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Top 10 European Countries by English Proficiency

Name the countries in Europe with the highest % of people who can speak English, either as a native or additional language.
According to Wikipedia
Also see European countries with the most English speakers
Last updated: June 01, 2017
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%
Country
98
Ireland
98
United Kingdom
90
Netherlands
90
Norway
89
Malta
%
Country
86
Sweden
86
Denmark
73
Austria
70
Finland
70
Germany
SundarIsaacs
+30
level 64
Jun 2, 2017
Maltaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh
Somequiztaker
+4
level 69
Sep 19, 2017
Aaaaaustriaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
msliv
+1
level 32
Jan 8, 2018
Austria was the only one I missed, I thought another hub of international cooperation like Switzerland, would be the one I was missing.
Jarl5
+2
level 57
Sep 19, 2017
Nothing to do with your comment, but as happy as I am that comment likes are now a thing, I'm sad that only comments on new quizzes will ever get likes. Kalbahamut had some great ones I'd "like" to find and "like".
mf3
+2
level 78
Jun 2, 2017
Not Iceland? Who else speaks Icelandic??
QRU
+4
level 68
Jun 4, 2017
Danish is a common second language in in Iceland.
mahble
+3
level 64
Sep 19, 2017
I like Icelandic even though I don't speak it. Just saying Eyjafjallajokull impresses people :)
Malbaby
+4
level 67
Jun 3, 2017
I am continually amazed at the abilities of some Nations to speak other languages, I have Dutch and German friends that speak English as well as any English people, better than some. Not just correct, but using regional jargon as well.
divantilya
+2
level 38
Jun 9, 2017
If you are surrounded by countries that speak different languages, you tend to have the language taught to you in school. The ad- vantage (or, in reality, the disadvantage) of being born in the United States is that we are surrounded by "countries" (read states) that speak English. Even so, some states are advanced enough to require the teaching of foreign languages in their High School and Colleges/Universities.
tshalla
+5
level 66
Jun 9, 2017
I think there's also a significant difference between countries whose dominant languages aren't usually dubbed over English-language tv and movies. Dubbing does nothing to teach language; subtitling does lots.
Carry
+1
level 60
Jun 12, 2017
As for Germany pretty much everything is dubbed. I like to watch movies in English though (if that's the original language of the movie) because it feels more authentic to me. This and chatting with foreigners in English probably improved my English. I mean I wasn't bad at school but learning or improving a language through something you enjoy is way easier and more efficient.
ander217
+3
level 75
Sep 19, 2017
We had to take a foreign language in my high school back in the '60s, and I took two years of Spanish. However, I can remember very little of it now. Even my daughter who majored in French, did study abroad in France, and has vacationed there more than once now has trouble remembering the language. I have a friend who grew up in Germany but has been in the US over twenty years. She says she is losing some of her native language. I think with language it holds true, "Use it or lose it."
Yanni47
+1
level 66
Sep 19, 2017
After my first 30 years in Germany, I've been living the last 12 years or so in the UK. Luckily I still have a habit of talking to myself a lot in my native language, so I never forget it. :)
pkerr116
+3
level 71
Sep 19, 2017
I work internationally on a fairly constant basis. My experience is consistent with these statistics, although it is hard for me to imagine who the 10% of Dutch are who are not English proficient. Damn near 100%, if you ask me. And much higher in Germany and Austria. Yes, I have observers' bias, because I generally am in contact with other businesspeople or folks at airports/restaurants/hotels or other service providers that generally will have contact with English speakers. But, pretty much, English is so invasive due to the cultural impact of the US, even those who are not 'proficient' have a decent working knowledge.
Sifhraven
+1
level 46
Jan 15, 2019
I dont think it has that much to do with the us at all. My contact with the english language has mainly come from books, and later on having the television on the bbc channel (I never have the tv on any of the national channels, it is either bbc, discovery, or national geographic, and when we still received it, animal planet). So I dont see where the us comes into that.

ok if you watch movies a lot, I suppose the biggest share of those comes from the us.

