I don't think language is the issue, but many of the machines have terrible UI design even if you select English or your native language. In SF you have to ins

I don't think language is the issue, but many of the machines have terrible UI design even if you select English or your native language. In SF you have to insert your Clipper card TWICE, and listen to 9600 baud modem beep-booping in-between, and many stations don't even have recharge machines, and you have to go Walgreens (WTF) to get a transit card. In China international credit cards aren't even accepted by the machines. In general tourists and business travellers are stuck dealing with cash while locals use mobile payments, which require a local SIM card and local bank account to use. (Now visitors can legally get these with just their passport, after which they can enjoy all the benefits of the Chinese internet ecosystem, but it's time consuming getting in line for them, it's almost impossible for people who don't speak the local language, and not all bank tellers actually know how to input a passport number instead of a national ID number into their system.) I imagine similar things happen with other countries that implement their own payment systems -- tourists get left out. Most of them have terrible UX for tourists.