Would I have a problem if I went to Greece or Italy with the language?

Question

Would it be a big inconvience if I went to italy or greece not knowing the language?

Answer 1

In Greece never, because mostly the people speak many languages especially in the touristic places..Italy yes..I can assure you, because i travel to Italy 3 times per year, certainly i dont have problems because i speak fluently the language, but there the language problem is very big..Italians dont speak foreign languages, even if they have one of the most beautiful countries of the world..
But in some touristic places you ll not face a big problem

Answer 2

Well I guess it depends if you are going for holidays or if you are going there to stay.In both cases you won't have a huge problem since most Greeks do speak English,but if you are planning to stay for good you might wanna consider learning the language,since it will be easier for you to communicate,plus we Greeks do appreciate someone that makes an effort to know our language,I mean we know it's one of the most difficult so we won't judge if you don't speak it perfectly,but we will appreciate you making an effort to communicate with us in our language.
But having an "foreigner" mother my self who has a lot of friends who don't speak Greek(my mother does,not perfect but very good for a dutch,lol) I can tell you,living in Greece without knowing the language is possible,just not the most convenient.
About Italy I can't tell you much,the few times I went they didn't speak English(or they didn't want to),but it's been years since then so things might have changed!Maybe you should ask at the Italian section...

Answer 3

In Italy, it depends on where you go. You will not have any problem in the major tourist destinations, but if you go to the smaller towns there will be fewer people who speak English and announcements in the train stations will be in Italian only. It's always good to know a little of the language even if you don't get the opportunity to use it.

Answer 4

Not at all. Both countries receive tourists from all over the world, who don't encounter any difficulties, and most people in Greece speak very good English. In Italy they don't, but they are very willing to communicate and you'll get by.

Answer 5

I've been living in Italy till a couple of years ago, and certainly it's not the perfect place for foreigners not speaking Italian (often it's not the perfect place even for common and normal Italian language).
On the contrary in Greece you will meet no difficulty even in the small villages: Greek children learn English in tuition centers almost for half a century and on.

Answer 6

Being Greek-Italian I can assure you that in Greece you will find no problem, as almost all Greeks speak more or less English.
But in Italy you will certainly meet a great inconvenience, as native Italians do not usually speak other languages than theirs, and if they do, they have a very peculiar pronunciation that makes their speech difficult to understand.
Of course at touristic places it's going to be easier for you to make yourself understood, but I doubt if you will understand them easily.

Answer 7

Uhhhh you should be okay, just make sure you know the basics like i dont speak greek. In greek, greek is Eleeneeka and American is Americano.
Greece gets a lot of tourists so they are used to it, plus they are required to teach english in Greece so many of them know a little american

Answer 8

In Italy (i haven't been to Greece yet so don't have any comments sorry)
even if i know Italian because they understood that i am a foreigner they started to speak in English. That was sweet:)
They are very helpful so are Greeks so i don't think that you will have a problem.
Have fun.

Answer 9

I don't know about Italy, but most Greek people speak English, so I don't think you'll have a problem.

Have a good trip!

Answer 10

When I went there, it would have been helpful to know some of the basics. In the airports and everything they have English, but if you want to go to the less touristy areas, you should know some.