Is there any other country in Europe, apart from the UK, where English is spoken / recognised?

Question

My fiance has asked me which country in Europe I would want to move to. The only international language I speak is English, though he is fluent in English and French. I don't think I want to be in the UK, and seems like every other European country has a national language.....Is there at least one country out there that has English as a second language? Help!!

Answer 1

English is an official language in Malta and Ireland, apart from the UK.
BUt the people in Holland speak brilliant English, all of them .. so do the Norwegians, Swedish, Danish.

The Italians are not very good on the other hand, neither the Spanish..

Answer 2

In all countries of Europe English is spoken, but the only country I know where English is the first language, is Malta, an island near Italy, they speak Maltese too. (Malta has a population about 400.000) It´s a beautiful island with very nice and polite people mostly, the capital is Valetta, very beautiful and historical and there are 3 islands around Malta (and some few islands without population), also worth a visit.In the summer it´s very hot, but otherwise I would like to live there. Oh, I forgot Ireland, there English is spoken as a native language, of course. They have another accent as I´m sure you know.On the other hand why not try some other country where they also speak English, but not as their native language and try to learn the language of that country.I think that it would be a challenge, but very rewarding to learn a new language. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Answer 3

Most large cities in Europe have enough people that speak English that you can function in them quite well only knowing English. Even when things are only written in the native language, you'll notice that a lot of words resemble English (in Poland, I quickly learned that shampoo is szampon). If you are in a city where you don't speak the language and you need to ask someone something, just look for a teenager or young adult.

People in the Netherlands/Holland and the Scandinavian countries are generally very fluent in English.

In Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, English is the default common language because it's such a popular city with tourists from all over the world.

Answer 4

The Republic of Ireland has English as one of its official languages along with Irish Gaelic, but actually the Irish-speaking regions (known as the Gaeltacht) make up only 30% of the country or thereabouts.
English is also a second language for the Dutch and Scandinavians. You can do nicely with English in those countries, too.

Answer 5

Most European countries now have people learning english as an additional language. This is due to the globalization of capitalism with tourism as its market. So, if I were you I would go choose Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Spain or Italy. French people are too cocky to speak english to tourists.

Answer 6

English is prevalent throughout Europe. Instead of worrying about the language barrier, think about which culture you would want to be around... The language will come and in most countries, the people will gladly help you learn the local lingo.

Answer 7

Wherever I go I find that the elite all speak english as a second language.

Learning a second language may seem impossible, but you'd be surprised how quickly you can learn enough to communicate if your around it enough.

Have you considered spain? Spanish is a pretty easy language for an english speaker to pick up quickly.

Answer 8

Actually, a few Western European countries teach English in schools. Most of the people in the popular tourist areas (i.e. Paris and Rome) speak English. If you go to the country-side, it's harder to find people who speak something other than their native tongue.

Answer 9

Actually not, except Ireland. But you can go to Belgium, Holland, Austria, Switzerland or Germany. Everyone here starts learning english at the age of 10 in school and they will all understand you. And in all scandinavian countries it is the same.

Answer 10

malta

both maltese and english are official languages

english is taught to children before maltese so i would say that 95% of the generation younger than 50 can speak english fluently.

btw malta is a small island in the mediterranean its warm in summer and mildly cool in winter enjoys spectacular beaches but may get too crowded especially in summer
i d be glad to answer any more of ur questions through email :)
i wish u the best of luck. tc