Which Countries Have English as a Second Language?
According to the United Nations, there are just under 200 countries in the world – and more than one in three of them have English as their official language. But what if you are considering moving to a country which has its own mother tongue, but you still want to know if you will be easily understood if you speak English?
The Moving Partnership has compiled this handy guide to some of the main countries where English is either officially designated the second language or is widely spoken by a large percentage of the population.
The Netherlands
The World Economic Forum (WEF) notes that the Netherlands has the highest English-speaking proficiency level of any country – so it’s not just the numbers that speak it, but the quality of the teaching means they speak it to an extremely high standard.
Dutch children start learning English from age 10 at the latest – it also helps the two languages (Dutch and English) are similar in origin - so it’s easy for them to learn. However, Dutch is still used in official meetings, publications and administration.
Scandinavia
If you are considering house removals to Scandinavia, then Norway, Sweden and Denmark all score highly in the WEF survey (and neighbouring Finland is well up there as well).
In Sweden, English is mandatory in primary schools and is taught throughout secondary schools as well – in fact, it’s a required subject if you want to graduate.
The situation is similar in Norway, where pupils learn it from age 6 onwards (and they also learn other languages as well). Denmark has one of the highest proportions of English speakers in the world – almost 4 million out of the country’s 5 million population speak it, and it’s used on some official documents too.
TV shows and online content all mean that Scandinavians are exposed to English from a very young age anyway – so they don’t only rely on classroom learning to pick up new words and phrases.
Germany
If you are considering moving house to Germany, then the good news is most Germans learn English as their second language. However, other languages are taught as well – such as French or Latin at school. Russian is also quite widely spoken because of the large number of migrants from that country (and not forgetting that East Germany was under Communist rule until the end of the 1980s).
It’s the need to trade with the English-speaking world that has seen the language rise. More than half of all Germans speak English, and it’s the country’s official language of business. And, because English and German have similar roots as Germanic languages, Germany is high up the WEF proficiency table as well.
South Africa
If you are considering international removals to South Africa, then the good news is that, although the country has 11 different languages, these are often local dialects and the one common denominator is that, whatever people’s first language is, it’s more than likely that English will be their second.
For the record, the country’s official 11 languages are Zulu, Afrikaans – which most people will have heard of – as well as Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.
English is the most widely spoken of all of these, and the country’s official language of business and commerce. Children usually learn their mother tongue for the first three years in school, then switch to English (or sometimes Afrikaans) after that.
Singapore
Perhaps unusually, this Asian country has four official languages – Malay, Tamil, Mandarin and English. English survives in this corner of the world as the country was under British colonial rule from the 19th century onwards. China, India and Sri Lanka were important trading partners during this time, which explains why the other languages are still widely spoken.
The country has a bilingual languages policy, which means that most people speak their ethnic mother tongue and English as the second language. According to the WEF, Singaporeans are also among the most proficient of English speakers, just below the Scandinavian countries.
International and European Removals with The Moving Partnership
Whichever country you are considering moving to, there are two things to note. The first is that it will probably be beneficial to have at least a few key phrases in your new country’s main or official language to avoid any problems – and people will appreciate that you have made the effort.
And secondly, whichever country you are considering moving to, The Moving Partnership should be able to get you there – whether it’s house removals to Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany, or further afield.
Our network of contacts in the international removals industry means we can always come up with a competitive quote which will meet your exact requirements. Follow this link if you would like to receive a free online moving quote; alternatively you can click here to book a video survey.
