German in Italy

I've never heard German from an Italian in the tourist business. I don't think you will have any difficulty making your needs known, with the usual courtesy words to lubricate things, in those cities.

It is true that there are places where the largest contingent of tourists seems to be German - I remember maybe Madiera, eastern Belgium, and maybe Prague. I met a German in Reggio Emiglia who said (in English) he'd never heard English spoken in that city before he overheard us. But it's not such an obscure place.

You will be fine with English in the places you mentioned. Most people working in tourism know some phrases in several languages, but I would say English is more widely understood in Italy (except for South Tirol).

Debbie,

In the places you mentioned, Italian will be the most prominent language. As Zoe mentioned, if you were travelling in the northern parts such as Bolzano or Castellrotto, you'd encounter more German due to the history of the region.

It's certainly possible. When I only spoke about a dozen Italian words, I once called a hotel in Siena to ask about availability. I asked in Italian if she spoke English, she said no but then asked "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?". Since I do, we then switched to German for our conversation. I also agree with others who responded that you're likely to get by just fine with English in the places you mention but in my experience people appreciate if you try with even just a few words of their language so keep up with your studies.
Gute Reise!

Debbie, there is an area of Italy, in the far north-east against the Austrian border, where they speak German. Basically when they moved the border at the end of the First World War, they moved it too far so the international border does not correspond to the linguistic border.
This area is called Südtirol (in German), or Alto Adige (in Italian), all the villages have German-sounding names and alternative Italian names.

There are some areas that get more German-speaking tourists than English-speaking, particularly Adriatic beach resorts as they are the nearest bit of sea to southern Germany. In those areas tourist workers will speak some German, but they should also speak some English. In most of Italy people in the tourist trade will speak basic English.

You will have no trouble finding people who speak very good English in Florence and Venice. I always tried opening with my college days Italian (25 years ago!) but when people heard my Italian they'd switch to English. Vernazza might have fewer English speakers, not sure.

Have fun!

I have not had any issues in those areas, or any other places in Europe, with English and a smattering of local phrases, and I doubt that you will have a problem either.

The discussion does remind me of an incident early in my travels, in Italy, a guest was trying to order a meal, he obviously was German (I suppose Austrian or Swiss possibly) and the Italian waiter and him were just not communicating. After some back and forth the waiter asked if he spoke English, to which he said Yes, and they completed their transaction in basic English without a hitch. Lesson learned is, like it or not, English has become the international language of business and is the most commonly spoken second language, and is a vital skill in the hospitality industry.

Yes, learn some basic phrases, when speaking in English, speak clearly, keep to common words, maybe a bit slower than you might normally talk. If German happens to work, great, but I just do not think it will be the solution more than English would.

Three very touristy places. Of those, the German might be of most use in Vernazza, due to the large numbers of Germans who like to hike the Cinque Terre. English is, ironically, the lingua franca of Europe, so the go to in the tourist trade and EU government.
Where there is tourist commerce, there is serviceable english, though a hearty buongiorno, and proper manners are always appreciated. Grazi and prego.

English and a few well placed phrases in Italian...but you will find hotel and tourism people who do speak German...as Germans have been holidaying in Italy for over 150 years at least...On Ischia off the Bay of Naples it is the second language for sure...as others have pointed out it depends where you are geographically, is it closer to Germany or Switzerland and do German tourists still frequent the area...how large or " international" is the hotel that you are staying at??

Thanks for all the information, it's about what I thought. But just like most kids in junior high were taking Spanish or French in the 70's when I was going to school, some of us chose to study Russian so thought there might be the chance there would be some folks who would speak German vs English as a second language. I do want to try and learn as many phrases as possible because I think for the most part people appreciate the effort.

We've come a long way since the 70s. All you need is a smart phone and you can translate any english phrase into any other language.

"All you need is a smart phone and you can translate any english phrase into any other language."

Translator app's are not perfect, and in some cases they're not too accurate in conveying the desired meaning. Also, some of them require data access.

If you learn a few of the usual greetings and phrases in Italian, you should be able to manage just fine. Most of the people working in tourist businesses can function reasonably well in English.

In the Bolzano province German has official status - you can't even take a public office like working at the post or at the railway without taking a proficiency test in both German and Italian. Apart from that, it is not widely spoken - your chances may be a little better in the area west of Verona to Lake Garda, that has a lot of German tourists. You can even meet the occasional former emigrant to Germany that had to learn the language on the spot. But do not count too much on it.

You may be able to find more people speaking Russian than German in some areas....

Lots of Rusian speakers in Nice (France), for sure. I don't remember hearing much, if any, Russian in Italy.

I used to be fairly fluent in Russian 'back in the day', but haven't used it in so long that I only remember the basic phrases that I'm trying to learn in Italian. The German is better - it was my first language and what we spoke at home, although also something I don't use anymore. But certainly better than my Italian! :-)

Yes, Te-DES-co.

a raven, Russian tourism is growing rapidly in Italy. Multi-lingual signs/restaurant menus list Russian translations prominently.