If you're reading this story, the chances are you've got a pretty good grasp of English.
假如你在读这篇报导,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,据估计如今有15亿人会说英语,这使得英语成为世界上最常用的言语。
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,英语是第二言语,而关于更多人而言,英语是第三或第四言语。
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,哪些当地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.
跨国教育集团的一份新陈述指出,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.
陈述中的英语才能指数根据230万志愿者参与的一项免费在线测验,该指数显现,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.
虽然“英语水平很高”的国家根本都是欧洲国家,但新加坡和南非的得分也很高,别离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.
有必要留意一下的是,运用电脑和网络更便利的当地参与者更多,这可能会让成果发生误差。
skew[skju?]:v. 违背,倾斜;改变,偏转;曲解
The report also found that English was the most widely studied second language in the world by far.
陈述还发现,迄今为止,英语是世界上最多人学习的第二言语。
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.
假如美国无党派智库皮尤研究中心的一项独立研究成果值得采信的话,双语才能好像关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.
这项于上一年发布的剖析陈述发现,美国只要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.
英孚集团的查询经过对100个国家、400多个城市和区域中英语非母语的人进行测验得出了成果。这些人都是自愿参与测验的。
最终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
11. Poland 62.45 波兰
12. Portugal 60.02 葡萄牙
13. Belgium 63.52 比利时
14. Croatia 60.16 克罗地亚