If you go to non-controlled fields (and quite a few controlled ones too) you'll find the local pilots communicating with each other in the local language. This is particularly true in Germany and France.
It helps a lot to have a crib sheet with the most common R/T calls, particularly the circuit calls.
As far as the Jeppesen trip kits are concerned, I typically just phone them up (instead of ordering via the web, or via an intermediary company), tell them I want the VFR trip kit for suchandsuch countries, without updates. That gets me what I want, up to date, for the lowest price. You don't have to stick to the bundles they offer on the web. And the update service only makes sense if you travel to certain countries a lot.
And for a one-off trip I wouldn't even bother with the Jeppesen kits. Just print out the relevant AD pages from the AIP, for the airfields you intend to visit, plus a few reasonable alternates.