调查：哪些国家英语不是母语但却说得很溜？

如果你出国旅游，遇到一个英语说得特别好的老外，你可能以为对方是英国人或美国人，实际上，对方也可能是荷兰人或瑞典人，因为在一些母语非英语的国家，英语说得好的人也比比皆是。除了荷兰和瑞典，这些国家的人英语说得也不错。

Photo by Max Ilienerwise on Unsplash

If you're reading this story, the chances are you've got a pretty good grasp of English.

如果你在读这篇报道，十有八九你的英语还不错。

You're not alone -- an estimated 1.5 billion people speak English today, making it the most commonly used language in the world.

不光是你，据估计现今有15亿人会说英语，这使得英语成为世界上最常用的语言。

The majority are non-native speakers with English as their second language, while it serves as a third or fourth language for hundreds of millions more.

大多数会说英语的人母语都不是英语，英语是第二语言，而对于更多人而言，英语是第三或第四语言。

So which destination holds the most fluent non-native English speakers?

那么在这些母语非英语的国家中，哪些地方的人英语说得最流利呢？

According to a new report by international education company by EF Education First, the Netherlands can lay claim to the best non-native English speakers across the globe.

跨国公司英孚教育集团的一份新报告指出，荷兰是全球母语非英语的国家中英语说得最好的。

The results of its English Proficiency Index, based on a free online test taken by 2.3 million volunteers, indicate that the Dutch are the most fluent.

报告中的英语能力指数基于230万志愿者参加的一项免费在线测试，该指数显示，荷兰人的英语最流利。

Sweden was positioned just below, with a score of 68.74 out of 100, while Norway came in third with 67.93 points.

瑞典仅次于荷兰，得分68.74（满分为100），挪威排名第三，得分67.93。

Although the destinations with "very high proficiency" were largely made up of European countries, Singapore and South Africa also scored highly, coming in fifth and sixth place respectively.

尽管“英语水平很高”的国家基本都是欧洲国家，但新加坡和南非的得分也很高，分别位居第五名和第六名。

It's worth noting that destinations with greater access to computers and internet will likely have had higher numbers of participants, which may have skewed the results.

值得注意的是，使用电脑和网络更方便的地方参与者更多，这可能会让结果产生偏差。

skew[skjuː]: v. 偏离，歪斜；扭转，偏转；歪曲

The report also found that English was the most widely studied second language in the world by far.

报告还发现，迄今为止，英语是世界上最多人学习的第二语言。

Bilinguality appears to be less of a priority for Americans, if a separate study by non-partisan American think tank Pew Research Center is anything to go by.

如果美国无党派智库皮尤研究中心的一项独立研究结果值得采信的话，双语能力似乎对于美国人没那么重要。

Published last year, the analysis found that just 20% of school students in the United States were studying a foreign language.

这项于去年发布的分析报告发现，美国只有20%的在校学生在学习外语。

EF Education First's poll was measured by testing non-native English speakers in 100 countries and over 400 cities and regions who voluntarily agreed to take the test.

英孚集团的调查通过对100个国家、400多个城市和地区中英语非母语的人进行测试得出了结果。这些人都是自愿参加测试的。

最后来看看英语非母语而说得好的国家有哪些：

1. Netherlands 70.31 荷兰

2. Sweden 70.72 瑞典

3. Norway 68.38 挪威

4. Denmark 67.34 丹麦

5. Singapore 68.63 新加坡

6. South Africa 66.52 南非

7. Finland 65.86 芬兰

8. Austria 63.13 奥地利

9. Luxembourg 66.33 卢森堡

10. Germany 63.74 德国