It isn't always a struggle. I travel all over Europe and English is my only language but the 90% non-verbal communication goes such a long way. I think people rely too much on verbal language and stop seeing all the other ways to communicate.

I have travelled to all the continents. My only language is English with a smattering of French. I managed to communicate sometimes with difficulty, but usually got there in the end. The only place I had to resort to using a translator was in China.

Parce-que il y a besoin de livres aussi.
There is also a need for books.
Books are very often easier to translate than the spoken word because of standardisation of grammar. Dialects are awful to undersatand if you aare trying to learn another language.
The written word must surely have a large percentage of the communication whole.

i can have a few problems being deaf, but most sign is obvious so mime would work in most countries probably.