Which Countries Are Best at Speaking English (ESL) and What They Do Differently

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- Hello this is Jack from ToFluency.com

and today, we're going to look at the world's

largest ranking of countries and regions

by English skills.

So it's going to tell us which countries

speak the best English.

And we're going to see different countries

by their level of English.

So what I want to know is where is your country

in these rankings,

so we're going to have a look at those in a second,

and why do you think your country is where it is?

Because in addition to looking at the rankings,

we're also going to read an article,

which talks about why Scandinavians are so good at English.

So the first thing you'll notice is that Sweden

is number one.

So Sweden is a country

which has the highest level of English.

And we're obviously talking about

non-English-speaking countries here.

So we're not including the UK, America, Ireland, etc.

So if you have a look here,

it says Global Ranking of Countries and Regions.

And they categorize these into very high,

high, moderate, low and very low.

So just take a moment, look on your screen,

and try and find your country.

And then start thinking about the comment you are going

to leave, because you can do so at the end of the lesson,

and tell me why you think your country is very high

or very low or moderate.

Now, I've made a couple of videos

on football managers and their level of English,

and we looked at how Jurgen Klopp,

who is from Germany,

which is number 10,

how he learned English through friends

and he has a high level of English.

Now we also looked at Unai Emery,

who is from Spain and is now learning English

through Peaky Blinders,

and his English isn't as good.

But it just seems like that is normal,

based on their countries.

So Sweden is number one.

Netherlands, number two,

Singapore, Norway, Denmark,

South Africa, Luxembourg, Finland,

Slovenia, Germany, Belgium and Austria.

So those are the top 12 countries

when it comes to English proficiency.

Now this website also includes a PDF,

which I encourage you to download and read

because it has some key findings.

And it's interesting because it talks about some trends.

So it says "English proficiency varies widely between

"industries and job functions."

It also says that "Africa showed the strongest gains

"in English proficiency."

And this is interesting.

"In Asia, English proficiency did not improve

"despite high levels of investment in English."

So in Asia, these countries have invested in English

but they haven't seen improvement,

which I find very interesting.

But I think there's a key point

to why this is the case.

So I'm going to talk about this very soon.

So again, go here, go to this website

and have a look at the data they have

and be sure to download their PDF,

which you can do here.

Now here is an article which talks about

why Scandinavians are so good at English.

And I think there is one key reason,

which just isn't emphasized enough.

I think this is the most important thing.

But we're going to have a read of this article

and look at some of these key points

and I'm going to give you my opinion.

So we'll just read the first paragraph.

"Swedes have the best non-native English skills

"in the world,

"according to the eighth edition

"of the EF English Proficiency Index,"

what we just had a look at.

"Sweden's Scandinavian siblings, Norway and Denmark,

"also place in the top five.

"Of course, anyone who's visited Sweden, Norway

"or Denmark won't be surprised by the findings.

"While there are plenty of problems visiting the region,

"not least the epic price tags,

"communication isn't one of them."

So let's have a look at what Forbes

believes is the reason why.

The first one is a happy family.

And "To the untrained eye,

"English and the Scandinavian languages

"may not seem to have that much in common,

"yet the truth is quite different.

"All are members of the Germanic language family,

"itself a branch of the Indo-European language family,

"spoken natively by more than 500 million people."

So they're saying that the structure of the language

is quite similar because it comes from the same family.

There are also a lot of loan words.

So "English and Scandinavian languages have lent

"each other many words over the years."

And a big reason for this is the Viking invasion of England

in the eighth century, if I remember correctly.

Now this part I don't think is that relevant

because it says "English is taught in Scandinavian schools

"from a young age.

"As soon as children have mastered reading and writing

"their native tongue, English is introduced.

"The age varies by country and region

"but generally speaking, every student will have undergone

"at least a year of formal English language education

"by the age of 10."

I don't think that's a big difference to a lot of countries.

So many countries introduce English lessons

at an early age,

but a year before 10 is not that drastic.

It's not that drastic at all.

This next point I think is the most important.

I think this is the number one reason why

people in Scandinavia can speak English so well.

"Cultural immersion.

"By the time Scandinavian kids reach that age," 10,

"most are already quite familiar with English.

"Young Scandis have always been exposed

"to a lot of international content,

"but now the likes of YouTube and Netflix

"have made English entertainment more accessible

"than ever before."

I don't think that's really that important.

The next bit is.

"Turn on a Norwegian TV channel

"and the chances are, you'll be hearing an English language

"show with Norwegian subtitles."

If you turn on the TV in Norway,

it says in most cases, you're going to be watching

something in English, as a kid.

"Unlike many other countries,

"English shows are almost never dubbed.

"Whether a Scandinavian speaks English with a British

"or American accent has a lot to do with

"what kind of TV they prefer."

This is it, this is the key.

Norwegian kids, kids in Scandinavia,

are watchin' TV in English.

They're gettin' lots and lots of input

from an early age.

And the input is all in context.

They have the subtitles in Norwegian or Swedish,

but they're watchin' TV in English.

This is huge.

This is the reason why.

It's because they have so much input.

And I have talked a lot about input in the past.

I'll leave a link to a video on your screen

and I'll also leave one in the description,

and it just talks about why input is so important.

And this should give you motivation to get more input.

Now I've visited certain countries,

for example, Spain, and everything is dubbed.

Kids don't grow up watchin' TV.

Yes, they have more access to TV now in English,

but if you don't do it, then it makes no difference.

There are a couple of other reasons this article gives,

for example, a region of explorers.

So they might go to London for weekend breaks,

but so do people from France and Germany and Spain,

and Spain is in the average tier.

The next one is "A professional skill.

"Perhaps it's that inner explorer,

"but even after almost a decade

"of formal English language education,

"many Scandinavians take things a step further

"by studying abroad.

"Whatever subject they're studying,

"it's high likely to involve immersion

"in an English language environment."

Now again, this can help.

But if you're just doing it

for a couple of weeks every year,

it's not gonna make a big difference.

The key is immersion.

Immersion is key.

It's this sentence here that I think is just incredible.

"Turn on a Norwegian TV channel

"and the chances are,

"you'll be hearing an English language show

"with Norwegian subtitles."

Immersion.

People are immersed in English in Scandinavia

because they're watchin' British or American television.

So this should give you the motivation

to do more in English,

to watch things in English.

A lot of you are probably already doing this,

but just keep going, keep doing this,

because it's going to make a big difference.

So going back to this,

definitely have a look at this report.

Download the PDF guide.

And then let me know what you think.

And be sure to leave a comment

telling me where your country is

and why you think it is there.

And also, please let me know what you think about

what I have talked about today.

So leave that comment and then get my book,

"The Five-Step Plan for English Fluency".

Again, I'll leave a link in the description below.

Thank you so much for watching.

I'll speak to you soon, bye-bye.

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