communication is always hard everywhere. I luckily don't share your experience as a native German speaker. It takes a good amount of time to learn more languages, but having to do it in school early on makers it easier. I find it a bit sad that most of what I knew about French kind of vanished, but I still can understand a bit and try to read it, especially as I discovered nostr:npub12k0pgpwq4axaxe86xkestt6czawktqytn9sxj2mmqdzw245lrqxsrwe2sz , which is based on France.
Discussion
Unfortunately US schools only make learning 2nd languages a part of the curriculum after you turn 14, and even then it isnt mandatory. Our local representatives like to pretend we have the best school system in the world.
14 is not that late but usualy lenguages are learned much younger. Where I live there are two oficial lenguages plus english so its easy enough to have trilingual people around