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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.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble 

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