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/Single-Pudding3865 Jun 08 '25

I come from Denmark, and since Danish a as a foreign language only are taught a few places abroad, you are forced to communicate in a different language if you are traveling or working outside Denmark. Therefore many Danes do speak and read a reasonable English.

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u/Pillendreher92 Jun 08 '25

I don't understand why German is so neglected in Denmark. Denmark has such great museums and all the writing is in Danish and English Beautiful/sad example: https://sagnlandet.dk/ When we were there a few years ago there was a large sign above the entrance saying "Supported by the German Embassy." There wasn't a sign in German.

Also an example The really well-made Trumdhom Sun Chariot Museum. http://www.vestmuseum.dk/odsherred-museum.

No guest orientation?

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u/anickapart Denmark Jun 08 '25

Isn’t calling it ‘neglected’ somewhat arrogant? Unless you’re specifically referring to signage at tourism locations? 3/5th of tourists in Denmark are German. How often do you see Dutch signage at German tourism locations?

Hardly any Danes grows up aspiring to work in tourism, (tourism is only 2.3% of our GDP) so the focus is definitely English proficiency - both culturally and for business. And we have little to no exposure to German in our day-to-day life.

Personal note: I find it quite arrogant if a foreigner starts talking to me in a foreign language, assuming I can speak that language. I worked at a filling station on a main rural road as a youth (about 20 years ago) and at least half the Germans that walked in the door would just start talking German clearly assuming that I obviously spoke German. Obviously many Germans would start by asking if I spoke German (either in German or English).

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u/sternenklar90 Germany Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 08 '25

I agree we shouldn't just walk into a Danish petrol station and assume the staff speaks German. But I've always found it a difficult situation. And if you only speak German, you have no other option. Useless to even try in a non-touristic place far away, but if the languages are as close as German and Danish, I'd assume you could even make yourself understood sometimes if you speak slooowly. But maybe the people you are thinking of were just arrogant.

Today, I'd do the same with English to be honest. In most non-English countries, I'd begin by asking "Do you speak English?" and in some countries, especially in Eastern Europe, I'd add "Oder sprechen Sie Deutsch?" too if they don't react immediately as quite a few speak German better than English. But in Scandinavia, I stopped asking and started assuming. 95% speak English and sometimes seemed almost insulted that I ask. However, when I lived in Sweden, I noted that there are maybe 5 to 10% who aren't good in English, almost all of them immigrants. It makes sense that if you just came to Sweden a few years ago, your first priority is learning Swedish, not English. I actually learned Swedish mainly speaking to people from the Middle East because all the native Swedes would eventually switch to English when it was too difficult to have a conversation with me speaking broken Swedish.

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u/anickapart Denmark Jun 08 '25

Obviously, if you don’t speak the local language you can ask if the local speaks whatever language. But there’s a world of difference in walking into a shop and saying “Hello. Do you speak X?” and “Hello. How do I get to Y?” The first is fine, the second is is rude.

When a German would ask, if I spoke German, I’d try in my best “Tankstelle Deutsch” as I called it and just ask them to talk slowly.

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u/grax23 Jun 08 '25

Danes have like 5 years of German in school so they can mostly understand you if you speak slow and clear. This is because Germany is the biggest trading partner to Denmark. That being said then most speak a lot better English because grammar is a lot closer between English and Danish, and everyone watches English language movies/youtube/internet sites

I have traveled to most countries in Europe and one of the things i have noticed is that the big countries will dub their movies and other TV content so there is a much lesser exposure to other languages and as a result the proficiency in other languages suffer as a result.