One of the potential contradictions facing foreign language use in Europe is that as English is added to linguistic repertoires it is the learning of English itself which may be a force inhibiting further multilingualism (Phillipson 2003). There is general concern that as English has become a dominant foreign language in Europe, it may act as a force restricting or preventing the learning and even use of other foreign languages besides English (House 2003). In the countries of the new member states, where the learning of other major European languages is lagging behind other countries (Eurydice in Brief 2005), this may be a particular problem. The overall question that this paper addresses is this controversial relationship between English and multilingualism in Europe. We approach this issue through data collected on language learning and use in educational settings in Hungary and the Czech Republic, focusing on three different but related topics. First, we look directly at the issue of how opportunities for students to become multilingual in a particular setting are potentially limited or not utilized due to the dominant role of English. Second, we look at students’ attitudes towards the use of nonnative speaker (NNS) and native speaker (NS) English. And finally, we are interested in the role that NSs of English themselves play in multilingual contexts as English has become the dominant foreign language in Europe.