We all know which countries are considered native speaking but which are the best non-native English speaking countries? I have a great deal of experience when it comes to traveling. Here are some of the countries that I personally consider the best at speaking English outside of the standard native speaking countries.
Netherlands
No matter where I travel and who I meet, the one nation that I really believe has the highest level of English would be the Netherlands. They have a whopping 70% English level which for a non native country is absolutely amazing. If you visit the Netherlands you will often hear people speaking English to one another despite them both being from the Netherlands. This is enough to make any English speaker really jealous. Most native speakers of English have the reputation of only speaking one language because it is so widely used. The education system is mostly to praise for this with most dutch people these days learning English from below the age of 10 either from family or at school and the language classes are far superior to other counterparts in Europe.
Philippines
After having spent many years in the Philippines. I would say that Filipinos have a very high level of English. Currently around 60 percent. But In the cities I would say this figure is around 90%. The one thing that amazes me is that Filipinos are always so modest when it comes to English. They always assume that Europeans have better English when in my experience Filipinos often have a better handle of English than almost all non native English speaking countries in Europe. They have a solid understanding of grammar and even in one of the languages Tagalog, you can even find English words now being used frequently in what’s commonly known as Taglish. Obviously the more you travel to the islands, the lower the English level gets but it’s still amazing enough that you can communicate easily with locals and locals with foreigners alike.
Sweden
Most Scandinavian countries have a great handle on English as a second language and this is mostly due to the Education system. This is why in the English Proficiency Index (CPI) Sweden is often ranked second in the world for non native speaking countries. Sweden actually officially has a higher English proficiency than Canada which is something often overlooked. Considering Canada is always on the native speaking list when it comes to English. Again you’ll find that in rural areas the level will drop but in the cities, the level is incredibly high.
Norway
Like Sweden but not to be compared to, Norway has a very high English proficiency with around 68%. These speakers are fluent in both Norwegian and English. In Norway, locals will often start learning English from the age of 7 and this is a huge contributing factor to the high levels that exist today. A huge factor would also be exposure to media including music and movies. This helps motivate even teenagers to learn English to a high level. It would also be worth pointing out that many Norwegian words are in fact closely linked to English. The grammar is also very similar which makes the Language easier to learn. Overall for a non Native English speaking country, Norway ranks up there with some of the best.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg is a small country in central Europe that is mostly known to be a tax haven for the rich. But with this comes a lot of business and that has led to most locals having a super high level of English as well. Around 80% of the population speaks English at this point and this shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The highest level of English is often found with the younger generation. They tend to have access to quality language classes at school and after school. Many universities also now conduct classes in English as well. This is a huge contributing factor to their high level of English proficiency.
Overall we could list around 10 countries that have a high standard of English but these are by far the best that I have ever experienced while I have traveled around the world.
