Once my wife and I were in a McDonalds. opposite the front door of Koln cathedral, and there were five young (16-18) people sitting next to us. They spoke in French for the 20 min they were there. As they left, I looked at my wife and said "I'll bet you think they were French" - "Yes", she said. "No", I said, "you missed the first sentence - where the girl nearest us said "Speak Only French" in German." It is a fact that Scandinavians speak such good English that it is possible to present plays in Stockholm in English; Shakespeare and "the Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie being cases in point. There are a lot of uncivil comments levelled at Scandinavian and German songsmiths who choose to work in English. When New York gives a paying run to a Goethe play in German on Broadway, I'll listen to them.