While I agree that decent English skills are a great thing to have in today's world, you can still escape English quite well, at least in Germany, as long as you don't go into IT, scientific research and simliar niches that do require English; it's taught reasonably well in schools, so most people speak at least some English, but I guess most hardly ever need it.

> The technology sector speaks English. You can’t escape this language.

Writing the occasional Excel formula is probably the most advanced thing most people do on their computers, and those are translated. All mainstream smartphone apps and websites are available in German, all mainstream productivity software is available in German, Movies are in German by default, everyday life is conducted in German, work communication is done in German even in large parts of the tech sector. You can live a long, fruitful life and hardly need any English after graduation, I guess. I imagine it's similar in Italy.