What’s happening to English among its speakers around the world?
According to the
The Copenhagen Post Online in a report last April 1, 2018, recent surveys show that the Swedes are now the world’s most proficient speakers of English, followed by the Dutch, the Danes, the Nordics, and the Finns. Ranking below them are the Australians, the Americans, the British (8th place!), the Singaporeans, and the Irish, in that order.
The report said that previous studies had consistently ranked the Swedes as the best nonnative speakers of English, but according to the Oxbridge Institute of English Language, they are the most proficient outright.
“Recent studies tend to assume native speakers of English are the best, but the rest of the world is catching up, with some countries – like those in the Nordics along with the Netherlands – bringing a new standard of excellence free of routine mistakes,” explained Peregrine Dant, the author of the study. “It’s well documented that many of these speakers struggle to follow the idiomatic content of many native speakers’ discourse. But that’s not a failing. What is a failing is the widespread misuse of English words by native English speakers.”
Read “Why the masters of English are no longer the native speakers” in the CPHPost Online now! RELATED READING:The latest (7th) edition of the EF English Proficiency Index, which ranks the world's ranking of countries in English skills, the Netherlands is #1 among 80 countries in the world, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, South Africa, Germany, and Australia.
The Philippines ranks #15.Read EF English Proficiency Index rankings of “The world's largest ranking of countries by English skills” now!
