Normally you would not have problems when wanting to strike up conversations among the people who speak your language, but when travelling to foreign places, it is a much harder thing to do. Though if your willing to try, you should get by just fine.
The most important one to remember is that YOU are the foreigner and it is YOU that has to make an effort. You are in their country so it is up to you to be able to connect and communicate to achieve what you set out to get, be it food, drink, finding out how to get somewhere or wanting to connect with people.
