English is widely spoken by annase
I was positively surprised how many people in Rome spoke very good English. I wasn't expecting very much and wondered how I'd get by.. I did learn a few phases before going such as "Il conto, per favor" (Can I have the bill, please?) which was very useful. It seemed like the locals appreciated it if you tried to say something in Italian, although they wouldn't expect you to able to say very much. I like the sound of the language and it's quite easy to read it, if you have studied Spanish, since it's similar. In addition, many words in English are very similar to those in Italian such castel (castle), musei (museum), teatro (theatre) and so on.
Useful to know at the metro:
Uscita - Exit
Prossima fermata - Next station/stop