Where is English most spoken in Europe?

Moving to a new country can be intimidating, especially if you don’t speak the local language. As English is the second most spoken language in the world, it often is Something we love during our travels.

So, where in Europe will you be best understood and which countries should you absolutely understand? Proficiency in language Local before departure?

Every year, the global organization Education First (EF) collates the best (and worst) performing countries in English. English Proficiency Index (ear). By analyzing standardized English test results from 2.2 million adults, It ranks each country out of 800 points.

So, what are the results for Europe?

Which European countries have the best knowledge of English?

As in 2022, The Netherlands regained the top spot With 647 points, it shows the best English skills in Europe and in 113 countries assessed worldwide.

But there are many places in Europe where you can understand if you speak English.

l’Austria One of the countries that prides itself on the “highest level of talent”, it ranks 3rd globally with 616 points. The Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden take the next three places, followed by Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Croatia and Greece.

European countries with a “high level” of English Poland (13th in the world), Finland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Estonia, Serbia, Czech Republic and Switzerland (30th).

France lags behind English

Some of the most popular tourist destinations popular However, Europe has only an “average command” of English.

France has fallen in the rankings since 2021 ; He was then ranked 31st in the world in the “High Skills” category. In 2022, he was relegated to the “Average Skill” category with 541 points, which placed him at 34th. This year, it fell to 43rd place in the world and 34th place in Europe with 531 points, ie. The lowest score of any country in Northern Europe included in the study.

With 535 points, Italy andSpain In the “medium skills” category, it was jointly 35th in the world or 32nd and 33rd in Europe – in 2022.

They are earlier Georgia and Belarus, ranked 32nd and 33rd respectively in the world. Other European countries in the “medium skills” category include Moldova (35th), Albania, Russia, Ukraine and Armenia (48th).

One of the countries where you have difficulty understanding yourself Turkey itself (66th) and Azerbaijan (83rd), both of which fall into the “low capabilities” category.

Although SpainItaly And France ranks lower than many European countries, where English proficiency is high in their capitals.

English proficiency among Europeans has declined this year

EF has followed trends since releasing its first PPE in 2011.

Although Europe dominates the index, it finds it The continent’s English proficiency has declined this year, including several high- and very high-performing countries that recorded slightly lower scores. However, European countries generally show steady long-term progress.

The study also found that English proficiency among 18-20-year-olds has declined globally since 2020 due to disruptions in education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

English speakers lag significantly behind in second language acquisition.

With the rise ofAIpredicts EF One day we will be free from language restrictions. But for now, he recognizes the importance of English as a global language in driving innovation, opportunity and cultural understanding.

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For this reason, Many native English speakers have no need to learn a foreign language. According to European Commission data from 2018, only 32% of 15-30 year olds in the UK say they can read and write fluently in two or more languages.

This figure pales in comparison to the 80% average found in EU member states. In France, 79% of those surveyed said they could read and write in two languages or more, 85% in Spain and 90% in Italy.

Want to improve your skills? Serbia, Portugal and Romania are the easiest countries in Europe to learn a language, according to a study by learning platform Preply.