Do Germans speak English well ? (country, Dutch, Italians, speaking)

[singaporelady]

I am curious about this. Any comments ?

[Ethereal]

Many do, but they prefer German (or at least, from what I heard).

My aunt went there and she said they were rude to you when you spoke English with them.

[GoldenTiger]

From my experience, most can speak enough English to get by. Most have an accent that is close to American even if not very fluent, so easy to understand. I have a couple of German friends on facebook, and their written English is not very good, but still understandable.

[Jesse44]

What Germans do you people know? I have only crossed one who couldn't speak English and this was in a small town called Oranienburg.

All Germans I've met speak English better than half the people I went to school with. I'm not even joking, in fact I can't seem to go a day without hearing someone speak in double negatives, made up merged words and nonexistent grammar. A lot of them have a heavy accent, but that doesn't change their overall excellent skill and education with the language. They learn it formally from a young age and live in Germany, and therefor don't have the time to bastardize it in to the familiar crap English you hear from a lot of native speakers. That's really the only difference.

[Red_Devil]

Very good. You'll meet a-lot that like to practice their English as well.

Germans are big travelers

[Geggo]

Originally Posted by theropod

Many do, but they prefer German (or at least, from what I heard).

My aunt went there and she said they were rude to you when you spoke English with them.

Many Germans prefer speaking English to Australians/British/Americans etc, even if they the latter are fluent in German.

Where did you aunt go to?

[lndigo]

Most people under forty speak English fluently and well enough to get by, and many speak English at an advanced level.

[irish_bob]

Originally Posted by singaporelady

I am curious about this. Any comments ?

not as well as the dutch but miles ahead of the french , spanish , italians

overall , very well

fantastic nation , the ideal IMO

[KuuKulgur]

According to this, they have a quite high proficiency:
EF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY <br /> INDEX - THIRD EDITION | EF United States

Which I think is about correct.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by singaporelady

I am curious about this. Any comments ?

My German Grandmother and all of her siblings spoke English very well. Speaking a language other than one's native language is not a handicap, it is an adaptation to one's new country if they immigrated.