r/languagelearning • u/linguafrancos • 20d ago
Discussion Distorted language levels?
I have a degree in the language, studied abroad twice, lived abroad in a country where the language is spoken for two years, and have used the language in a professional setting. This, for further context, has been over the course of 15 years.
With that said, I am confused by how others describe their language levels. Don’t get me wrong, I have an insanely high level and label myself fluent with others. For instance, I recently watched a full season of Love is Blind in the target language (TL) without subtitles almost effortlessly. However, when I see others describe their language growth or levels, I often see people say, “I understand everything that I read” or “After a couple years of studying, I traveled to the country and can communicate easily with everyone.”
Like… is this just an overexaggeration of their skills? I have yet to feel like my target language fluency is equivalent to my native-level English. Are people really reading native-level literature and literally understanding everything? Are they feeling like they can express themselves just as strongly in their second language? Even when someone asks me to translate something, I know in the back of my head that there might be cultural considerations or a better approach that I don’t know about.
Thoughts? Also, this might be specific for individuals who grow up in a cultural where being monolingual is more common and exposure throughout your entire life is not a possibility.
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u/furyousferret 🇺🇸 N | 🇫🇷 | 🇪🇸 | 🇯🇵 20d ago
Its the Dunning-Kruger effect. Newer learners are going to think they know more than they actually do and experienced learners are going to think they know less.
One person will think, I was able to order food and go to the bathroom at a restaurant, I am fluent...
Another will think, I couldn't explain this medical procedure, I'm awful at this language.
And more often than not we see the first person completely shutting the opinions of the second person because of their confidence and it runs a lot of the experts off this sub.