The Surprising Factor That Determines English Fluency

0:00 Look at this map. What do you notice? There's a clear line running through Europe. North of it, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden. South of it, Spain, Italy, and France. The divide is stark and consistent. And this isn't a one-year fluke. This North South English divide has been the same story for years. But why is it genetics, intelligence, natural talent? None of these. My first thought was language similarity. German, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish are all Germanic languages like English. That does give them a clear advantage and is definitely part of the puzzle. But then there's Finland. Finland ranks 14th out of 86, which is still excellent. Not only is Finnish not a Germanic language, it's not even

0:47 Indo-Uropean. It's completely unrelated to English. Today, we're going to uncover the other more hidden reasons behind Europe's divide, and some of them will surely surprise you. Outliers like Croatia and Greece tell us that the real story isn't about where you are on the map. It's about the systems, incentives, and cultural factors that either accelerate or hinder English learning. Interestingly enough, South America shows the north south divide in the opposite direction. Let's start with something that explains both the success of the Nordics as well as the outliers in the south of Europe. Size matters. We all know that when your entire country has fewer people than London, you need English to talk to the world. Nordic countries are small but wealthy. Their businesses are

1:33 international by necessity. Their media markets are tiny. Their academic communities need global collaboration. And look at our outliers. Croatia, Greece, Portugal. What do they have in common? They are all relatively small countries with strong tourism industries and significant immigration. Small countries can't afford to be linguistically isolated. English isn't a nice to have, it's economic necessity. When speaking English determines whether you can get a job, travel for work, or access international opportunities, motivation takes care of itself. The second reason are the Nordic universities, which have created a massive advantage. In Nordic countries, higher education is free, or at least very cheap, or rather paid by taxes. So, more people go to university. But not

2:19 only that, the education increasingly happens in English. Nordic universities have dramatically expanded English medium instruction over the past decade, especially in mast's programs. So you're reading academic papers, writing thesis chapters, participating in seminars, all in English. This creates a population comfortable with complex and sophisticated use of English. Compare this to countries like France or Italy where university education is still predominantly in the local language. French students might take an English class, but they are not living and breathing in English for years during their most intensive learning period. Also, in Nordic countries, not being able to speak English is genuinely embarrassing for most. It's a basic expectation, like knowing how to drive or use a computer. English proficiency signals education, sophistication, and

3:05 international awareness. In Germany, there's also this meme that we always apologize for our bad English while being able to speak very fluently. But of course, this is not the case for everyone here. Could someone please explain to me why there's some Germans that say that they can't speak English when in reality their English is better than mine? >> Oh, hey, you're right, mate. Oh, sorry, mate. Do you speak English? Yes, a little bit. Oh, okay. Do you know where the train station is? Well, of course. If you take a glance down this twisted street adjacent from us, all that is required from you is that you proceed 15° to the northwest, take a swift left turn, rotate precisely 38° to the right, and thou shalt stumble across

3:50 a magnificent structure called Frankfurt, hobb. It's this fear of making mistakes, which I assume is common in some of these Nordic countries, too. That's the level of expectation we are talking about here. So, if everyone arounds you speaks English well, you're motivated to keep up. But here's the factor that maybe matters more of them all. TV. Or rather, how we watch TV. There's actually research on this. A study called TV or not TV, the impact of subtitling on English skills found a large positive effect for subtitled original version broadcasts as opposed to dub television on English proficiency scores. The citizens of countries where television is broadcast in the original version would have better English vocabulary, grammar, and in particular, listening comprehension than those of countries where programs are dubbed. Surprisingly,

4:37 only 12% of Europeans think that television is useful for learning foreign languages. It's not just useful, it's the most useful thing you can do next to listening and reading to other content. English skills are better in countries where television films and programs are subtitled. The magnitude of our effect is large, equivalent to 16.9% 1 and a half standard deviations of the average level of English skills. So every time you turn on your TV or for some it's YouTube, you get listening comprehension. You get input in the language you want to acquire. You are learning through this input and do that without even trying. This is at the core of how I approach language learning and my channel in general, where we always talk about how to find the right kind of input for your level and interests and why learning through reading, watching, and listening is so much better than

5:24 textbooks. I believe in this and have experienced this myself with my English and Spanish skills to a degree that I decided to build my own language learning app, Langia. Langia focuses on creating content at your level that matches your interests because when content is compelling, learning happens naturally. Subtitle TV shows also give us a potential reason why Portugal outperforms Spain. Well, one of them typically uses subtitles, the other typically dubs their content. Spain and Portugal share many geographical and cultural traits. But the number of Spanish speakers is double that of Portuguese speakers. Again, maybe in part because of this, Portugal uses subtitling while in Spain television is dubbed. And as a result, Portugal's results are much better than Spain's. Another factor is money. People say money talks. Well, it speaks English.

6:11 Northern Europeans travel more, creating real world motivation and practice opportunities. When you can afford to backpack through the world or study abroad, English becomes immediately useful and not just theoretically. Wealth, of course, also means access to quality English education, international schools, and private tutoring. It's not just that northern Europeans start learning English early, it's that they encounter it everywhere. A Norwegian teenager doesn't just study English in school. They live partially in English online. I mean, we all kind of do, but for some countries, this relation is stronger than for others. Video games, music, social media, YouTube, Twitch streams, all predominantly in English because there's just not that much translation happening. So, they learned slang and casual expressions and real world communication inductively without ever really focusing on it. This

6:58 immersion starts young and never stops. By the time they are adults, they have had thousands of hours of formal and informal English practice that their southern European counterparts simply haven't experienced to the same degree. The results, English doesn't feel foreign anymore. It's part of your social and digital life. And finally, let's talk about something that may sound a little ridiculous, but I do believe it makes sense, and that's the weather. When it's dark and cold for half the year, you spend more time indoors, which potentially means consuming more media, more Netflix, more YouTube, more online content, all of which tends to be in English. At the same time, southern Europeans are outside enjoying their beautiful weather and socializing in their native language. Is this the most important factor? Maybe, probably not. But when

7:43 you combine it with everything else, the subtitles, the social expectations, the economic necessity, even the weather contributes to creating an environment where English learning happens naturally. The good news, many of these advantages can be recreated by you at home without living in some of these Nordic countries. Maybe not changing the weather or suddenly being wealthy, but you can switch to subtitles instead of dubbing. You can create social expectations by joining English-speaking communities online. You can consume English media for topics you actually care about. You can treat English as necessary for your goals, not optional. You can build your own immersive environment through gaming, social media, and streaming. And so this mindset shift is crucial. You don't need to move to Norway to create this environment. You just need to understand what makes it work and build your own

8:31 version of it. So yes, geography might influence English proficiency, but you can change your linguistic geography without moving countries. Now, I hope this video made you feel motivated to continue whatever language you are currently learning. But maybe you are at this frustrating point where you are wondering if you should quit. In that case, watch this video next where I break down how to know if you're in a temporary dip that's worth pushing through or if you're genuinely stuck in a dead end. I'll give you a full framework to regain motivation and confidence so that you can push through the tough times and build the kind of sustainable learning environment that actually works. Thank you for watching and I see you next