A global study of English language proficiency in 60 nations revealed that the ability of the French to master the language of Shakespeare is actually declining. And France's fear of losing its culture is to blame. While most countries in the world are slowly improving their English proficiency, France is one of the few nations where standards are actually declining, a new study has revealed. The EF English Proficiency Index ranked France 35th out of 60 countries where English is not the main language, putting it behind China and Italy and just ahead of the United Arab Emirates in the "low proficiency" grouping. Most notably it was ranked last out of the European nations studied. What makes the situation more remarkable is that most European countries have either improved or already demonstrated consistently high English proficiency. "France currently has the weakest English skills in Europe," the study revealed. The main problem lies with France's fear of losing its own culture and language. The mentality of trying to protect Gallic culture has knock-on effects that harm the chances of French people learning English. One of the problems lies in the French school system. "French schools lack the resources compared with its European neighbors. Young pupils learn English in primary school, but often the teachers' level of English is not high. They are qualified as primary teachers, not language teachers, so often their English is just basic." "I think it is mostly because they don't care; there's even blatant animosity (公然仇视) toward the English language in France," said one researcher. "The French take great pride in their language, so there's no perceived prestige in learning a language they regard as inferior to their own. There is simply no incentive for them to improve their English."