language barrier

You will have no problems with English only.
enjoy.

In any area frequented by tourists you will find someone who speaks English. But you should make an effort to learn at least the polite phrases in each language - please, thank you, etc. - as well as menu terms.

Last Friday evening we were having dinner at Mantis Bar & Grill in Frankfurt. It's a great place for outside dining. A few tables away there was another couple, around our age. She was speaking very loudly almost as if we were on her private patio rather than sitting in the streets along a church wall. And she spoke American English - or as I suspected and as she then verified: Texas English. That lady just talked to everyone sitting around her or passing her table. It might have been due to the wine they were having but it's probably her personality, too. What happened was that more and more locals moved their chairs to the American couple's table and they were all having great fun. After about half an hour the lady knew exactly where they could go after dinner, where they would day-trip to the next day and where they would spend Saturday evening. And no, that lady didn't speak any German. She was just reaching out in a polite, probably quite uncommon way (to Germans) but in the end a lot of people obviously had a great time.

I think you will be fine. It depends, to some extent, on your English and where you're traveling. You're generally going to find English speakers in any tourist area. I was in the Hamburg train station and a couple was asking a local directions in a very thick Houston accent. At first I thought the German might not speak English so I intervened and asked their question in German, then translated his German response into English for the couple. The more I thought about it, the more I think their accent may have been the issue - just as I sometimes have trouble understanding rural Bavarian and some Austrian accents. If you have trouble, speak clearly and a little slower - not louder - to be understood. Many Swiss speak German and French but not English. There should be enough English speakers, though, to find someone you can talk to.

I like clearer slower but not louder. I would add that avoiding contractions and complex sentences helps. Knowing how to say please speak more slowly helps too. But my favorite aide is a pocket sized pad of paper and a pencil. If you can't make your German understood, write it down. If you can't understand the answer verbally you can often understand it written. When asking directions have a map handy. Pointing is universal. Or, ask them to draw a map on your handy pad of paper. That said, I very rarely need the pad. Most places someone speaks English or has the time to deal with my very limited foreign language skills.

"Last Friday evening we were having dinner at Mantis Bar & Grill in Frankfurt. It's a great place for outside dining. A few tables away there was another couple, around our age. She was speaking very loudly almost as if we were on her private patio rather than sitting in the streets along a church wall. And she spoke American English - or as I suspected and as she then verified: Texas English." Wha-wha?!? Was I in Frankfurt??? :-)

You can get by without knowing anything, but if i were you I would memorize a few key phrases in Czech, German, and Italian. "Do you speak English?" "Excuse me/pardon me/sorry" "Thank you" "Please" "Check, please!" Obviously hello and goodbye as well, but those are easy.

Shouldn't be a real problem. Don't worry about making mistakes. Just be polite and friendly. As an ex-pat, here are my guidelines: 1-Speak slowly, in very simple sentences (avoiding verbs helps sometimes). 2-Learn these words in the local language: Please, thank you, excuse me, yes, no, toilet.
Useful phases to know at restaurants are "I would like", "Check" (you won't get it at most sit-down places until you ask).

I agree. Learn a few words in the local language and bring a phrase list, be polite, and you should be fine. Use your common sense. German and Italian will have words that look similar to their English counterparts, and lots of signs are pictorial, not words, so you should be able to figure out some things.

Sorry Brad in a post said many Swiss speak French and German not English. Many if not all Swiss who are working in the tourist industry will have a knowledge of English, enough to answer most queries tourists have. So don't worry.

Nancy is right. English is pretty much the second language of the EU and will get you by. She is also very right that you should at least learn a few phrases in German and Italian starting with 1) Do you speak English, 2) excuse me, 3) yes and no, 4) thank you, 5) please, 6) the basic numbers 1-10. Just showing that you have made an efffort to learn their language goes a long way in improving attitudes.