I thought this was interesting. Not that surprised that English proficiency is so high in the top ten or so nations, but surprised by how low it is in Italy 🇮🇹 and France 🇫🇷. I’ve spent a lot of time in both and really never had an issue and my German knowledge is many degrees better than the others. - ThreadSky

mmadventures.bsky.social • 2 days ago

I thought this was interesting. Not that surprised that English proficiency is so high in the top ten or so nations, but surprised by how low it is in Italy 🇮🇹 and France 🇫🇷. I’ve spent a lot of time in both and really never had an issue and my German knowledge is many degrees better than the others.

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blackforestcyclist.bsky.social•2 days ago

I'd question the methodology as measuring the linguistic abilities of an entire nation is quite an endeavour.
If you venture deep into France, there are relatively few people fluent in English. Two years ago, we experienced this on La Réunion. Luckily, my crappy French was sufficient.

mmadventures.bsky.social•2 days ago

German M shares your (German) concerns. 😉 I looked it up and there is a Wikipedia entrance about this.

mmadventures.bsky.social•2 days ago

The wife just said “that Black Forest guy is even more German than me.”

jmorris14.bsky.social•2 days ago

In Italy I’ve found it’s really low outside the major cities/tourist areas and with older generations. Same with Spain. Noticeably different compared with Germany

mmadventures.bsky.social•2 days ago

I can speak Spanish, but never really needed it in Spain much. I had one year of Italian my senior year of high school and remember a little above zero. But I’ve generally just been to tourist areas in Italy (Rome, Pisa, Lake Como, Milan).

jmorris14.bsky.social•2 days ago

I spend a lot of time in Sicily and English is almost non-existent outside a few uni connections and major tourist areas. My Italian should be better…

I rarely speak English in Spain

markdziak.bsky.social•2 days ago

I'm surprised with Switzerland

jmorris14.bsky.social•2 days ago

In Switzerland they don’t even bother learning the other official languages so it amazes me how they even communicate with each other 😅

mmadventures.bsky.social•2 days ago

I’ve only spent part of one vacation there. Numerous layovers at Zurich don’t count. I honestly don’t remember much beyond liking it. We just had dinner with friends headed there Saturday. I’m going to ask their impressions when they come back.

diebesbeute.bsky.social•2 days ago

I’ve had several interactions in France recently where we spoke German. A hotel night porter near Paris, daughter of the hotelier near Valence, engineer at a vendor from Grenoble, and two French engineers at the breakfast table at a hotel near Grenoble.

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