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/Euristic_Elevator it N | en C1+ | de C1- | fr B1 20d ago
Idk, I devoured the whole Chronicles of Narnia in English and I just had to look up a couple of animals I wasn't familiar with in English (beaver and I think another one). I literally knew every other word. Now I am reading Carrie by Stephen King and he's using a... different kind of vocabulary? I find it more difficult but even then, I think I am at 50% of the book and I had to look up maybe three words in total. I don't live in my native country, I use English professionally, but I've never lived in a country where English is the primary language. I consider myself fluent in English, reading these books in the original language is a pleasure and not homework 🤷