In the touristy places is no problem, but outside (such as at the sauna) not so much, which is pretty normal for all of Europe. Mind you, it's surprising how much you can say when no one speaks the same language, as I discovered with those 2 Russians. I speak French and a tiny bit of German, and between the 3 languages (English too) it's surprising how much you can cobble together (such as in Central America, I started to find Spanish more intelligible.)
The only place I've yet had language terror that could potentially land me in real difficulties was China. That's one place I'd really recommend you go with a guide or in a tour unless you've been raised with the required dialects.
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Mind you, it's surprising how much you can say when no one speaks the same language, as I discovered with those 2 Russians.
I speak French and a tiny bit of German, and between the 3 languages (English too) it's surprising how much you can cobble together (such as in Central America, I started to find Spanish more intelligible.)
The only place I've yet had language terror that could potentially land me in real difficulties was China. That's one place I'd really recommend you go with a guide or in a tour unless you've been raised with the required dialects.