Communicating with airport staff at Frankfurt airport?

Question

Here's the situation.... my dad-in-law (who generally hates travelling) is travelling, and will have a stopover at the Frankfurt airport. Apparently, he is ready to change his flight (already booked) because he is convinced that the airport staff at Frankfurt airport do not speak English, and he is afraid that he will not be able to communicate in case he has any problems. Could someone please help me out and tell me if there are staff members available to assist only-english speaking travellers at Frankfurt airport!

Thanks!

Answer 1

Assure him he will have absolutely no problem at all.  I wouldn't say that native German speakers who speak English are more "sophisticated" than we are, but they are fluent.  Flight announcements are made in both German and English, so there are no worries about getting to his gate, etc.  Airline employees will normally have flags displayed on their name tags which signifies which language they speak.  In Europe, most speak at least three langauges and one fo those langauages is always English.  Really, no worries.

Answer 2

He won't have any trouble whatsoever finding someone who can speak English fluently. I've been to Germany twice, once for 5 weeks and once for 3 months. My girlfriend is German, I've lived there, travelled all over the country, and know firsthand that probably 90% of Germans have a working knowledge of English, moreso than most Americans have a working knowledge of Spanish. The younger generation of Germans are particularly fluent in English because they start teaching it in kindergarten (which, by coincidence, is a German word meaning "garden of children") and continuously teach it all the way through college.

Particularly at such a huge airport as Franfurt Am Turm, there won't be any struggle to find where he is going. There are signs, announcements, and plenty of English speakers there to help.

English really is the second language of the world. With American-led globalization and Hollywood's world-wide appeal, English is the most taught second language in the world. Most other countries are much more bilingual than the USA.

Also, tell your father in law to stop by McDonald's in the airport and have a nice, thick, and tasty German beer. When I first went to Germany at age 19, I thought it was so cool how they served beer at McDonald's - and good beer, too - not Miller Lite or Bud Lite but real beer. I had a two hour layover, and so I sat down at McDonald's and enjoyed a few glasses of Heffeweisen. The irony was that I hate McDonald's and hadn't eaten there in years, but when I left the USA it was the first place I ate.

Answer 3

Of course there will be english speaking staff! You can call the airline ahead of time and ask for someone to be appointed to help your dad in law out... I travel to frankfort all the time and although i speak both languages, i usually use english, and i am always understood :)

Answer 4

All answers have been good, and I think have answered your question. My mother was 78 when she came over for a visit and had no problems getting around the Frankfurt Airport, and said it was certainly easier than JFK.

Another interesting thing at the Frankfurt Airport is the Network of people that the security and customs personal use if they have a traveler who does not understand English or German; They call somewhere in the airport and within minutes an airport employee is there who can speak whatever langauge is required.

As one answer as already stated an American would have more problems being understood at airports in England.

One other thing all signs at the Frankfurt Airport are in German and English.

Answer 5

Your dad-in-law will have no problem.

At any information desk are english speaking people.

Answer 6

my grandma went through frankfurt without any problems.  If your dad in law is elderly he can request shuttle service to his gate if it is far.  frankfurt is huge and he might need it.  but they all speak english to an understandable level.

Answer 7

Sorry, but this question is almost bordering on insult.

English is the language of international aviation and travel.  It is a requirement for airline and service staff at airports - worldwide - to speak English practically fluently.  Apart from that, English is taught as a compulsory subject for at least 5 years in all German schools and most Germans would have a working knowledge of it.  Professionals and business people speak it very well but "sere may be a slight problem wis se pronunciation" since we Germans find it sometimes difficult to get the "th" right :-).

Depending on where you father in law comes from he may have more problems communicating with a Scott or an Aussie than with a German.

Answer 8

as far as I know, almost everyone speaks English, and several other languages as well....just don't ask the janitor or cleaning lady in the bathroom...

Answer 9

Most of the staff speaks english. Unless he's some really weird

accent he won't have any communication problems.

Answer 10

There are plenty of people at Frankfurt airport who speak english.  I don't know if speaking English is a requirement to work at the airport, but I would say that most of them probably do.

Answer 11

They probably speak better English than he does...they are actually sophisticated, Jezzzz,

Frankfurt is the airline hub of Europe...I think they've seen a foreigner before....

Go to the on line diagram of the airport and you can draw him a map..It is big...

Answer 12

They ALL speak English!