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What is good enough? | ||
Tags: CEFR Language Levels | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6703 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 33 of 79 27 December 2012 at 12:08am | IP Logged | ||
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"Good enough" is not the same for all my languages. In some cases the chances that I ever will have an opportunity to speak a language will be very slim, and then "good enough" on the active side might be as low as A2 - although B1 would be more satisfying. So far Irish belongs here, and maybe also Low German and Afrikaans. In those cases where I can expect to have conversations about science, history, tourism and similar subjects during a monolingual trip the required bottom level will necessarily be higher, probably something like B1, though B2 would give better communication. And in those cases where I regularly travel to relevant countries and watch a lot of TV I would be somewhat disappointed by myself if I couldn't push the level to C1 - but B2 is OK.
In writing I would always want a level or two above my level in speaking, and in listening I expect soon to be able to understand a news broadcast or scientific TV program in all of the languages I have listed to the left. In practice the restricting factor is the amount of comprehensible input I can get, given that I can't stand silly sitcoms and histrionic readings of literature by actors. As for reading I suppose my expected level won't ever be lower than C2 in any language (although I still lie below that in some cases). If I can't read scientific magazines and forum posts in a language then I know I need to practice more. Edited by Iversen on 27 December 2012 at 1:44am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akkadboy Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5408 days ago 264 posts - 497 votes Speaks: French*, English, Yiddish Studies: Latin, Ancient Egyptian, Welsh | Message 34 of 79 27 December 2012 at 12:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Apart from English, I don't really need to speak or write any of the languages I study. Besides, most of them are dead/dying languages (almost) nobody speaks anymore.
So, when these dead/dying languages are concerned, "good enough" for me is trying to achieve (almost) perfect passive skills whereas I can afford (to a certain extent) to neglect active skills. This being said, I have recently been trying to improve my spoken Latin skills because I felt it would be the best way to improve my overall command of Latin. Depending on the results, this is something I might try with other languages. Edited by akkadboy on 27 December 2012 at 12:18am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5219 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 35 of 79 27 December 2012 at 1:35am | IP Logged | ||
Just about sums up my position. I use Spanish at work so B2/C1 is where I am now but aim to improve with time. Moving there is a definite possibility. I have a need of Polish because there are Polish employees in one company. I am working on bringing my other languages back on line to roughly where I was: Russian, Arabic, French, German at about B2. The biggest smile on my face is when I speak better L2 than they speak English. Priceless! I'll continue to dabble with others but that is because I am fickle! Edited by maydayayday on 27 December 2012 at 1:36am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4358 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 36 of 79 31 December 2012 at 4:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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This is a question I have been asking myself a lot lately. I have had the urge to keep learning interesting languages and stopping at some (low) level, only to continue to the next. But then I decided to calm down and be reasonable. So I decided that understanding without speaking well, is not good enough. That's why I'll focus on french (love it) and German (need it). If I am to become really practical, I need to learn chinese.
My own pesronal measure is reading any text without much help, certainly the news without problems, speaking comfortably without eating your tongue every other word. The levels you all mention confuse me, to be honest. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5334 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 37 of 79 31 December 2012 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | ||
THIS might make it less confusing :-) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5532 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 38 of 79 31 December 2012 at 5:03pm | IP Logged | ||
The levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 are part of a European system for describing how well somebody has mastered a language. You can find more information on Wikipedia or check out this self-assessment checklist from the Council of Europe. But to put it in a nutshell and oversimplify quite a bit: A2: Can order a meal, give basic biographic details, and handle some other routine tasks. B1: Can generally function as a tourist without much use of native language. B2: Can function independently in many situations. C1: Can deal with university-level coursework or an office job. There are official exams for most European languages, which are sometimes a little harder or easier than you might guess from the descriptions of each level. Edited by emk on 31 December 2012 at 5:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4358 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 39 of 79 31 December 2012 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you both.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5219 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 40 of 79 31 December 2012 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | ||
I am familiar with some of the examination systems French, Spanish, German, Russian but is there a more complete table somewhere? Or could we compile one? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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