Languages of Europe

Students often ask us: “I know English well. Where can I study in Europe?”

English is widely spoken and regarded as an international language. The original article identifies the United Kingdom as a European country where it is spoken officially and also mentions its use in Cyprus and Gibraltar. It states that the European Union has another 23 official languages.

Its list includes Bulgarian, Hungarian, Greek, Danish, Irish, Spanish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, German, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Finnish, French, Czech, Swedish and Estonian.

If English is your only foreign language, that is not a problem, but you may have to pay more. Many countries offer free or fee-paying English-language programmes. The source mentions two Slovak universities offering free programmes; English-language study in Czechia from EUR 1,500 per year, compared with tuition-free Czech-language study; and fee-paying Polish education with English programmes from EUR 1,400 per year.

The pattern is similar elsewhere: English-language study can be found, but studying in your institution’s national language is often more comfortable, logical and affordable. Future students should be prepared to learn the language of their chosen country.

Some original illustrations are no longer available. The text and available images have been retained.