It looks like Europe's English is on the slide
Dec 10, 2024The general level of English proficiency in Europe is falling, according to test results published by international education provider EF Education First.
EF tested 2.1 million people in 116 countries in 2023 to get the 2024 rankings and found English standards were in decline worldwide. About 60% of countries ranked lower than in the previous year.
But the stark comparison is that Europe's three biggest tourist nations – France (more than 100 million tourist arrivals in 2023), Spain (more than 85 million) and Italy (more than 57 million) are near the bottom of the European list with "moderate" English proficiency.
"Many of the countries with the highest English proficiency in the world saw a slight decline this year and no countries in Europe improved more than 10 points," EF found.
Its results showed that over the past four years the decline had been greater in EU countries than in the rest of Europe. The UK, of course, has left the EU, although English remains an EU official language.
Beating the language barrier
Where does this leave travellers?
Translations of various types are widely available, meaning proficiency is not always a requirement. People in online spaces can cut corners and, perhaps, even lose proficiency over time. Even on TV, subtitles do most of the work.
Use it or lose it is a rule of thumb for non-native languages. I'm reminded of this constantly in my travels.
The EF results are adjusted for a three-year rolling average. Perhaps English as a second language education has been disrupted by the pandemic.
The finding that still surprises me, however, is that there are substantial gender gaps in favour of men, and in Scandinavia, Czechia and Bulgaria these are large.
Dutch speak great English
Overall, the Netherlands topped Europe and the world, and not for the first time. Scandinavian countries were close behind.
Millions of sun-seeking tourists and early-stage language education seem to have had an impact on English standards in Croatia (No.4) and Portugal (No.5), putting both ahead of the usually excellent English spoken in Denmark. Greece (No.7) seems to have risen for the same reasons.
France, last in Europe at No.31, is slipping down the list, even though it's the closest continental country to the UK.
French reluctance to speak English is a cliche. But then, how good is the French (or Spanish or Italian) of native English-speakers?
Here’s EF’s English country list: 1. Netherlands, 2. Norway, 3. Sweden, 4. Croatia, 5. Portugal, 6. Denmark, 7. Greece, 8. Austria, 9. Germany, 10. Romania, 11. Belgium, 12. Finland, 13. Poland, 14. Bulgaria, 15. Hungary, 16. Slovakia, 17. Estonia, 18. Luxembourg, 19. Lithuania, 20. Serbia, 21. Czechia, 22. Cyprus, 23. Switzerland, 24. Belarus, 25. Spain, 26. Moldova, 27. Ukraine, 28. Albania, 29. Russia, 30. Italy, 31. France. Latvia and several Balkan countries were not included in the results.
Blue equals Very high proficiency, dark green high proficiency, olive green moderate proficiency.
EF’s English capital city list gives a slightly different picture, although the Amsterdam results clearly reflect Dutch leadership in English.
Very high proficiency: Amsterdam 657, Copenhagen 633, Vienna 628, Helsinki 627, Lisbon 626, Zagreb 626, Stockholm 617, Berlin 615, Bern & Oslo 614, Athens 613, Warsaw 612, Budapest 606, Bratislava 604, Bucharest & Sofia 601.
High proficiency: Prague 596, Belgrade 590, Tallinn 589, Paris 586, Vilnius 585, Brussels 580, Chişinau 577, Kiev 562, Madrid 553.
Moderate proficiency: Rome, Minsk & Nicosia 548, Tirana 547, Moscow 540.
Communication along the way
In tourist areas, of course, better English can be expected. In the hospitality industry, English-speaking travellers encounter few problems.
But workers in transport roles are not always up to the same standard, and there can be awkward moments.
Late in 2023, not expecting a Czech railway conductor to speak English on a journey between Linz (in Austria) and Prague, Raven Guides used German. The conductor seemed to have quite limited German. English proved even less helpful. An adjacent passenger, who clearly understood all three, kindly chipped in with the necessary Czech, solving the problem.
In Prague, English (or German) should not be any problem. But at Prague central station, booking a seat in English can be hit or miss. In Bratislava, the process of buying a simple second-class ticket proved even more difficult. In neither city should travellers expect English platform announcements.
The Czechs, for what it's worth, came in at No.21 in Europe for English proficiency in the EF results, and Slovakians at No.16.
Technology can help communicate
Learning at least some of the language of the countries where you travel gives at least a glimpse of cultures. It has its own rewards.
For purely practical purposes, however, there are many online tools that should help.
In Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, you can often click on a ‘Translate this page’ link beside a foreign-language web search result. In Microsoft Edge, select the translation option after clicking on the search result. Google Translate can be selected from the Google Apps when logged in to the Google account, or added to bookmarks.
To get a short translation, highlight sections of online text and click on the Translate icon that appears. Drag and drop a document, or browse for a document or web page to translate. Firefox Translations are available in several European languages, though the selection is not as wide as for the other browsers.
Google Translate and Microsoft Translator are also available as mobile apps, offering text, voice or photo text options. Other options include DeepL and Notta.ai and the apps Talking Translator and Instant Voice Translate.