Travelling abroad has never been as popular as what it is today and with so many cheap package deals and budget airlines tourists can visit almost any country in the world. Anyone planning to visit a country in northern Europe such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland will find that the majority of people speak German as their first language. Countries such as Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Northern Italy, Denmark, parts of Belgium and France also have communities that speak mostly German. German speaking people can also be found in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Spain and Turkey although obviously this is not their first language.
In England not many people bother to learn a different language as most countries in the world can speak a little English. Young people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland will learn it at school as a second language as do children in Spain, Cyprus and many other countries. For English people travelling to a German speaking country they will find the younger generation can usually understand English. The older people will not have been taught English at School so communication is usually difficult. Some people like to learn a little of the German language before they start travelling, by enrolling in German courses (Deutsch Kurse) during the winter months. By the time they travel in the summer time they usually have a basic knowledge to help them get around. Some countries like Spain have tourists from all over the world in search of the sunshine. At most Hotels and restaurants staff will be able to understand foreign visitors from England, Germany and France. The menus are usually written in many languages and ordering food is not a problem.
The German language is also spoken in many countries outside Europe such as Canada, Brazil and the United States owing to German emigration. Learning foreign languages is usually done while people are at school but there is always the opportunity to learn a language later at Evening School. The most popular language courses are Spanish, French, German, Italian and Greek. Some of these language courses run all year round and older people can often join a language class during school hours at a local College. Anyone learning German will have no problem with communication when visiting German speaking countries in Northern Europe.