Wich country has the best english speakers?

Adam   Monday, January 10, 2005, 18:22 GMT
Similarly with the French, the Russians aren't keen on learning foreign langauges - especially English. My mother, who is fairly familiar with Russian, told a story in which a Russian flight attendant on an international flight to Moscow was highly critical of her for asking for assistance in English despite her being knowledgeable of Russian.

I stayed a in little village in northern Italy with some family, and none of the inhabitants spoke a gram of English. My cousin conversed entirely in Italian with them. In the cities, though, a fair amount of people speak plausable English.
Tiffany   Monday, January 10, 2005, 19:31 GMT
In my experience, there are quite a few people in Italy who speak passable English. English is after all the mandatory second language there. While, I wouldn't try to hold an entire conversation in English with most people there, I met quite a few who encouraged me to speak English with them, especially the younger generation. This was a city in Northern Italy, close to Pisa.
Hilma   Monday, January 10, 2005, 19:55 GMT
I'm from the Netherlands and I'm really happy that some of you think that in the Netherlands the best English speakers are. As well, i'm not surprised. Because Dutch people like to travel (i'm not saying that other people from other countries don't like that) but when we are in another country we can't speak Dutch, so it's like a must to learn English, or any other language. Another point is that I think that the dutch people really like to learn languages. They have a motivation, or how you call that.

Well, to go back to the question of this topic, i don't know if the Dutch are the best English speakers but I think that the Germanees can speak English very good. Or some country like Norwegen or Denmark.

By the way, maybe you changed you're mind of that the Dutch are good English speakers, after reading what I wrote (because my English is not really good!), so I just want to say that I'm 13, I'm on highschool, and.. my plan is to learn English much better!!!

( i'm sorry for the last part but I.. yeah, ehm... no excuses for that!! :d)
Tiste   Monday, January 10, 2005, 20:46 GMT
I'm disappointed because I didn't hear a single vote for my people, the flemings. We can speak English without an accent too you know ? Is it me or do all you people think we belgians have a heavier gluttar than the Dutch ?Not bloody likely ! GRRRR
malov   Monday, January 10, 2005, 21:09 GMT
the dutch are the best i've met too. sweden, norway, iceland, (and denmark?) all speak it very well too, but they have their own accents. i dont know if it can be even called a foreign accent, because their grasp of the language is so good. they sound so pleasant too that i dont know who would really want them to sound british or american.

the french accent and not pronouncing things can lead to some of the most staggering english i've heard.
Damian   Monday, January 10, 2005, 22:24 GMT
You see, Hilma...you have proved my point!
Ved   Monday, January 10, 2005, 23:22 GMT
Let's not bash the French and Italians too much here. What percentage of Americans, Brits or Aussies (excluding recent immigrants or their children) speak any other language but English decently?

I know quite a few, but my friends and colleagues are extremely well-educated. Among the hoi polloi, however, the situation is quite appalling. Just like in France, Spain or Italy.
Tiffany   Monday, January 10, 2005, 23:32 GMT
A very good point Ved.
james   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 01:53 GMT
<<the Russians aren't keen on learning foreign langauges>>

I find this to be untrue. The vast majority of young Russians learn second languages, usually English, French, Spansih or German. I don't know how good they are at them but they certainly are motivated. Also there is the fact that I live next door to a Russian family who moved here about 2 years ago. At first they could not speak one ounce of English but by the end of the first year they were all fluent. Now they are articulate and speak intelligently.

<<What percentage of Americans, Brits or Aussies (excluding recent immigrants or their children) speak any other language but English decently?>>

How true that is, English speakers have got to be the least motivated people in the world when it comes to learning langauges. In most countries children are taught foreign languages from an early age but here in New Zealand it does not even become an option untill you reach high school, at about 13 years of age, and everyone knows that you learn best when you are young.
american nic   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 02:41 GMT
Obviously the Dutch, Germans, and Scandinavians are the best at speaking English...they all speak Germanic languages. But I'm glad someone brought up the point about us (English speakers) not learning other languages. I am comparatively great at foreign languages, and I can't do any better than reading Spanish. I have talked to, and listened to (particularly on TV) Dutch who sound like they're from somewhere in England, up north. It's really amazing.
malev   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 03:51 GMT
germany is far from the best, and for obvious reaons. germany has around 100 million native speakers, not the 21 million dutch has or the 5-10 million the scandinavian languages have each. germans themselves know this. i heard a report recently that 60% of germans are monolingual, and of those who aren't, 80% of them speak another language other than english. that study could be wrong, but it certainly has some basis for credibility, especially if a german news agency is reporting this.
Brennus   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 05:54 GMT

Concerning: "Which country has the best english speakers?"--- That's kind of a tricky question. I would say that the best speakers and writers of the English language per se are still to found in Great Britain. In fact, I love to hear educated Britons speak on almost any subject. However, since the U.S. and Canada have better public school systems than England, you will find a greater per capita number of people speaking advanced levels of English in these countries than you will in Great Britain.
Adam   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 06:17 GMT
I wouldn't say America has a better public school system than England. American children can't even put together plausable sentences whereas English children sound like fucking adults. Furthermore, American students perform pitifully in the math, science, and engineering areas. Plus, they are mostly unfamiliar with their country's own history. America is likely the least educated country of the so-called industrialised world.
Adam   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 06:18 GMT
Actually, in the United Nations Human Development Index, the UK has a higher 'Education Index' score then both the US and Canada.

http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/pdf/hdr04_HDI.pdf
Adam(the Canadian one)   Tuesday, January 11, 2005, 06:21 GMT
The second post is from Adam from Canada.