transportation assistance

Where are you traveling to/through? I'm also not sure what you mean by "Is there a way to request English translation"? Each county's rail operator does things a bit different, but it's not uncommon to hear announcements for upcoming stops in English. There are also digital displays inside some carriages, and signs on the platforms.
You say you've traveled around the world so figuring out the European trains should be easy for an experienced traveler. After just a couple trips you'll be an expert:)

This video will give you some tips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moLGxdId9uU

European trains are well explained on the website www.seat61.com

Ask someone !!!! If we have any questions, we simply find a friendly face and ask, especially after they make one of those announcements that no one understands. Second, we always focus on the stop before we have to get off. Once we see that stop, then we know the next stop is ours. Confirm it with the conductor if one comes around or ask someone in the seat next to you. We have never had any problems with getting good directions from the locals.

If you know in advance the town you will be going between, go to the German Rail website and find connections. Click on the '>' symbol at the end of the row with the connection you want, and it will expand to show all of the trains. If you click on "show intermediate stops", it will show all of the stations, with times, that you will go through. Or click on a train number. It is a link to all of the stops, including the final destination, of that train.

There are signs over the tracks (in Germany, at least) with the track number, the current time, the next train, it's destination and maybe some major upcoming stops, the expected departure time.

As Michael mentioned, more and more there are displays at the ends of the car with the next stop.

I am well passed middle age (69)and this is what I do and did for one of our trips which was 8 weeks and 8 countries.

Using mostly Die Bahn, I prepared a small report binder with tabs.

I printed the train scheduled for the entire day for our travel days which included: Station/Stop, Date, Time, Platform and Products, i.e., type of train etc. Normally, I printed out the Time Tables for trains with the less stops. That way we could decide which train to take on our departure from a city.

We would arrive at the train station early enough to verify the platform, etc.

Upon arriving in a city we purchased our seat reservation if necessary for our departure date.

We never had a problem or anything go wrong with our trains.

Hope this helps you.

BTW, we were traveling with a Rail Pass.

In order to determine if you need a Rail Pass and if your itinerary is firm do the following:

Determine the number of travel days.

Do your homework and determine the cost of a Point-To-Point ticket for each travel day. If the cost of a PTP ticket is less than using a Rail Pass Day...then plan on buying a PTP.

Doing homework before traveling can save money and time.

One thing we have learned is not to go down the platform until about ten minutes or less before the train arrives in stations with multi platforms. We stay where we can watch the arrival/departure board. On two different occasions many years ago we arrived earlier, went down the platform to wait for our train only to find at the last minute that the platform had been change and it was rush to get to the correct platform. Now we wait till we know for sure.

The video posted by Michael is extremely informational if you're new (or newish) to train travel. A refresher never hurts...Don't ask...But it was a close call...

Ditto Lee, JB, and Frank. [and JB, just barely passed ;-)]

And as Frank pointed out, check the board as your train is scheduled to arrive - they can move around some at the last minute.

I usually take a print-out of what Lee described, but many trains (esp. German) will have mini timetables laying around on the seats. They list all of the stops, too. Then periodically, as we pull into a station, I look for the station sign on the platform (sometimes I can see it, sometimes I can't). That lets me know where we are, and if we're still on schedule. Then, when it's nearly time (according to my watch and the schedule), I start gathering my things and paying attention to EVERY single stop we make, looking for mine. If you try to follow along with the schedule and listen to the announcements, sometimes you can actually get the hang of that person's accent and understand more that you'd expect. I understand it can be very difficult when listening for a station name with your 'English ear', but those darn Germans speak in German' LOL! (btw, the Italians, French, and Belgians do it, too!)

To make sure you're on the correct train car, simply ask. There are usually several train personnel standing around on the platform, waiting for people to ask them questions LOL! Somewhere on the door/window to the car (or just inside it - look around) is a sheet of paper or a little computer screen showing just where that particular train car is going. Just like in that video clip.

I hope this made some sense!

If you have a specific question about a particular city, let us know. BUT, learning that 'Venezia' is spelled/pronounced 'Venice' in English does you a disservice - you'll practically NEVER hear 'Venice' announced on the train. And you'll continue on to Uzbekistan...