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At what level do you say you speak? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| clumsy Octoglot Senior Member Poland lang-8.com/6715Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4978 days ago 1116 posts - 1367 votes  Speaks: Polish*, English, Japanese, Korean, French, Mandarin, Italian, Vietnamese Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swedish Studies: Danish, Dari, Kirundi | Message 9 of 63 29 June 2012 at 10:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I am a hipster, so I voted a1.
b1 is too mainstream. The reason is simply, because such a level exists, if Cerf people decided on it, then I believe they must be right. I would say that I am elementary at this stage, and at a2 basic. Even a1 requires work. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6397 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 10 of 63 29 June 2012 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yeah, between B1 and B2, closer to B2.
When I evaluate myself as B2, that is. It's better if my skills are evaluated by online tests as C1 or C2 at that point. There's a bit of a contradiction in that B1 is the max level for many challenges, but many people claim to speak a language already at B1. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5134 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 11 of 63 29 June 2012 at 11:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I use B1 as the level at which I say I speak it. I do not speak it well, obviously, but both German and Italian
are languages where I can in principle say anything I want. I may not say it correctly, but the message gets across. In the past it has however been evident that some have a A1 or A2 view on what it is not just to speak a language, but even to be fluent in it. But then again, who am I to say that their interpretation is wrong just because it is different from mine? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6397 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 12 of 63 29 June 2012 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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They can say whatever they want, but imo they gotta respect the standards of this forum. "speaks" is when your level is higher than intermediate, whether it's basic, advanced or native-like fluency.
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 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5332 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 63 30 June 2012 at 12:19am | IP Logged | |||||
Here's "Basic Fluency", as defined by the forum software:
80% comprehension of a newspaper is definitely well below B2, judging from the DELF exams. The "understanding what people say and getting your point across" is a pretty typical B1 skill (for familiar topics) or a B2 skill (for a wide range of general topics). The hardest part of this definition is "any topic", which still gives me headaches. I can discuss the European debt crisis, for example, but not World War II. I just don't have any military vocabulary yet, and I'd have to say "a fight which uses long holes in the ground for protecting soldiers" instead of "trench warfare" (une guerre des tranchées, as it turns out). Honestly, looking at the official definition of "basic fluency" on HTLAL doesn't really narrow things down all that much. It's somewhere in between B1 and C1, depending on how you read it. I do agree that it pretty clearly rules out A2, though. Edited by emk on 30 June 2012 at 12:20am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6709 days ago 4250 posts - 5710 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 63 30 June 2012 at 12:25am | IP Logged | |||||
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Somewhere around B1-B2. Guess why only Swedish and English are the languages I "speak" (according to my profile). I have got my message across in a handful of other languages, though.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4438 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 15 of 63 30 June 2012 at 12:36am | IP Logged | |||||
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For me it is B2. I can comprehend a solid amount of the written language and feel reasonably comfortable talking about "several topics", as vague as that term may be. Unless I feel that I'm at a B2 level, I usually don't say that I speak the language, but rather that I'm studying the language or "advancing" in it.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kyle Corrie Senior Member United States Joined 4629 days ago 175 posts - 464 votes | Message 16 of 63 30 June 2012 at 12:56am | IP Logged | |||||
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In my opinion it is only the native with whom your are communicating with at that
moment who can determine your level and they will adjust accordingly. I don't think anyone should claim to speak a language at all if it is not at a level almost on par with your native tongue. However, it should be noted that I would agree with people identifying their certification level in establishing their ability. At least then there is some understanding on what they're able to accomplish with the language. I'll use Moses as an example because he sells a product... If you watch his "leveling up" videos he'll hear a seemingly Slavic accent and then try out some Russian. He'll get going with, "Hi. Hello. How are you? Where are you from?" And then he fades off because he can't do anymore. Then he'll go into Mandarin and ask someone, "Hi. Hello. How are you? Where are you from?" Then again after he's reached the limit of what chapter four in his Teach Yourself book has to offer; he's done. Or if you read his German posts - he really as no clue about the syntax (among other things). You may argue, "Well, as long as he gets his point across then he's speaking." ...and that's where I'd disagree. If I were to say, "I go store. Getted milc. No hunger more. Maked fun." Sure, I understand what is meant to be conveyed, but this person shouldn't be claiming to speak English. So to summarize - unless your ability with the language is very close to your native ability, or you have actual certification. You shouldn't be claiming to speak the language. But what's really the point in telling people you speak 'X' anyway? Edited by Kyle Corrie on 30 June 2012 at 1:06am 7 persons have voted this message useful |
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