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When can I say that I "know" Spanish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| cmmah Diglot Groupie Ireland Joined 4334 days ago 52 posts - 110 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Irish | Message 1 of 16 28 August 2012 at 10:19pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I can watch a TV programme and understand about 80-90% of what's said. I could probably pass an A-level (which
some people equate to a 'B2' level), bar some vocabulary, and I can read a novel using a dictionary. My speaking fluency is somewhat good. I'd say that spending a good two weeks or so in a Spanish-speaking country would get me to a brilliant level of speaking. I'd say that my main weaknesses lie in my limited amount of vocabulary. Then again, I've seen people on this site who put languages in their 'speaks' category but then ask for advice on how to expand their relatively small vocabulary. When can I say that I "know" or "can speak" a language? Do I have to be able to read a novel without a dictionary, or be able to defend myself in court, before I can say that? Or would my current level be adequate to say "I know/can speak Spanish"? 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5256 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 2 of 16 28 August 2012 at 10:27pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Simple answer: Yes, you "know / can speak Spanish". You said so yourself: "My speaking fluency is somewhat good."
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| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6400 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 3 of 16 29 August 2012 at 12:35am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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The official criteria are:
Basic Fluency - you understand at least 80% of a regular newspaper in your target language and can hold regular conversations about any topic, understanding what people say and getting your point across. Advanced Fluency means that you can read a popular novel and not miss more than 2 words per page on average, and hold advanced conversations with minimal mistakes. Some people misunderstand the term basic fluency. Or you might misunderstand their descriptions of their level - EVERYONE needs more vocab, and it gets less straightforward when you're above B1, as there ARE vocab courses but not for all languages and they're not necessarily the best choice. It's like "I know that I know nothing"... the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. Edited by Serpent on 29 August 2012 at 2:38am 8 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4471 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 4 of 16 29 August 2012 at 1:10am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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If you make no mistakes, you're good ;)
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| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5586 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 5 of 16 29 August 2012 at 2:49am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I wouldn't read too much into that, I certainly never intentionally put Spanish in my "speaks" category and have been meaning to find out what went wrong and fix it for the last 3 or 4 years. The forum software is just plain dumb IMHO. Even now I don't speak Spanish, I study it and my Spanish is a ton better than it was 3-4 yeas ago. Sometimes I feel embarrassed; but sometimes it used to motivate me to try and make it true. Edited by Random review on 29 August 2012 at 2:52am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6400 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 6 of 16 29 August 2012 at 3:49am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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you've chosen "basic fluency" when listing your level. from the discussions elsewhere I really don't think you should change it. not yet, i mean ;) - i hope after some time you'll be able to change it to advanced fluency.
also, i think most people are aware that if you list a language under Speaks rather than Studies, this doesn't mean you've stopped studying it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5586 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 7 of 16 29 August 2012 at 4:17am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Really? I can't think why I would have done that. OK now I really am embarrassed! Time to change my profile.
Ironically I'm taking a break from studying it now, starting a few days ago. Edit: finally went to change my profile. Definition of basic fluency on this forum:
This was true at the time, I like to think I do a lot better than that these days.
If you change "any" to "almost any" then this is actually true of me now; but it wasn't back then. It's still a stupid definition as if you can discuss literally anything from semiotics to quantum mechanics in your TL then you're C2 IMO. Hmmm, I think you're right, serpent, although it wasn't true at the time (and I can't think what can have possessed me) it is the right level now, so I'll leave my profile as it is. Still wouldn't say I speak it, though, so my point to the OP still stands. One thing that puzzles me, I don't remember choosing from these categories, I remember filling in an estimate of my skill level in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Is my memory just playing tricks? Edited by Random review on 29 August 2012 at 4:30am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6242 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 8 of 16 29 August 2012 at 4:32am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
You likely did both. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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