Study Shows: You Speak Less English Than You Think

The 5 Most Common Reasons for Self-Overestimation

The gap between perceived and actual English level has several psychological and practical causes:

1. The Comfort Zone of Basic Vocabulary: With about 2,000 words, you can understand 80% of everyday conversations. This feels like "fluent," but professional communication requires 8,000-10,000 words.

2. Passive vs. Active Knowledge: You recognize many words when reading or listening but cannot spontaneously recall them when speaking. This difference can be enormous.

3. German School System: After 6-9 years of school English, many assume their skills are solid. But without regular practice, language skills deteriorate quickly.

4. Lack of Corrections: In international business, nobody corrects your mistakes -- colleagues nod politely even when you say "become" instead of "get."

5. Confirmation Bias: We remember situations where communication worked and suppress moments when we didn't understand or were misunderstood.

How to Honestly Assess Your English

A realistic assessment of your English skills is the first step toward improvement. Here are five concrete methods to test your actual level:

1. The 60-Second Test: Set a timer and speak freely about your job for 60 seconds -- in English. Record yourself. If you hesitate more than three times, search for words, or switch to German, your speaking level is probably below B2.

2. Write an Email Without Help: Compose a professional email in English without Google Translate, DeepL, or a dictionary. Then have a native speaker review it.

3. News Test: Listen to 5 minutes of BBC News. Can you summarize the main points in your own words afterward? If not, your listening comprehension still needs work.

4. Standardized Tests: The free EF SET Test or the Cambridge English Test give you an objective CEFR placement.

5. Technical Vocabulary Check: Can you explain your professional tasks in English without switching to German? Technical vocabulary is often the biggest gap.

Where Germans Overestimate the Most

Research identifies three main areas where self-overestimation is particularly high:

Pronunciation and Intonation: Germans tend to pronounce English words with a German accent without noticing. This particularly affects the "th" sound, correct stress on multi-syllable words, and English sentence melody. A German accent is not bad -- but it can make understanding harder.

Idiomatic Expressions: Idioms are the litmus test for true language competence. Someone who says "It goes me on the nerves" instead of "It gets on my nerves" shows a typical word-for-word translation that indicates a level below B2.

Technical Vocabulary: In their own professional field, many people know only a handful of English technical terms. The gap between everyday English and professional communication becomes apparent during the first international presentation or negotiation.