While Italians may display good English language skills in some tourist hotspots, a new international ranking shows the country overall is far behind many neighbouring European nations.
The English Proficiency Index (EPI) from global language training company Education First (EF) ranked the Netherlands top out of 100 countries which don't have English as a national language, based on test results taken by nationals in each country.
Down in 36th place, Italy placed just behind Spain in the “moderate competency” group of countries and behind all other countries in the European Union.
In Europe as a whole, those performing worst were Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
As with so many things, Italy's regions showed big differences when it comes to English language proficiency, and the differences between northern and southern regions were marked.
The region ranked highest was Emilia-Romagna, known for being home to Bologna's famous university and student life. Meanwhile, Basilicata ranked lowest, followed by Puglia and Molise.
In terms of cities though, Milan was ranked Rome – though both only placed in the “moderate proficiency” category – with a score of 57.12 while the capital scored a slightly lower 56.28.
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And so what? Will the superpowers and political elite not be happy until every city speaks English and every town looks like each other with chain department stores, specialty stores, and restaurants, selling mediocre at best goods, most of it made in china and awlful factory-made foods? They preach diverstiy while flooding our countries with people who share nothing with us yet desire us to all accept their version of the future where we are all in lock-step with each other buying the same shit and speaking the same language! Sorry that is not the future I want for my children.