In Prague most people spoke English, but when you encounter people who don't speak English you have to master pointing at menus and simple phrases to get by. Tess Woodbury, oboe

Most of the time, our mannerisms marked us as American, and people spoke English to us in varying degrees of fluency. However, in some cases, speech was not necessary at all, especially when we could bond in a different manner. The integrity of the tour truly manifested towards the end, when we had the joint concert with the Potsdam Youth Orchestra. Being a much larger group did nothing to deter us from moving quickly in the Dvorak, and evidently, the unity of us all, despite the spoken language barrier, was brilliant. Music served enough as a common language. It was one German, one American per stand, but we understood each other on the same pieces better than broken phrases ever could express. Edith Karuna, violin

During the plane ride to Frankfurt, my friend speaks fluent German and so he taught me a lot of words and I was able to speak to someone and have an actual conversation in German!!!!!!!!! (Even thought that person spoke English) Other than that I spoke to everyone in English! Robby Morales, viola

Practically everyone in the European community speaks English and those who do not understand universal "Body Language". Jill Reisner, trombone

It was interesting because Europe has been so "Americanized" in so many ways that even when I had to go out and buy something, there were enough American brands for me to recognize what I was buying. In both countries though, a huge population spoke English, especially in Germany. Also, traveling in such a big group makes language barriers even less significant since you always have someone to talk to. Suzie Li, violin

Everyone spoke English. The young people there were all learning English at school (as well as other languages!) Kirsten Skabelund, violin

Most people were able to speak a little bit of English. When we played with the Potsdam Youth Orchestra, there was no need for words; I felt like the music we were playing together did the job. Ann Rodier, violin