I was wondering about this. People tend to say that France is very difficult if you don’t speak French, but that seems like it might only be the hardest of the “mainstream” tourist choices. How about really far out countries? And what about English-speaking countries if you don’t speak English?
Any world travelers have an opinion on this?
I’d say it would have to be a combination of a language you don’t speak, and a culture that’s completely alien to you. France is doable with English alone, although I’m not guaranteeing you’ll have a great time. 
I’m thinking of countries like Mongolia. English won’t help you there, and it’s about as big an opposite to “western” civilisation as possible. Which is not to say they’re uncivilised, but you’d have a hard time adjusting.
Europe is a snap if you are amonolingual English speaker. virtually everybody there speaks it with some fluency, and going by my experiences with the hot men at the Eagle in Amsterdam, the Dutch are the best at English and , uh, nonverbal communication.
In my experience, the most difficult country to get around in without knowing the language is china. Oh, sure, people in Shanghai and Beijing speak it well, but you try getting around in rural Szechaun province with only English.
I speak little French but it was fine when I was there for two weeks. First of all they all speak it, and second my knowledge of Spanish & little Italian helped.
Last year I was in Bulgaria for 10 days. Impossible. Alphabet is different, and the words are just different. On top of that, the head nod is no, and the shakeing of the head is yes. Even in Sofia very few spoke English, but it is changing, the younger people are learning it. American music, mtv, clothes, etc is taking over.
Yeah, in France, pretty much everyone spoke English…which didn’t give me ample opportunity for practicing my francais. <pout> But I’ve heard that in the more suburban areas, other than Paris (where I went), you rely more on your knowledge of French, if you know it.
I spent a month in Hanamaki, Japan a while back. There were only a few people in the whole city who spoke English, but they did have a McDonalds, with a picture menu. So I could eat…and my translator was quite edible too. But the train stations were a bear…I also spent some time in Burkina Faso, forget about it. I spent 5 hours in the medic station, trying to explain I’d had all my shots, but $5 later, we had perfect communication.
How easy is it to get around in the USA if you don’t speak English?
Good point. Pretty much impossible I believe…
What I meant was …first of all they all seem to speak ENGLISH-of course they speak French - d’oh! Of course they all don’t speak English, but it was just difficult enough to make it fun and challenging, which is one of the reasons I went. And Spanish & Italian do resemble it in some ways.