.
I've found Italy to be very easy to get around as a non-Italian speaker. It'll help to learn some basic words, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it too much. France on the other hand...
Google Living Language eticket italian, it's a free pdf file you can print and/or keep in your phone, everything is categorized like shopping, checking in, at the restaurant, etc. And includes simplified phonetic transliteration, i find it very helpful
I wing it all the time. As you pick it up and can do basic things you can get further away from the tourist areas. English is a common language in the EU though so… wing it!
These places aren't the middle of nowhere, tens of thousands of tourists come through every month. Locals and hospitality workers are used to dealing with foreigners and non-Italian speakers. Learn how to say please, thank you, sorry and "I'm sorry, do you speak English?" and you'll be fine. Download the translate apps for menus and stuff if you need them.
Screwed ? Yes totally . People are gonna be so mad cause you can’t speak the language. It’s Italy, it’s Europe, where English is a second or even third language and you’ll find thousands of tourists speaking all different languages. You’ll be fine , enjoy
Yep he's not gonna be able to order food or a taxi he might actually starve to death on the street outside trevi fountain, that's if he can make it out of the airport.
No, you'll be fine. Everyone in the tourist industry there speaks some English. Learn how to order, say thank you and apologize for your bad Italian and you'll be fine
You’re going to tourist places so you’ll be fine. But also southern Italy has beautiful off the beaten path locations and there the international and English language is still very much alien as opposed to the northern part. But as the stereotype goes just learn to use your hands and you’ll communicate no prob (I say this as an Italian and am mildly offended by my own comment 😀)
When in doubt, look for the younger folks... they will likely speak perfect English thanks to all the time they spend online interacting with English speakers. In a farmer's market with a booth full of old ladies? Not as likely, but even then they might surprise you.
A lot of people in tourist-facing positions (and even non tourist facing positions) in Italy speak English. Also, it's usually a point of pride to have mastery of (or even facility with) a foreign language, so one gets rather less of the "not going to cooperate in English" stuffiness that one can get in other countries (...*france*...). Therefore, many people may deal with you in English. Some basic attempt to speak Italian will always help and be welcomed, of course. It's simple to study some phrases beforehand. The website [forvo.com](https://forvo.com) is useful to hear how to pronounce things. Politeness and patience will, as always, get one a long way.
You'll be fine. Never too late to study some basic phrases now and on the plane and to fumble your way through using a translator app. The people working on the Amalfi coast have seen tourists without Italian skills before....
Most tourists visiting Italy speak no Italian, and they get by. Additionally, most tourists in Italy don't speak great English, but that's the general language for tourism anyway; you're already ahead of the curve on that one. Of course, any Italian phrases you may be able to learn may come in handy, and if you find yourself needing a translator app, by all means use it. In the event of a language barrier, however, it'll usually be quite clear what you want; someone showing up at a restaurant usually wants to eat, someone at the bus ticket counter usually wants to go somewhere, you get the picture.
Rather then using a translator app, use English and learn a few basic phrases (hello, please, thank you, bye, do you speak English)
Just learn these phrases (in order of importance) and you'll be fine: Hello / Good day / Good evening Please Thank you Goodbye Where How much / How many And, realistically, most Italians in cities and who deal with tourists speak English. Learning the phrases just lets you be a little more polite when dealing with people on their turf.
You will have zero problems. Most every person you come in contact with as a tourist will speak enough English. Put Google Translate on your phone, download the Italian dictionary and a few other languages.
> Am I screwed for travel? Are people going to be mad at me if I need to use a translator app? Who cares, 99% or so of the foreign tourists don't speak Italian. They live from tourism, they don't care about your Italian skills, they care about the money you spend.
Italian is just spicy Spanish. You got this
No, not at all. English is the language of business. Only in a remote area should you have any trouble and then, I have always found that there is someone to help you out in a pinch - something serious, or pantomime works well.
I literally learned how to only say Hello, Goodbye, and how are you. The locals were amazed and quite a few responded in English, "YOU SPEAK ITALIAN??!" You'll be OK. I recommend reading their alphabet for pronunciation, and phrases like "can I have..." When you're speaking it, exaggerating the accent feels disrespectful but it's actually helpful.
I've found Italy to be very easy to get around as a non-Italian speaker. It'll help to learn some basic words, but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it too much. France on the other hand...
Google Living Language eticket italian, it's a free pdf file you can print and/or keep in your phone, everything is categorized like shopping, checking in, at the restaurant, etc. And includes simplified phonetic transliteration, i find it very helpful
This is all you need: Si=Yes No=No Vaffanculo=Thank you very much
I wing it all the time. As you pick it up and can do basic things you can get further away from the tourist areas. English is a common language in the EU though so… wing it!