The English Proficiency Index has published its latest research on where English is learned around the world and quality of teaching in each country to find the places with the highest proficiency of English as a second language.
The Netherlands has emerged as the nation with the highest English language proficiency, according to the EF English Proficiency Index, with a score of 72. It is ahead of five other northern European nations at the top of the chart. In fact, the only non-European nation in the top ten is Singapore at number six.
Dutch people can pick up English quite easily. Linguistically Dutch is one of the closest relatives of English. The two languages have much in common in terms of both grammar and vocabulary. Moreover, people in the Netherlands never expect foreigners to learn Dutch, as it is a language spoken in a small country and hardly anywhere else. They are for sure more likely to get exposure to something or someone foreign than people from larger countries, and in order to communicate they have to learn English.
