Do people in small towns in Austria speak much English?

Question

I know that in almost all big cities with tourists in Europe they speak English, but I am going on an exchange in Europe and I want to go to a small town with little english speakers(to help learning german). I am curious, do most people in Austrian small towns speak English? And please only answer if you've been to small towns in Austria! Thanks!

Answer 1

From when I lived in Europe the one thing I can tell you is that there are very few places in western Europe where you can't find someone that speaks english.

Answer 2

It's my experience that people who are not exposed to English much don't speak English much. The way to get exposed to English, unfortunately, is tourism.

Unless it's Thal (the town Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in, which people might visit), I doubt anything smaller than Vienna or Salzburg would speak English, though the surrounding towns of those two big cities might speak it just because they hear it when they go into town.

I studied abroad in Ferrara, Italy for a semester. Now, it's a respectfully large city, but since no Americans really come to visit, hardly anyone got to practice the English they learned in high school. Sure they knew a few words from sophomore year, but their accent was very thick and I ended up just speaking Italian with everyone.

Once we went to neighboring Bologna, however - everyone would pick up on our American accent and switch straight into English. (Bit annoying, actually.)

So yeah - main point: I doubt. Stick to the small towns if you want to learn the language. Be forewarned however - you will have a strong Austrian accent when you learn German. ;)

Best of luck!

Answer 3

Yes, where I went, everyone spoke English.