A survey of several accounts of contact between English and Native Americans in the Early modern period reveals much about early instances of intercultural communication and Anglo-American attitudes towards Native languages. A prominent feature in may of the earliest English New World narratives is the relative lack of attention devoted to native languages. English writers generally avoid discussion of the practical challenges in communication between English speakers and natives. Most revealing is the first extended examination of a native language, Roger William’s A Key into the Language of America, which acknowledges the formidable difficulties of communication that characterized early Anglo-Indian encounters. Williams considered in greater depth than anyone before him the subtleties involved in mutual understanding between individuals of different cultures.