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Claiming to Speak a Language - Pet Peeve | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 153 of 164 25 March 2013 at 11:52pm | IP Logged | ||
To some extent even being simply an experienced learner is enough to experience this. Knowing how languages work is already a minimal Sprachgefühl. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| casamata Senior Member Joined 4263 days ago 237 posts - 377 votes Studies: Portuguese | Message 154 of 164 26 March 2013 at 3:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I met a northern European that has one native language and speaks very good English since he's lived in the US from like 17 to 24. He has an obvious accent but is almost like a native speaker. Well, we were just talking about sports and he suddenly tells me that he was very good at running and that he was fluent in 6 languages. Mind you, we weren't even talking about languages at all. He tells me that he is fluent in Cantonese because he has a friend from Hong Kong. (he hasn't taken classes nor has he been abroad)
How do I know that he was lying? He said that he ran a sub 4 minute mile in High School even with a 17 minute 5K time (for you fellow runners, you know that this is impossibly slow for a 4 minute miler), which would have made him one of the top 3 or so HS runners in the entire US. He then challenged me and my friends by asking us how many languages we spoke. Interesting guy that was overcompensating. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mike245 Triglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6973 days ago 303 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Cantonese Studies: French, German, Mandarin, Khmer | Message 155 of 164 26 March 2013 at 7:22am | IP Logged | ||
I feel the same way about the languages I've studied. But my friends tend to tell people that I am fluent in X language just because I can muddle through a basic conversation in that language, which always makes me cringe and quickly move to correct them. I think being on this board with all of its accomplished polyglots also puts me in my place! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bubblyworld Newbie South Africa http:/ Joined 4287 days ago 7 posts - 11 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Xhosa, French, Japanese | Message 156 of 164 26 March 2013 at 12:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ai, one of the things I've noticed is that as soon as you tell somebody that you are studying language X, they invariably assume that you "can speak it" and are quick to share this opinion with others.
This has happened to me numerous times with Japanese, especially when I've been caught scribbling Kanji on a piece of paper for practice. Regardless of whether what I was writing made any sense at all ^_^. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tastyonions Triglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4666 days ago 1044 posts - 1823 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 157 of 164 26 March 2013 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was Skyping with someone recently when he remarked that I was "fluent" in French. I guess I sounded especially good that day or something, or he was just being really generous. :-)
It's a bit awkward when someone is willing to bestow a status on you that you definitely wouldn't claim for yourself. Edited by tastyonions on 26 March 2013 at 5:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4637 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 158 of 164 26 March 2013 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | ||
South Americans and Italians tend to be guilty of this. With me, anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 159 of 164 26 March 2013 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've just realized that one reason it bothers me is that it sort of diminishes your real achievements. Anyone who's been studying for the appropriate amount of time can get called fluent. And the people who think this way tend to focus too much on a correct pronunciation or grammar while not realizing that many things they consider easy are also hard. (such as reading, in a language that has an alphabet) Especially as the pronunciation arguably has more to do with talent than anything else in language.
It's like nobody gets the right credit from the general public. Your achievements are either overrated or underrated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Rajsinhasan Diglot Newbie Joined 4699 days ago 24 posts - 34 votes Speaks: English*, Creole (English) Studies: Portuguese | Message 160 of 164 26 March 2013 at 6:43pm | IP Logged | ||
This happens to me quite frequently as well when my family/friends find out I'm studying a language. Instead of inquiring what level I may have reached, they automatically assume that I'm fluent in the language and expect me to be able to converse on any topic in the language I'm learning. Definitely a pet peeve of mine but I let it slide as I was quite ignorant myself of the amount of dedication and effort it took to learn a language until I actually started doing it myself. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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