So you’ve been learning a new language for some time. You’ve gone past the elementary stages of cracking the pronunciation and figuring out the verb conjugations. More than just understand when someone else speaks, now you’re able to talk to a certain extent yourself too.
Sure you’re no expert of the language, but then who is one anyway? It’s not like native speakers have memorised the dictionary, have they?
So now you’re wondering, if you’ve attained a relatively intermediate level of ability, can you consider yourself “fluent”? This may come down to what the definition of fluent is more than anything. Each language would be different as far as what qualifies as fluent. But there are some general indicators than can offer a sign that you’ve got there.
If you’re not planning on doing a certification, here are four ways you can tell that you’ve reached some degree of fluency:
You can hold a conversation for 5 minutes
Specifically, you can hold a conversation with a native speaker. Being able to converse in real time shows you’re able not just to understand what you hear, but respond coherently too. Going back and forth for a sufficient amount of time proves that you’ve fulfilled the purpose for which languages exist: to be able to communicate with other people. You might not consider yourself fluent but the person you’re conversing with surely will!
You can understand a newspaper article
While the grammar used in newspaper articles might be of a slightly higher level than the vernacular, the vocabulary is sure to be relevant. Daily newspapers are a great tool for a language learner. If you can understand the contents of an article your language level is probably even better than what it needs to be.
You get mistaken for a local
If you interact with someone in your target language and end up being treated like a local (or just a native speaker), you probably speak the language very well. Aside from just picking up the accent, you’ve probably spent enough time around speakers of your target language to acquire the grammar and vocabulary too.
You can make a phone call
Making phone calls is one of the most daunting experiences when learning a language. The reduced sound quality and lack of visual feedback makes it difficult for either person to speak and understand. Given that they can also be very situational and thus involve specific phrases, it presents a unique challenge. This is something many people struggle with even in their native language let alone a foreign one. So if you’re able to communicate effectively over the phone there probably aren’t many things you can’t do in your target language! Fluency at this point is almost a given.