There are so many tourists and students from the English speaking countries in Florence that you will hear more English in the streets of Florence than in any large city in America. Guaranteed.
Learning Italian words is totally unnecessary in Florence since the chances for you of dealing with actual Italians in Florence are very low. The entire staff in bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops are all immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe and a good number from North Africa. Brazilians, Argentinians (South Americans in general) and Iranians have a large contingent as well, especially among the vendors at the carts of the San Lorenzo market (none of whom is Italian). Learning how to say Good morning, or good evening, in Romanian, Albanian, Ukranian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Farsi, and Spanish will actually carry more weight in restaurants, gelato shops, hotel maids, market etc. Some Italian knowledge might be helpful with policemen, bankers, museums staff, taxi drivers, bus drivers, restaurant/hotel owners, high end shops assistants, high tech stores assistants (e.g. Apple Store, Vodafone store). Those are pretty much the only Italians you will be dealing with in the city center of Florence, but most of them will speak English at some level.
If you venture outside of Florence your chances of actually meeting an Italian will be greater. To ensure your English is understood, follow these rules:
- Old Italians are less likely to speak any English. Italians of high school/college age, young professionals, are likely to speak English at a decent level.
- Speak English slowly (louder doesn't help, but slower does)
- Do not use contractions. Say cannot, instead of can't, say does not instead of doesn't. Say I will not instead of won't.
- Avoid the English possessive. Instead of saying 'my mother's bag', say 'the bag of my mother'.
- Try to use sophisticated English words of Latin or Greek origin. They are more likely similar in Italian. Say automobile instead of car. Say to photograph instead of to take pictures. Say acquire instead of buy. Say cinema instead of movie. Say Desire instead of wish. Say obtain instead of get. Actually avoid "get" altogether. 'Get' in English can mean a thousand different things depending on the context or the presence of another word with it (get down, hard to get, get going, get done, get something, get mad, get even, get over here, get serious, get screwed, etc). Find a synonym that doesn't imply the use of 'get' or 'got'. The word "Get" confuses all non English speaking people.
