5 ms·

I live in Vilnius and you can easily get by just by speaking English, you only really need Lithuanian (or Russian, although younger people often don't speak it)

• antupis 5y ago
  In IT English is de facto language in Finland. For other sectors it depends but generally everyone under 60 speaks at least ok level English.
• drcongo 5y ago
  Anecdotally, every Finn I've met speaks pretty much perfect English.
  • axelroze 5y ago
    Can speak and will speak are two different things. Many people can speak English but would like not to. This is especially the case in groups where foreigners are much less in number than natives. They can all speak English but feel unhappy about having to do that to accommodate the foreigners. Unless Helsinki citizens reach a state in which English is a native language for them and feel other English speakers as co-natives, this whole declaration will be essentially useless at the level of the people foreigners interact with every day. And these matter most. Shopkeeps, colleagues, etc. In essence being able to speak English does not make one less tribal. Cultural integration of foreigners is very hard to do without learning and living with the native language. Due to this 'expats' flock to places where they pay least taxes and have largest amount of other foreigners to socialize with, e.g. Amsterdam.
    • drcongo 5y ago
      I'm not sure this comment was supposed to be a reply to mine. I was just answering the parent and making no claims about desire to speak English, tribalism, cultural integration etc. However I largely agree with what you've written.
    • type0 5y ago
      > Due to this 'expats' flock to places where they pay least taxes and have largest amount of other foreigners to socialize with, e.g. Amsterdam. 'expat' - a word North Americans and Western Europeans like to use to avoid calling themselves immigrants. Usage: Josh is an expat. José is an immigrant. (from urbandictionary.com)
      • TMWNN 5y ago
        >'expat' - a word North Americans and Western Europeans like to use to avoid calling themselves immigrants. Usage: Josh is an expat. José is an immigrant. What nonsense. North Americans and Western Europeans who call themselves expats are exactly that, expatriates, because they aren't planning to stay in the place they're living in forever. If an American or Briton ends up marrying a local, obtaining citizenship, and working in a "normal" (that is, one not typical for expats) job, such a person will readily call himself a immigrant, too. But most don't do that; they will finish their contract, or their educational program, or their series of casual jobs they get to pay their way while "finding themselves" in Prague or Florence or Buenos Aires, and return home.
• gpvos 5y ago
  But how is the situation outside Vilnius and the other large cities and tourist areas? Nowadays you can even get around with English in most of France. Spain is trickier though.
  • fy20 5y ago
    As a tourist it shouldn't be an issue, but if you want to work there (not that there is really much to do outside big cities) you will have issues if you don't speak Lithuanian or Russian. But that's the same as if a non-French speaker tried to find work in somewhere like Valence.