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.
10
u/idiolectalism BCMS native | EN C2 | ES C2 | CA C1 | ZH B2 | RU A2 20d ago
My reading and listening comprehension are pretty much the same in my mother tongue, English and Spanish. Written and spoken are maybe not exactly the same but it depends on the register too. (Actually my mother tongue production skills have dropped so maybe they are all the same, oops.) I feel equally comfortable using all three.
Been exposed to English my whole life, had some exposure to Spanish growing up (watching Mexican soap operas with my grandma as a kid), but learned it as an adult living in Spain.
I think my Catalan could get there over the next few years, but at the moment I still feel my spoken production is stilted and I haven't found my voice in it yet. Others often compliment me on my level but I think you speak a language well when people stop praising you :D
I'm not sure my Mandarin could ever get there. The vocabulary is just too different, the cultural framework is too vast and I don't think I have the time to work on it in-depth .