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I travel... A Lot... One pet peeve I have is when “sophisticated” Europeans lament that Americans don’t travel or speak another language. I asked any of them if they realize just how geographically huge the USA is. I asked any of them if they realize just how much there is, for any type of traveler. They of course don’t. But I do have to cut them some slack. Compare travel in the world with any USA airport and you’ll see what a pain travel here is. If I want to pay to get groped I’ll go to...well...this is a kid friendly site.

Bingo! There's a joke that I was told by a German while stationed there in the Army.

Q: What do you call a person that speaks two languages?

A: Bilingual

Q: What do you call a person that speaks three languages?

A: Trilingual.

Q: What do you call a person so stupid that speaks only one language?

A: American?

I thought that was funny back in 1989 when I heard it. but one holiday when I got sick of my Danish brother-in-law talking smack about how he knew 4 languages I went off.

I can travel from the Mexican border to the Arctic Circle only speaking English. I can travel from Oregon to the UK only speaking English. When I lived in Europe I couldn't travel more than an hour without having to know a different language or dialect. My roommate's girlfriend was from Berlin, she couldn't communicate with Austrians that allegedly spoke the same language.

The difference is Americans will help a foreign visitor with words or pronunciation.

In France, waitresses and shop keepers will often pretend not to understand unless your pronunciation is exact. However, I did have a non-English speaking driver that helped me immensely learning pronunciation for a speech. Many (business people) do understand English.

I can travel from the Mexican border to the Arctic Circle only speaking English. I can travel from Oregon to the UK only speaking English. When I lived in Europe I couldn't travel more than an hour without having to know a different language or dialect. My roommate's girlfriend was from Berlin, she couldn't communicate with Austrians that allegedly spoke the same language.

Which is probably why more Europeans now do speak English, it has become the lingua franca as a matter of necessity.