language?

MarocFan will tell you that you'll be fine, so I'm disagreeing in advance. But the French will help a lot.

People who deal with tourists often speak some English but not always. So, any French helps. It depends where you go. Moroccans generally don't speak French with the same fluency as the French themselves, so it's easier. But it helps to improve your French. Phrase book Arabic isn't hard to learn.

At some places people spoke English to me. Others insisted on French.

People that want your money generally speak some English (and probably other languages) but many other people do not. Most of the time people will initially speak French to you if they assume you are a tourist. Anyway don't worry too much, we had no problems getting by with a tiny bit of French and a greeting or two in Arabic. There were times I wished i spoke more French in order to talk to people we met along the way but our lack of language skills didn't affect our ability to travel around, find accommodation, buy things etc.

I find that people in the tourism industry in Morocco speak better and have a higher level of English than for example Spain. I don't know how difficult it really is but I would think you can manage ok.....the most important ideas to get across in any language can be done with your hands!

If you know basic French you'll have no problem communicating with most of the people you meet.
I used nothing but French on my 2 trips there.MyTrips2Morocco

Virtually anyone who has something to sell (hotels, shops, most restaurants, even bus drivers) speak some English, plus four or five other languages. On one trip, my daughter who speaks French, found no need whatsoever to use it. Even if you find yourself trying to communicate with someone who only speaks one of the Berber dialects, for example, you will probably be able to communicate, as my friends and I did on one trip when we had car trouble in the middle of nowhere north of Zagora. My Moroccan friends tell me that English is required in Moroccan schools, although Arabic is the official language.

If you speak a bit of French you'll be just fine. If you know some Arabic you might even get free coffee and Coca-cola as I did in a "cafe" near the border to Algeria.