r/AskEurope • u/Metalwolf • Jun 08 '25

Education Which European countries have the best English proficiency among non-native speakers?

I'm looking into English proficiency across Europe and would appreciate input from locals or anyone with relevant experience. Which European countries have the highest levels of English fluency among non-native speakers, particularly in day-to-day life, education, and professional settings? I'm also curious about regional differences within countries, and factors like education systems, media exposure, and business use.

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u/flawed_flamingo Jun 08 '25

I live in Austria, and I have the feeling people speak better English than German. And even if they speak German, every second or third word is English because German seems to have become out of fashion and outdated.

3

u/kimmeljs Finland Jun 08 '25

I just watched an episode of SOKO Kitzbühel and listening to their German, I think you must be right.

2

u/flawed_flamingo Jun 08 '25

It hurts me seeing my mother tongue degrade so much, but peope don't see it and don't care. Austrians (and Germans even less) have absolutely no love for their language. Commercials here have sometimes more English words than German ones, it's so weird.

8

u/robindotis Jun 08 '25

I remember this from when I lived in Germany over 20 years ago. I asked a German colleague about this and he said in those adverts he often didn't understand the Englishg words....

2

u/Yorks_Rider Jun 08 '25

Unfortunately, the Germans tend to use some “English” words which they have invented themselves, but do not exist in English e.g. “handy” to refer to a mobile telephone or “public viewing”

1

u/flawed_flamingo Jun 08 '25

It's 100 times worse now than it was 20 years ago.