First time visitor Dominican Republic with limited Spanish vocabulary.?

Since you like meeting people, maybe you'll befriend a bilingual guest at the resort who'll travel around with you.

If you can't speak Spanish then once you leave the controlled confines of the resorts where Americans can go so they can pretend to be in a foreign country and still talk American.. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM Just because the resorts and hotels will cater to your lack of language skills does not mean the people out in the country will.

The up side is, if you are going SCUBA DIVING then you will be around others with a similar interest and you can talk the language of SCUBA.. and your chances of running into others who can only talk American are good

Once out in the campo, the rural areas, small villages etc. you may have a problem Although younger Dominicans are learning English older ones usually don't know English. That being said even limited Spanish will be of help, as a rule, Spanish speakers appreciate it when someone tries to speak the language.

If you are traveling in the tourist areas you will find enough people who will understand you, but once at the countryside this can be problematic, but there are of course younger people who speaks a bit english. Have fun!