Education is almost always a good idea.
In Western Europe, for centuries, Latin was the universal language - spoken by no one but educated people (often a small minority) all knew it - and thus had some way to communicate with each other. For a time, French replaced it... and more recently, English. In my work, I occasionally need to speak to people in a wide variety of locales - Germany, France, Sweden, Japan, etc. It still surprises me a bit that I just email or phone and as soon as I say an English word - they respond in English. When I've traveled in Europe, it's rare to encounter someone who doesn't have at least a workable knowledge of English. I've been on a plane next to people of many countries - and generally have no problem having a conversation in English.
Funny story: I was in Spain (yeah, I can handle a bit of Spanish but I usually just speak English - when people look at this blonde/blue young man, they KNOW I'm not Spanish!). Anyway, I encountered this parrot in a restaurant. Clearly this bird had a pretty long list of words in many languages he knew and people loved "conversing" with him. Anyway, I went over and said, "Hola" The bird turned his head one way, then another - not responding to ME. I repeated, "Hola" and again, puzzlement. Finally I said, "Hola" and he replied clearly and loudly, "Hello." I can't even fool a parrot.
