{"id":9183,"date":"2026-06-08T18:55:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=9183"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:55:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:55:54","slug":"new-study-reveals-which-european-country-speaks-english-as-a-second-language-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=9183","title":{"rendered":"New study reveals which European country speaks English as a second language best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaking English gives people a big advantage in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the United Kingdom<\/a> isn\u2019t in the European Union, English is the lingua franca<\/em> throughout the region because it\u2019s the standard language for international commerce. A lingua franca<\/em> is a common language that two people who don\u2019t speak the same language use to communicate. When one person speaks French<\/a> and the other German<\/a>, they can use English<\/a> to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are 27 countries in the European Union<\/a> and 24 native tongues<\/u><\/a>, but a whopping 43% of the nearly 450 million people<\/a> who live there speak English, and German is a far second with 16% of people in the EU fluent in the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the EF English Proficiency Index<\/a>, if you travelled to Europe and wanted to go somewhere where people are best at speaking English,, the best country is the Netherlands. Croatia and Austria finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dutch<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The top 10 countries in English proficiency as a second language are all in Europe:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Netherlands<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2. Croatia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

3. Austria<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

4. Germany<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

5. Norway<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

6. Portugal<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

7. Denmark<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

8. Sweden<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

9. Belgium<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

10. Slovakia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ranking countries in English proficiency isn\u2019t just about finding places where Americans, British people, or Australians can go on vacation; it has to do with the number of opportunities that people, especially those who are economically disadvantaged, can have.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking adults who speak English in addition to their other languages have access to a wider range of information and more diverse professional opportunities. For individuals in marginalized groups or geographically disadvantaged locations, a professional level of English may represent a pathway to financial independence they could not otherwise attain,\u201d the EF English Proficiency Index<\/u><\/a> writes in their 2025 report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a large number of English speakers also bodes well for a country\u2019s economic development. \u201cEnglish proficiency reflects a workforce\u2019s capacity to engage with the global economy beyond national boundaries. In economies transitioning toward knowledge-based sectors, comfort with English often signals adaptability to international standards and practices,\u201d the report continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do the Dutch speak English so well?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This study raises an important question: Why are the Dutch<\/a> so good at speaking English? The first reason is that in the Netherlands, television shows aren\u2019t dubbed. So, if you are watching an episode of Happy Days<\/em>, you hear it in the original English, but it is subtitled in Dutch. In countries such as Germany, Spain, or France, TV shows are dubbed into the local language, so viewers hear less English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the Dutch economy is predicated on international trade. It\u2019s a small country with just 17 million inhabitants; however, it has the 18th-largest economy in the world. This means that people in the Netherlands have to be great at speaking the international language of business if they are going to get by. The Dutch tradition of international business dates back to 1602, when the Dutch East India Company became the world\u2019s first multinational corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their culture\u2019s openness to hearing other languages and dependence on global trade have made it so that up to 93% of Dutch<\/a> people can carry on a conversation in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the EU\u2019s embrace of English isn\u2019t just historical happenstance\u2014it\u2019s closely tied to the region\u2019s growing economic, social, and cultural interconnectedness. For many, speaking English is a gateway to opportunity and participation in the global economy. The Netherlands is an excellent example of how learning a second language can lead to incredible prosperity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking English gives people a big advantage in life. Even though the United Kingdom isn\u2019t in the European Union, English is the lingua franca throughout the region because it\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/718277960_1481105890717064_7188846219124711913_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9185,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9183\/revisions\/9185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}