Basic and Native Fluency

Foreign Language Proficiency

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Native fluency
• foreign language passion
• linguist
• polyglot
• linguistics

[lauraleesmithagain]

Depends on one's definition of Native Fluency. I believe the fact is that most people define Native Fluency as not only advanced in communication and understanding, but ALSO with a native accent. By this definition it is impossible to acheive Native Fluency unless you are still young (usually under age 12). Personally, as long as I'm understood nothing else matters to me. What's wrong with Basic-Intermediate Fluency? Fluent is Fluent.

[laoshu505000]

I agree with you. Thanks for the comment.

[Solstisol]

Tenerife, Spain, Africa.

Well, it's the first time I've ever heard a native speaker of English saying "guist" instead of "gist". Can anybody explain that one?

Best wishes,

Solsti.

[laoshu505000]

It should be ''gist''

[zocurtis]

By the way Moses, you look like Darth Vador with that hat on lol.

[laoshu505000]

hahahaha

[jonmahoney04]

Well, if you want to get technical, of course you can never achieve "native" fluency in a foreign language because you will never be a native of another country. But you can certainly achieve an equal level of fluency to that of a native speaker. Just because you haven't done it doesn't mean it's not possible.

There is a lot more evidence against you and a lot of people with excuses claiming they aren't "born with the gift" on your team.

[jmichaelrout]

Why would you want to dilute your vocabulary down to the lowest common denominator? Language is a communicative tool and books are written communication. If you can communicate your point with an atrocious accent, simplified grammar, and outdated words then you've succeeded. You're only goal now should be to improve. I don't understand what you're ranting about, orangelixer.

[thenengsta]

I like this video a lot. I try my best to study languages too, and it bugs me when students are in a high school level 3 Spanish (for example) and say they speak fluent Spanish. To me, you have to live in the country, or talk to the natives to actually be nativelly fluent, and even that, it takes a lot of time to become native.

[YouStoleMyTube]

Are you sure about the newspaper thing? Because there were a few studies conducted using popular newspapers. The result was that they used around 600 words only. So I think if you're basically fluent, or even at the high intermediate level then you should be able to read a newspaper just fine.

[YouStoleMyTube]

@orangelixir Yeah, all of your comments are really offensive. You should really consider calming down and speaking civilly to other people. Are you a native speaker of English? If so, why did you make errors? Your command of punctuation is lacking. You also spelled a word or two wrong... Seriously, go look in a mirror.

[YouStoleMyTube]

@lauraleesmithagain Nothing is impossible. Accent has nothing to do with fluency of course. But really, you think it's impossible to reach a native accent? I disagree. It just takes conscious effort.

[shizfergus27]

@lauraleesmithagain I know multiple adults that have been able to develop native sounding accents in both English and Spanish.

[Luiseut59]

Well, I'm spanish native speaker and I know this girl who learnt spanish by internet she's great at it. She from Germany. She even speaks better than me sometimes.

So, native fluency is achievable but of course, is difficult to get there.

[scarabsl2000]

Maybe as a little inspiration for everyone, it is completely possible to learn a language to a native level and native accent even without being in the country. I was friends with an young man in the Middle East who was from a very poor neighborhood but spoke English so well that I thought he was playing a trick on me when he said that he had never been to the states. Literally, everything was perfect even accent and he learned mostly through TV. It is amazing what one can do with motivation.

[acromel]

An example. This girl is one the best non-native English speakers I've heard from any country. She's Japanese.

English is notoriously tricky for the Japanese in particular due to the completely different grammar, intonation and stress, weird idiom and all the additional sounds.

I think her achievement is truly extraordinary. The clue to how she did it is when she said that people gave her grief about her accent and English and rather than give up it just motivated her.

/watch?v=Q0ugaLTXxSc