Jerry928
+1
level 71
Jun 3, 2017
Only 98% in the UK? That means there over a million people in the UK who cannot speak English even as an additional language.
alburquirky
+3
level 55
Jun 6, 2017
Mostly recent immigrants
ruftytufty
+4
level 68
Aug 8, 2017
to whom everyone else is a recent immigrant...
Tramp
+2
level 68
Sep 19, 2017
If there are any Welsh people who can't speak English, the numbers must be in the double figures at most. I was born in Wales and spent the first 21 years of my life there, but have never met anybody who can only speak Welsh.
Aesthus
+1
level 52
Sep 19, 2017
Don't forget Scottish Gaelic - although admittedly, if you know Scottish Gaelic but don't know English and you live in the U.K., you're not going to fare too well.
fitheach
+1
level 56
Sep 25, 2017
I met one Welsh person who couldn't speak English, and that was in 1995 and she was very old at that point. She was a rarity even then. I seriously doubt there is more than a handful of monoglot Welsh speakers these days, if any at all.
ruftytufty
+1
level 68
Apr 26, 2018
There are quite a few in North Wales especially who can 'speak' English but really struggle with it.
Sadmin
+2
level 37
May 23, 2018
It's pretty much a daily occurrence that I meet someone unable to speak English in London, whether in a Korean shop, Indian shop or someone just on the streets. It personally doesn't bother me though, I'll be leaving the UK for a country where I barely speak the language so I can't exactly by a hypocrite about it.
Geoboy9090
+1
level 21
Jun 9, 2017
obviously UK
obmeb
+2
level 46
Aug 28, 2017
for some quirky reason of my own I missed united kingdom?
DrWatson
+1
level 65
Sep 5, 2017
Surprised not to see France on this list.
Malbaby
+12
level 67
Sep 19, 2017
I'm not.
jajaco2017
+2
level 55
Sep 19, 2017
they only like to speak french
ManuB
+4
level 65
Sep 19, 2017
Being French myself, I’m not surprised at all.
Kiotasayo
+1
level 31
Sep 19, 2017
De même.
jmellor13
+1
level 58
Sep 19, 2017
Parisians usually speak English, but it is much less common in the rest of the country.
Sifhraven
+1
level 46
Jan 15, 2019
it is kind of known for not (willing to) speaking enlgish
divantilya
+1
level 38
Apr 7, 2019
^ Exactly! I'm sure that English is offered as a second or third language in all European countries (I know that I had a choice of English, German, French and Spanish). Just about all educated Europeans have at least a working knowledge of English.
jajaco2017
+1
level 55
Sep 19, 2017
only 98% in Great Britain ???
Aesthus
+2
level 52
Sep 19, 2017
Well, it's better than the rate in the U.S. Very few people speak Native American these days.
divantilya
+1
level 38
Sep 19, 2017
NATIVE American? - Do you mean Navajo, Cherokee, Cree, Mohican or some other?
Jorissie
+2
level 65
Sep 19, 2017
Actually missed UK because I thought it was "besides the UK"..
scrumpyone
+1
level 43
Sep 19, 2017
Same here. Doh...must read the question!
ingriddurden
+2
level 58
Sep 19, 2017
I am now a US citizen but originally from Belgium. We studied 4 languages in school and I studied Italian later on. Love it.
stankyC
+1
level 60
Sep 20, 2017
Would really love to see the figures for the microstates: Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and the Vatican (all 600 priests that live there or whatever). Kinda surprised none of them made the list.
cornflakesfu
+1
level 77
Jul 21, 2018
Yeah, those were some of my first guesses.
GalicianMapper
+2
level 27
Nov 13, 2017
Germany on the list instead of Poland? Impossible! When I went to Germany literally nobody spoke English throughout the country!
cornflakesfu
+1
level 77
Jul 21, 2018
Wow. Your trip to Germany must have been busy. And probably not a lot of fun.
divantilya
+1
level 38
Apr 16, 2018
Depends on where you go in the countries you visit. In the major cities the inhabitants speak English (even in France where they pretend not to, perhaps because they take such pleasure in making fun of Americans' attempt to speak French, that they fear the same treatment from Americans when they attempt English) but in rural areas most of the inhabitants speak some form of their native language.
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