What does it really mean to be fluent in English?
What do we mean by English fluency, and how can understanding competencies across the four skills provide a more realistic picture of communicative English ability? How did you achieve fluency in your English? How easy is it to achieve "native fluency" in a language and how far off is "C2" from "native fluency"? How did you become fluent in your second language? How long did it take for you to be fluent?
Has anyone actually achieved fluency using their own method or a language learning plan? If so, what was it? In what languages are you mostly fluent and how long did it take you to reach that fluency? Those of you who have successfully learned a new language well enough to hold a good conversation with a native speaker, if you had to start all over again, which approach would you take for optimized learning experience? Just wondering, has anyone achieved fluency using their own language plan, or following one of those "language challenges"? I just feel like, for me at least, every purported language learning plan pretty much fizzes out, or isn't entirely successful enough to reach fluency. I'm just wondering if there's anyone on here who can actually testify to achieving fluency with one of their self-teaching plans. If so, what was your method? No learner will be equally proficient in all four language skills – in the same way that no native speaker is equally proficient in all skills in their first language. Some of us are better at writing than speaking, and many are illiterate in their first language. A true measure of language proficiency needs to take into account all of the skills. Equally, not every learner of English will need to be “fluent” in spoken communication. Many researchers need to read papers in English and attend conferences in English – but will only ever present and write in their first language. Is “fluency” a good way to describe their goal? And if it isn’t, does that in some way diminish their language achievements? By acknowledging proficiency in individual skills – rather than catch-all terms such as “fluent” – we gain a clearer understanding of goals and outcomes, and with this knowledge we are in a better position to tailor learning to the individual. As someone who worked in dictionaries, the meaning of words has always interested me – and fluency is a particular case in point. Language learners often set themselves the goal of becoming fluent in a language. Job adverts often specify “fluent in English or Spanish” as a requirement. But what does being “fluent” in a language actually mean? If we look in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (no apologies for plugging one of my own titles!), we see that fluent means “able to speak a language very well”. Fluent speech or writing is described as “smooth and confident, with no mistakes”. In general, fluency is most often associated with spoken language – but is that the goal of all language learners? And what does being able to speak fluently show about the other language skills? As someone who worked in dictionaries, the meaning of words has always interested me – and fluency is a particular case in point. Language learners often set themselves the goal of becoming fluent in a language. Job adverts often specify “fluent in English or Spanish” as a requirement. But what does being “fluent” in a language actually truly mean? If we look in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (no apologies for plugging one of my own titles!), we see that fluent means “able to speak a language very well”. Fluent speech or writing is described as “smooth and confident, with no mistakes”. In general, fluency is most often associated with spoken language – but isn't that the goal of all language learners? And what does being able to speak fluently show about the other language skills? Has anyone achieved true fluency in spoken English as an adult learner? Can this even be done? Is this even possible as an adult learner? I've been living in the U.S for 10 years, and talked to many ESL people (worked at a coffee shop), and never came across a single person that would not have some kind of a trouble to express themselves or describe a situation in a fluent manner just like a native would do. What does "fluent" really mean? I'd like to get opinions on what people think "fluent" really means when referring to the ability to speak a language. The term is thrown around very loosely and I've conversed with people who say they are "fluent" that have been learning a language for 5-10 years and the mere fact that they think they are fluent is laughable. I think that fluency denotes an excellent command of a language and speaking the language with minimal accent and smoothness. What are your thoughts on this? How did you become fluent in English? How do you know if you're fluent in a language?
Do people really believe that they can become fluent in any given language in only 3 months? What is your personal definition of fluency?
Obviously fluency means different things to different people, I just wondered what you all considered fluency to be in your own studies. When do you consider yourself fluent in a language? Is it normal that I can speak English so fluently sometimes but also mess it all up?
At times I'm really confident talking to people without not so many "obstacles" but 30 minutes later my brain kind of stops and refuses for me to say anything. Is this normal? When I was a teenager I always tried to use only free resources and never made it very far. Nowadays I am ok with paying for resources, but it got me wondering about it, has anyone here become fluent in a language without paying money or breaking the law (so if you got fluent with pirated Rosetta Stone it doesn’t count for this). When exactly did you realise you were fluent in the language you were learning? Some people say that if you dream in another language then you are fluent in that language. But at what point did you realise you got fluent? How realistic is being fluent in more than just three or four languages?
I've heard a lot of talk about polyglots who can supposedly speak 10 or more languages, all fluently. Now I understand being familiar with this many languages, but fluency in all of them? It seems a bit too ambitious. I speak two other languages fluently and another at a functional level, but as I go on to my fifth now I'm starting to wonder whether it might be overkill. Is it realistic to just go on stacking them up or will stuff get pushed out? Learning a language is determined by what you are willing to sacrifice. How much time can you sacrifice? How much money can you sacrifice? How much energy can you sacrifice? Is someone basically fluent in a language if they can speak quickly without needing to pause even though they may have an accent? Talking speed may be one sign of fluency because it means that you don't need to mentally translate everything in your mind anymore. Once a person is able to speak and respond quickly, does it mean they are basically fluent, despite the foreign accent?
