Lingua anglica

Everyone speaks English

It's almost embarrassing how little effort you need to make with another country's language in most of Eastern Europe we've visited so far.

English has become the lingua franca - it's the diplomatic language. In these ex-Soviet countries, most of the population learnt Russian, but they don't want to speak it due to negative associations with the regime of that time.

People used to speak French, but who speaks French, besides those from France and maybe a few ex-colonies of that country? America is the place, baby, the world economy, king of the big guns. So the lingo is Englico!

At major tourist attractions, most of the information is in the local language, and in English. On English guided tours, you find Germans, Spaniards, Swiss, etc. Because it's easier to take the regular English tour than wait around for what, once-a-week tour in Finnish? Anyway, they understand English perfectly, or at least, well enough to catch the gist of tour-speak -- it's not rocket science.

With everyone here speaking their native tongue, plus English, plus often another language or two besides, I feel a bit one-dimensional with my one-language brain. I feel a bit exposed somehow, like I don't have a private code in which to express my own thoughts, or those of my culture.

If that exists!