28% of Estonians Claim Proficiency in English

[Äike]

28% of Estonians Claim Proficiency in English

For a tourist walking around in Tallinn, it might seem like everyone in the country speaks English perfectly. A new Eurostat study finds that 28 percent of Estonians consider themselves experienced speakers and 13.6 percent say they speak none at all.

The most-spoken second language in Estonia was English, while in Latvia and Lithuania it was Russian. In Estonia, the official national was itself a third language for 21 percent of primary school students in 2008.

The EU country with the highest percentage of proficient foreign-language speakers was Latvia (55 percent), followed by Slovenia (45 percent), Slovakia (44 percent), Lithuania (41.6 percent), Sweden (39.3 percent) and Estonia.

The countries with the lowest percentage of proficient speakers were France (5.1 percent), Romania (5.2 percent), Italy (6 percent), Poland (6.2 percent), Bulgaria (6.5 percent), UK (7.4 percent) and the Czech Republic (7.5 percent).

The study defined foreign language proficiency as the “ability to understand and produce a wide range of demanding texts and use the language flexibly.”

Of 25 to 64-year-old residents in the entire EU, only 13.3 percent said they spoke a foreign language proficiently and 38.3 percent said they did not speak any foreign language.

On the other hand, 79 percent of primary students in the EU and 83 percent of high school students studied a foreign language in 2008. After English, the most common foreign languages were French and German.

Eurostat’s overview is missing information for Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta and Holland. The study only lists data for self-perceived proficiency in the most common foreign language, even when there are several major ones spoken in the country.

[Comte Arnau]

Interesting.

I was surprised not to see the Netherlands among those with better proficiency. Then I saw in the study that there were no data available for the Dutch.

I was also surprised not to see Spain among those in the lower part. Then I remembered the data were about self-perceived skill levels...

[Treffie]

The level of foreign language teaching in the UK is pretty low - and declining fast.

[Wulfhere]

Why on earth do people in the UK need to learn a foreign language? Far better to spend 300 years teaching the rest of the world how to speak English.

[Eldritch]

Far better to spend 300 years teaching the rest of the world how to speak English.

I'd suggest you get to it then.

[The Lawspeaker]

Why on earth do people in the UK need to learn a foreign language? Far better to spend 300 years teaching the rest of the world how to speak English.

There are more important languages in Europe though: French, German, Russian, Spanish.

The Brits are infamous for lacking the basic skills needed for speaking any other language but their own and if it wasn't for their relatively good reputation (apart from the younger generation) in Europe they could easily be compared with the French. It should however be noted that educated (aristocratic) Englishmen in the old days also spoke French.

Maybe one day we should pick a common lingua franca (next to our own language) so we only have to learn one European language, American English (for dealing with people outside Europe) and Cantonese or Mandarin (because China will be influential) - and reserve learning other languages (for instance French, German, Greek or British English) for when you're specialising. And I think that Latin would be a good one as it is a neutral language and no nation (apart from the Vatican) would feel privileged (and who cares about the Vatican anyways).

[Wulfhere]

There are more important languages in Europe though: French, German, Russian, Spanish.

The Brits are infamous for lacking the basic skills needed for speaking any other language but their own and if it wasn't for their relatively good reputation (apart from the younger generation) in Europe they could easily be compared with the French. It should however be noted that educated (aristocratic) Englishmen in the old days also spoke French.

Maybe one day we should pick a common lingua franca (next to our own language) so we only have to learn one European language, American English (for dealing with people outside Europe) and Cantonese or Mandarin (because China will be influential) - and reserve learning other languages (for instance French, German, Greek or British English) for when you're specialising. And I think that Latin would be a good one as it is a neutral language and no nation (apart from the Vatican) would feel privileged (and who cares about the Vatican anyways).

American English, though often quite childish-sounding to British ears, is not so different to British English as to render communication in any way difficult, so your proposal would simply work in favour of the British anyway. That's what happens when you spend 300 years colonising the world.

[Beorn]

There are more important languages in Europe though: French, German, Russian, Spanish.

I didn't realise languages were based inherently upon importance. I simply thought languages were based upon economics and general ease of global conversation.

It should however be noted that educated (aristocratic) Englishmen in the old days also spoke French.

In the "old days" they were French.

[The Lawspeaker]

American English, though often quite childish-sounding to British ears, is not so different to British English as to render communication in any way difficult, so your proposal would simply work in favour of the British anyway. That's what happens when you spend 300 years colonising the world.

Good point. But.. the reason why it would be American English would be because English is already the lingua franca in the world and because of it's simplified spelling but it would serve a purpose for communication outside Europe and it could serve as an auxiliary lingua franca in case a member of the older generation (my generation) doesn't speak Latin We could compile new works on the Latin speech and make a gradual transition from English to Latin for inter-European communication within 50 years.

I didn't realise languages were based inherently upon importance. I simply thought languages were based upon economics and general ease of global conversation.

Important because they are the most widely spoken languages in Europe.

In the "old days" they were French.[FONT=Georgia]

Also members of the educated upper class (not just the aristocracy) and the middle class spoke it.

[Wulfhere]

Good point. But.. the reason why it would be American English would be because English is already the lingua franca in the world and because of it's simplified spelling but it would serve a purpose for communication outside Europe and it could serve as an auxiliary lingua franca in case a member of the older generation (my generation) doesn't speak Latin We could compile new works on the Latin speech and make a gradual transition from English to Latin for inter-European communication within 50 years.

It doesn't really bother me that American English is the lingua franca of the world because, as you say, it's a somewhat dumbed-down version of the language anyway and therefore easier to learn, I guess [<-- deliberate ironic use of an Americanism there]. American or British it's still all English and therefore my native language, invented in my native land. And Americans too tend to realise that British English is a superior form of the language, and the more educated ones try and aspire to it.