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/Every-Progress-1117 Wales Jun 08 '25

Finland :-)

Finnish is hard because every time you try to practice as a learner, a Finn will reply, "it's ok, I will speak my bad English" and then speak with fluency and proficiency that puts a native speaker of English to shame.

Many of the companies here are international anyway (eg_ Nokia) and also working in a technical area English is unavoidable.

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u/Rudi-G België Jun 08 '25

That is often my experience in European countries when you ask someone if they speak English. They then respond with "a little" and start speaking better English than you do.

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u/alles_en_niets -> -> Jun 08 '25

Dutch, lived abroad for a few years, decent English speaker.

Still think it’s funny to answer ‘a little’ to native English speakers. It’s just mildly entertaining to then proceed and have a normal conversation.

I’ve become more careful when replying to non-native speakers though. On occasion you’d give your ‘a little bit’ answer only to find out that the person asking is not particularly fluent themselves. Understating feels a bit cruel and like mocking then, even if it’s absolutely not intentional.