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Does anyone else have the same view? | ||
Tags: Number of Languages | Fluency | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| pamination Triglot Newbie United States Joined 5412 days ago 7 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Mandarin | Message 25 of 27 03 February 2010 at 3:24am | IP Logged |
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I think when you're native language is English, at least for me, there is always a little guilt and embarrassment when I think I can just rely on another person knowing my native language to get by. It seems when people come to the United States they generally make an effort to talk to people in English even when they don't really speak it well. So why not learn a bit of a language in order to just get by. I don't think relying on English has the same effect on people who speak English as a second language because they made the effort to learn English, because they felt it was the universal language, so why couldn't other people.
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| taKen Tetraglot Senior Member Norway mindofthelinguist.woRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6119 days ago 176 posts - 210 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Dutch, French Studies: German, Icelandic | Message 26 of 27 03 February 2010 at 8:22pm | IP Logged |
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I only consider myself a speaker of any language if I've attained a decent fluency, but even then I'm not fully satisfied. Even languages that I've known for ages, like English and Dutch, are constantly improved upon as I get more experienced and exposed to the languages in any number of new contexts. So yes, I can't really get used to only staying at a certain level for a long period of time. I need to grow with my languages.
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| yawn Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5428 days ago 141 posts - 209 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, FrenchC2, SpanishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 27 of 27 04 February 2010 at 6:32am | IP Logged |
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Jordan, you are definitely not the only one with high standards! Although everyone knows I speak English and Chinese fluently (I am ethnically Chinese, and was raised in an English-speaking environment), I never told a SOUL I could even speak French until I received my DALF C1 certificate. It wasn't until I obtained the DALF C2 back in October 2008 that I could finally tell people I could speak fluent French without feeling like a liar. Same thing goes for Spanish - though I've obtained the DELE Intermedio and estimate my ability to be somewhere around a C1 level at this point, there are still MANY people around me who have no idea I've even been learning Spanish.
I don't know; I just don't think I can ever claim to speak a language fluently without feeling guilty somehow, if I haven't attained at least the C1 or C2 level of the Common European Framework (or equivalent). That's why I take all these language exams in the first place; they serve as solid evidence to back up my claims. On the other hand, others around me claim they are "fluent" in X number of languages without batting an eyelash, but if they used MY definition of "fluency" they'd all be telling grotesque lies. :P Thus far I have the following proficiency tests under my belt: Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) Advanced, DALF C2, DELE Intermedio (B2), and Start Deutsch (A2). It's because of these that I can safely say that I speak English, Chinese, French, and Spanish fluently (I'm about to take the DELE Superior in August); again, as I said, these certificates serve to validate my claims and to prove to others how much I really know. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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