A single shared tongue sounds convenient until the right bus, the proper medicine, or the exact dish becomes urgent. Recent polling suggests plenty of travelers now lean on phone-based interpreting, with Global Rescue reporting 59% of respondents use translation apps during trips. American Express travel research also points to translation help as a common way travelers use generative AI while planning.
This slideshow highlights destinations where that backup matters most. The picks come from low placements in EF’s EF EPI 2025, which ranks English proficiency using test results from 2.2 million adults across 123 countries and regions. Expect decent English in some big hubs, then a sharp drop once you are dealing with local transport, pharmacies, and everyday errands.
1. Japan
In EF’s EF EPI 2025, Japan is ranked 96th with an EF EPI score of 446, placing it in the “very low proficiency” band. The language challenge is not only spoken English. Three writing systems mean quick decoding is hard, and a destination printed in Latin letters can fail once you leave international-facing areas.
That gap shows up in visitor feedback. A Japan Tourism Agency survey found 15.2% of foreign visitors reported difficulty communicating with facility staff. Prep beats bravado: save key destinations in Japanese characters and keep a map-pin screenshot offline. Dining gets easier when you order by pointing at photos, plastic models, or set-meal numbers.
2. Thailand
Thailand sits even lower in EF’s 2025 ranking: 116th, with a score of 402. Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya often have enough service English for basics, but transport counters and market stalls can go quiet fast once you leave the most tourist-heavy lanes.
Thai script adds friction because many everyday signs are not bilingual outside major terminals. Handle logistics before you lose Wi-Fi: store your hotel name, your next stop, and two or three key addresses as images. For food, learn one simple heat-control phrase, then gesture toward what you want and signal quantity with your fingers.
3. Mexico
Mexico ranks 103rd in the EF EPI 2025 with a score of 440. Outside resort corridors and international business zones, Spanish is the default for pharmacies, small eateries, and ticket windows. Even confident speakers can get tripped up by regional slang and fast, friendly delivery.
A small language toolkit goes a long way here: numbers, days, and a short request pattern you can reuse with different nouns. Typed questions often land better than spoken ones because the screen shows accents and spacing clearly. When replies come rapid-fire, asking for slower speech usually works, especially if you stay polite and unhurried.
4. China
China is ranked 86th with an EF EPI score of 464 in the 2025 dataset. You will see English in large airports and some rail stations, but smaller restaurants and local taxi interactions may run entirely on Chinese characters. Mispronounced pinyin can derail a ride, so written text matters more than voice.
Save key locations in Chinese script and keep them accessible offline. Menu choices get simpler when you pick places with photos, then point and confirm using the item number or a receipt line. For navigation, route screenshots are lifesavers when the signal drops or a map app flips languages mid-trip.
5. Egypt
Egypt appears 89th in the EF EPI 2025 with a score of 458. Resort staff and major museums can feel straightforward, but street-level errands in Cairo or Luxor often run on Arabic. Dialect differences plus traffic noise make back-and-forth harder than it looks in a glossy brochure.
Keep bargaining and prices visual: write the number, show the total, and confirm on a calculator before money changes hands. A guide for one intense day can lower friction when you would rather focus on history than negotiation. Two courtesy words in Arabic, delivered calmly, often buy you a smoother interaction than perfect grammar ever could.