Faced with the prospect of a holiday blighted by broken conversation, pointing and blank stares it's no surprise some travelers would feel more relaxed visiting a country where English is widely-spoken and understood. If you'd rather leave your phrasebook at home, there are plenty of countries where it is surprisingly easy to strike up a conversation in English. Here are 5 countries with the most number of English speakers around the world.

Sweden

Blessed with stunning mountains, lakes and forests, even if you're out exploring the country's breath-taking wilderness and bump into one of its 9.7 million population, there's a high chance they'll understand your apology. Sweden came top out of 70 countries in the world for its adult population's English skills. It's also one of the few countries where males are slightly better than females at the language according to dailymail.co.uk.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the 8th most English speaking nations by population. The strength of Eng. speaking people is 29,398,158 and all of them used it as their additional language.

Argentina

In Latin America the country is the destination where you are most likely to be understood when communicating in English. On a global scale, Argentina takes 15th place on the index so expect a lengthy chat with the new friends you make.

Philippines

In Philippines the total number of English speakers is 52,292,884 in which 36,935 of them used it as their first tongue and the rest of them as additional. According to toptenfindings.com, Since English is part of the curricula from primary to tertiary learning, many Filipinos write and speak in flowing English, even though there might be differences in pronunciation and accent.

Singapore

A slick hub for conferences and a dazzling stop-over for Brits on their way to Asia or Australasia, Singapore is an easy place for English speakers to travel to. Ranked at number 12 on the index it is the best non-European destination at English proving that tourists who panic about their lack of language skills don't have to holiday close to home.