• Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Dear Europe. Please take me in. Do you have any English speaking countries? Your laws seem to be geared towards benefiting people. Not tyrants and corporations.

    • CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      4 hours ago

      There’s good and bad. Every few months the EU tries to ban encryption without backdoors again for instance, because “oh dear, think of the children!”.

    • Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Lucky for you, you can get around with English in most places.

      Ireland didn’t leave the EU, so that’s an option.

      In most big cities you can get around just fine. In some you can actually live very comfortably.

      As far as laws go, as an EU citizen one is entitled to communication with any public institutions one may come across in their preferred “official language”. Stuff like paying your utility bills, registering health insurance, similar bureaucratic stuff, as well as getting stopped by the police. You can insist on doing it in any one of 28 languages, including English.

      Usually that’s a bit overkill, and whoever you’re dealing with will be happy to speak to you in English or find someone else who does if they don’t. I assume the same goes for non-citizens. German and French are also quite popular, but English is by far the most ubiquitous.

    • laserwash2000@sh.itjust.works
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      18 hours ago

      They did have one heavily English speaking country, but those guys peaced out a few years back. Now it’s just Ireland and Malta (where English is an official language).

    • x00z@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      I think the Netherlands has the highest amount of L2 English speakers.

      In the Netherlands, the English language can be spoken by the vast majority of the population, with estimates of English proficiency reaching 90%[1] to 97%[2] of the Dutch population.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language_in_the_Netherlands

      It’s not the official language though so all documents and legal stuff would be in Dutch.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 hours ago

        It’s not the official language though so all documents and legal stuff would be in Dutch.

        Well, sorta.

        If you’re an immigrant there, the Vreemdelingen Politie and other authorities specifically dealing with immigrants will send you the documention in English if you prefer.

        Also banks will communicate with you in English if you want.

        However, you can forget all about getting anything in English from, for example, the local authorities.

        Mind you, it’s actually fun to learn Dutch IMHO, though I wouldn’t recommend reading official documentation as the best way to do it …

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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        11 hours ago

        Europeans from which country get upset when they hear their fellow countrypeople speak English poorly?

        Was it Germans, because there’s compulsory English education in schools?

    • Ms. ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip
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      16 hours ago

      I’m moving to Sweden soon, just about everyone there speaks English! And also Swedish is such a a pretty language I’m really excited to be immersed in it

      • Justin@lemmy.jlh.name
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        7 hours ago

        Can confirm, took me way too long to become fluent in Swedish because I just talked English with everyone 😅

        I definitely recommend practicing the language though, it’s very important for social interactions, official stuff, and many careers.

        Välkommen!

    • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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      16 hours ago

      Any Scandinavian country should have a population ranging from proficient to fluent in English.