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Excuse me, do you speak English?

Americans with no foreign languages will have the easiest time in Scandinvia. (Image: Jim Glab)

Americans with no foreign language skills will have the easiest time in Scandinavia. (Image: Jim Glab)

So you never learned a second language, and now you have to travel the world on business? Then try to steer yourself to nations where you’ll have the greatest odds of running into people who speak your language.

Education First, a European-based educational organization, has compiled data on which countries’ residents have the most proficiency in English-speaking and put together an index covering scores of nations.

A few interesting takeaways:

>In nearly all countries surveyed, women have stronger English skills than men.

>Research shows that better English correlates with higher income and better quality of life.

>Learning English online is a self-reinforcing activity: better skills allow people to access more online tools and resources, and accessing these resources improves people’s English. About 56% of all online content is in English.

english

The northern part of Europe seems to offer the highest proportion of English-speakers, according to the website. The lowest? The Middle East and North Africa.

In Asia you'll find the most proficient English speakers in India, Singapore and Malaysia

In Asia you’ll find the most proficient English speakers in India, Singapore and Malaysia.

Here’s a funny video from BBC about speaking English in other countries:

According to the index, the Top 12 countries for proficiency are:

  1. Sweden
  2. Netherlands
  3. Denmark
  4. Norway
  5. Finland
  6. Slovenia
  7. Estonia
  8. Luxembourg
  9. Poland
  10. Austria
  11. Germany
  12. Singapore
Source: World Economic Forum

Source: World Economic Forum

Readers: Have you had any interesting or amusing interactions in speaking English with persons in other countries? Tell your story below.

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Comments

  1. Chris: A fantastic and beautiful country with some of the most wonderful people you’ll ever run across.

  3. Chris, we English-speakers often do not appreciate the privilege that we enjoy from having such a ubiquitous language. In presentations, I typically thank my audience for the privilege of being able to speak to them in English. On the flip side, I am bilingual English-French and when traveling to other areas, crash-learn typical phrases out of respect to people in my host countries. All in all, it makes for an enriching travel experience and an appreciation for the wonderful life that we are able to lead, here in the early 21st century … 🙂

  4. Sent via email from RF:

    I, too, have found that – in Scandinavian countries – almost everyone I meet speaks/understands English (and usually very well). Because of this, I stopped asking “Do you speak English?”, in fear of that sounding insulting. But neither did I want to automatically assume that the other person will understand English, and just start speaking English as if I were back in the U.S. That risks sounding rude.

    I found the perfect solution: I start out by saying (in English):

    “Hello – sorry for not speaking Danish.”

    (or Swedish, or Norwegian, etc., depending on the country) – and then continue. I’ve found that the other person will often find that amusing, making it a perfect ‘ice breaker’.

  5. Right, when I was in Russia I was a bit surprised at how few people spoke English. But that made for some wonderful memories, like the time we were in a restaurant and were mystified by the menu, which was entirely in Russian except for English warnings that the prices didn’t include tips. The waiter explained the entrees by acting out animal sounds and movements (“moo” for beef, “oink” for pork, and a gesture for chicken that I can’t even begin to describe here but which was right on target). Of all the Europeans who deal with language issues, I must say that the Russians were the kindest and the most good-natured.

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