If you want to travel, you need English. The level of penetration of English into various parts of the world continues to impress me. Granted, I have been spending my time in heavily touristed areas, but even in the less touristed areas, such as the Asian side of Istanbul, I found the service industry people spoke some English. Other travelers I met all spoke English with a reasonably high level of proficiency (with the notable exception of the Spaniards, not surprised by that), and local young people throughout Eastern Europe all had a basic grasp of the language.
When you hear a guy holding a Turkish-language city guide speaking English to a guy holding an Arabic-language city guide, you know English has really become the world's lingua franca.
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