Of course, another major factor is language affinity. The number of people learning English as a second language outpaces all other EU languages by a country mile, to put it mildly. Here is percentage of EU pupils in primary education learning a second language, by language:
The prevalence of English language music and TV must also be a significant factor. (I've heard anecdotally from many people that spoken English is better in countries that tend to subtitle English language TV instead of overdub it). Presumably migrant workers reckon their chances are better in a country where they already have a grasp of the language. Eastern European are likely to have a particular affinity for English, as explained in the document from which the above graph is taken:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Foreign_language_learning_statistics
The prevalence of English language music and TV must also be a significant factor. (I've heard anecdotally from many people that spoken English is better in countries that tend to subtitle English language TV instead of overdub it). Presumably migrant workers reckon their chances are better in a country where they already have a grasp of the language. Eastern European are likely to have a particular affinity for English, as explained in the document from which the above graph is taken:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Foreign_language_learning_statistics
Within primary education, a clear majority of pupils (choose to) learn English in the vast majority of EU Member States. Indeed, learning English is mandatory in several countries within secondary education institutions, and so a number of EU Member States have close to 100 % of pupils learning this language already in primary education, as shown in Figure 1. All or nearly all (99–100 %) primary school pupils in Malta, Cyprus, Austria, Spain and Italy learnt English in 2014, as was also the case in Liechtenstein, Norway and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. More than nine out of every ten primary school children learnt English in Poland, France and Croatia. The relative importance of English as a foreign language may be further magnified because pupils tend to receive more instruction in their first foreign language than they do for any subsequent languages they (choose to) study.
Many of the eastern and northern European Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 were characterised by the fact that learning Russian was compulsory in the past. This situation has changed rapidly and in most of these countries there has been a marked increase in the proportion of pupils learning English — by 2014 it often exceeded 50 % of all pupils. In Romania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia this share was between 69 % and 82 % in 2014, rising to more than 90 % in Poland (as noted above).
Many of the eastern and northern European Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 were characterised by the fact that learning Russian was compulsory in the past. This situation has changed rapidly and in most of these countries there has been a marked increase in the proportion of pupils learning English — by 2014 it often exceeded 50 % of all pupils. In Romania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Slovakia this share was between 69 % and 82 % in 2014, rising to more than 90 % in Poland (as noted above).
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