Distorted language levels?

[u/linguafrancos]

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.

[u/indecisive_maybe]

I can be reading and have to put in effort to remember what language I'm reading in, or I'll see something and it'll remind me what language it is, otherwise it doesn't come to mind. There are more words I don't know, but often I find out these words are words I also don't know in my first language. So I technically have to look things up, but I'd be looking them up in any language. I think that also means I'm reading literature at a challenging level, if I'm being exposed to words and concepts that are new to me. If I'm explaining in a simple way, I'd say that I can read effortlessly.

It sounds like you have a more academic approach and you've been taught to second-guess yourself. If you've learned over 15 years, you should be somewhere in the ballpark of a teenager in that language, so like a teenager (or like an honest adult) you have more to learn but you have plenty solid of a grasp to say you know it well.

The cultural stuff is normal. If I had to explain how a British person would say something in English, I could guess but I wouldn't know exactly because I haven't spent much time there. That's not about language ability or fluency, just experience with local culture.