You can learn the basics that way; I learnt enough tourist Italian to make my way around in Italy without resorting to English very often. Trouble is, if you want to learn a language well, you need constant exposure and practice, so whatever language you start learning, book your next couple of holidays to a country or city where it´s spoken, preferably without a strong accent. For example, if you´re trying to learn German, don´t go off to Zurich and hope to understand anything they say, but go to Cologne (which is quite a nice area for holidays). Likewise, with French, don't expect to understand a bloody word in Paris, but in this case Switzerland might be a good option as they speak quite slowly and clearly. As for Italian, you're best off in the cities and not out in the sticks.