[lordnacho]

Not sure this means anything. Almost every European country has a huge number of English speakers. Few Americans speak one of the local languages of Europe well enough to live there. Plus, we'd have to assume people were well informed in general about living conditions in various places.

[hansvm]

Anecdotally, not a single American I've talked to who was on the fence about moving to Europe was deterred by not knowing the native language well enough. Whether overly optimistic or not, the prospect of spending a few months learning well enough to barely get by and spending more time later to become more adept never amounted to even a footnote in the deciding factors.

[lordnacho]

Sure, they convince themselves that everyone speaks English, which is generally true in the kinds of places that hire expats.

But plenty of them find it hard to fit in socially, and then leave later.

[trgn]

Yeah, the language factor is hugely underrated.

I think it's less the money aspect, and more the fact that American society is more bland, uniform. It's easier to fit in. In Europe, unless it's a true international metro (amsterdam, london, brussels, ...), there's a huge cultural barrier. You just can't hitch into it as an adult. Your children will fit in, but not you.

[hansvm]

That doesn't seem relevant to your original point. Is it supposed to be, or is this a separate thread of conversation?

[nvm0n2]

It's irrelevant, you can get by with English for the basics in most parts of Europe unless you move to small villages. If that weren't true then the EU's obsession with freedom of movement would be pointless, because English is the only language that is universally taught in Europe.