"Why Do France, Italy & Spain Still Struggle With English?"

Same union. Same near-universal English classes. Wildly different results — and dubbing isn't the whole story. Picture two EU citizens who each spent years in a system where English is almost impossible to avoid: one grew up in the Netherlands, the other in Italy. Both ticked the same box on their school schedule — years of mandatory English class.

Picture two EU citizens who each spent years in a system where English is almost impossible to avoid: one grew up in the Netherlands, the other in Italy. Both ticked the same box on their school schedule — years of mandatory English class.

Only one of them can actually use it with ease.

On the EF English Proficiency Index, the gap between these two countries is 111 points — the difference between "very high proficiency" and merely "moderate." Same union. Same push for English in schools. So why does the gap stay this wide?

The Gap, in Numbers

The EF EPI 2025 ranked 123 countries and regions on adult English skills, using test results from 2.2 million people. Inside the EU alone, the spread is striking:

Netherlands — 624 points, #1 in the world
Croatia — 617, #2
Austria — 616, #3
Germany — 615, #4
Spain — 540, ranked 36th globally, "moderate" proficiency
France — 539, ranked 38th, also "moderate"
Italy — 513, ranked 59th, the weakest of the EU's major economies on this scale

Four wealthy, well-educated EU countries. Two very different outcomes. Germany breaks the pattern in one important way — more on that shortly.

It's Not a Lack of Classes

The easy excuse — "we just don't teach it enough" — doesn't hold up.

According to Eurostat, English is by far the most-studied foreign language in EU schools: roughly 96% of general upper-secondary students and 80% of vocational students study it. Nearly every young European sits through years of English lessons.

If classroom hours were the whole answer, every EU country would look like the Netherlands. They don't. Something else is doing the heavy lifting.

The Dubbing Theory — And Its Big Exception

The most popular explanation is dubbing.

The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Croatia don't dub foreign films and shows — they subtitle them. Kids grow up hearing real, spoken English constantly, in cartoons, movies, and music, while reading translated text underneath. That's years of free, passive listening practice before a single English class even starts.

France, Italy, and Spain do the opposite. Almost everything foreign gets dubbed into the local language, so far less spoken English reaches daily life outside the classroom.

It's a tidy theory. Except Germany also dubs almost everything — and still ranks 4th among EU countries, trailing only the Netherlands, Croatia, and Austria, all subtitling nations.

So dubbing habits shift the odds. They don't decide the outcome on their own.

Even the Winners Have One Weak Spot

Here's a detail from the 2025 EF report that ties the whole picture together: in over half of the countries measured — including many high scorers — speaking is the weakest of the four English skills.

Reading and listening can be trained through screens, apps, and passive exposure. Speaking can't. It needs a listener, real stakes, and quick correction. Almost no country, whatever its ranking, gives students enough of that.

What's Actually Driving the Gap

Line up the research and a more honest picture appears. It's not one cause — it's a stack of them.

Media habits. Subtitling hands people free spoken-English exposure for years before school even starts.
Teaching style. Higher-scoring countries tend to lean on communicative, speaking-first methods. Others still treat English mainly as a subject to be tested, not a skill to be used.
Necessity. Smaller countries whose own language has limited reach abroad — Dutch, Danish, Croatian — get a practical push to use English early and often. Speakers of larger, globally established languages can get further without it.
Everyday use. In France, Italy, and Spain, English proficiency tends to run much higher in capital cities and business hubs than in the national average — proof that the chance to actually use the language matters as much as any classroom.

What This Means If You're Learning English for Work

If you grew up in one of the EU's "moderate" countries, none of this is a life sentence. It's an environment you can compensate for.

Swap dubbed content for subtitled or original-language versions when you have the choice.
Treat listening and speaking as two separate skills — build both on purpose, not just one by accident.
Look for real chances to use English at work, not just study it in isolation.
Work with a coach or partner who corrects you in the moment, not weeks later on a graded paper.

The Netherlands didn't reach 624 points through better textbooks. It got there through decades of everyday, low-stakes exposure and use. You can build a personal version of that same environment — it just won't happen by accident.