Has anyone actually achieved fluency using their own method or a language learning plan? If so, what was it? In what languages are you mostly fluent and how long did it take you to reach that fluency? Those of you who have successfully learned a new language well enough to hold a good conversation with a native speaker, if you had to start all over again, which approach would you take for optimized learning experience? Just wondering, has anyone achieved fluency using their own language plan, or following one of those "language challenges"? I just feel like, for me at least, every purported language learning plan pretty much fizzes out, or isn't entirely successful enough to reach fluency. I'm just wondering if there's anyone on here who can actually testify to achieving fluency with one of their self-teaching plans. If so, what was your method? No learner will be equally proficient in all four language skills – in the same way that no native speaker is equally proficient in all skills in their first language. Some of us are better at writing than speaking, and many are illiterate in their first language. A true measure of language proficiency needs to take into account all of the skills. Equally, not every learner of English will need to be “fluent” in spoken communication. Many researchers need to read papers in English and attend conferences in English – but will only ever present and write in their first language. Is “fluency” a good way to describe their goal? And if it isn’t, does that in some way diminish their language achievements? By acknowledging proficiency in individual skills – rather than catch-all terms such as “fluent” – we gain a clearer understanding of goals and outcomes, and with this knowledge we are in a better position to tailor learning to the individual. As someone who worked in dictionaries, the meaning of words has always interested me – and fluency is a particular case in point. Language learners often set themselves the goal of becoming fluent in a language. Job adverts often specify “fluent in English or Spanish” as a requirement. But what does being “fluent” in a language actually mean? If we look in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (no apologies for plugging one of my own titles!), we see that fluent means “able to speak a language very well”. Fluent speech or writing is described as “smooth and confident, with no mistakes”. In general, fluency is most often associated with spoken language – but is that the goal of all language learners? And what does being able to speak fluently show about the other language skills? As someone who worked in dictionaries, the meaning of words has always interested me – and fluency is a particular case in point. Language learners often set themselves the goal of becoming fluent in a language. Job adverts often specify “fluent in English or Spanish” as a requirement. But what does being “fluent” in a language actually truly mean? If we look in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (no apologies for plugging one of my own titles!), we see that fluent means “able to speak a language very well”. Fluent speech or writing is described as “smooth and confident, with no mistakes”. In general, fluency is most often associated with spoken language – but isn't that the goal of all language learners? And what does being able to speak fluently show about the other language skills? Has anyone achieved true fluency in spoken English as an adult learner? Can this even be done? Is this even possible as an adult learner? I've been living in the U.S for 10 years, and talked to many ESL people (worked at a coffee shop), and never came across a single person that would not have some kind of a trouble to express themselves or describe a situation in a fluent manner just like a native would do. What does "fluent" really mean? I'd like to get opinions on what people think "fluent" really means when referring to the ability to speak a language. The term is thrown around very loosely and I've conversed with people who say they are "fluent" that have been learning a language for 5-10 years and the mere fact that they think they are fluent is laughable. I think that fluency denotes an excellent command of a language and speaking the language with minimal accent and smoothness. What are your thoughts on this? How did you become fluent in English? How do you know if you're fluent in a language?
Do people really believe that they can become fluent in any given language in only 3 months? What is your personal definition of fluency?
Obviously fluency means different things to different people, I just wondered what you all considered fluency to be in your own studies. When do you consider yourself fluent in a language? Is it normal that I can speak English so fluently sometimes but also mess it all up?
At times I'm really confident talking to people without not so many "obstacles" but 30 minutes later my brain kind of stops and refuses for me to say anything. Is this normal? When I was a teenager I always tried to use only free resources and never made it very far. Nowadays I am ok with paying for resources, but it got me wondering about it, has anyone here become fluent in a language without paying money or breaking the law (so if you got fluent with pirated Rosetta Stone it doesn’t count for this). When exactly did you realise you were fluent in the language you were learning? Some people say that if you dream in another language then you are fluent in that language. But at what point did you realise you got fluent? How realistic is being fluent in more than just three or four languages?
I've heard a lot of talk about polyglots who can supposedly speak 10 or more languages, all fluently. Now I understand being familiar with this many languages, but fluency in all of them? It seems a bit too ambitious. I speak two other languages fluently and another at a functional level, but as I go on to my fifth now I'm starting to wonder whether it might be overkill. Is it realistic to just go on stacking them up or will stuff get pushed out? Learning a language is determined by what you are willing to sacrifice. How much time can you sacrifice? How much money can you sacrifice? How much energy can you sacrifice? Is someone basically fluent in a language if they can speak quickly without needing to pause even though they may have an accent? Talking speed may be one sign of fluency because it means that you don't need to mentally translate everything in your mind anymore. Once a person is able to speak and respond quickly, does it mean they are basically fluent, despite the foreign accent?
