How can you say somebody really masters a language ???

Question

Can understand written language ?

Can write in the language without any flaw ?

Can negociate hard in the language ?

Excuse me "fluent" =platitude

This is in fact a very drilling, personal question at the same time I think that misunderstandings about languages are very widespread in peoples' minds -
I think that easiness in spoken daily language bluffs people, but to me, master a foreigner language as you master yours is deeply impossible

Answer 1

I'm a Financial Major....A recruited noticed that i had Spanish and Italian listed as skill.
He told me Can you write and speak it well.. He did not care if I was a native or not he just wanted fluency. Is better to be fluent in writing and speech than a native with great speech and mediocre grammar skills

I lived in Italy for 2 years and Mexico for 1....I can safely say living in a particular language speaking country is the fastest and easiest way to pick up a language.

Oh yes, Girls love the accent.. I have a funny accent with my Spanish which girls find cute. Same for my Italian but I moved out of little Italy NY so I don't get those compliments anymore.

Answer 2

I don't know. I say of myself that I have mastered English, and I think I am doing a good job: I speak with an English accent, I do argue and negotiate in English, I know technical terms for my professions (languages and music) and I have no problems expressing myself in spoken or written English.

To me, it's just a "switch" in my head. I have problems translating because I think in one language only most of the time and can't really connect them well, which is needed for translating. But apart from that, I don't even notice which language I speak in: I simply reply in the language I am talked to, or the one I just read (like in this post).

Hope that helps!

edit: I think if the person doesn't feel a change between mothertongue and second language then (s)he has mastered it. This can easily happen if you learn a language at school (starting as a child/teenager) and then go to the country where it's spoken and live there for, say, 5 years. I am absolutely certain that most will have mastered the language as their own and I know of quite a few examples who have impeccable grammar and a huge vocabulary - after living in said country for a time.

Answer 3

Interesting because I was just teaching my class about this question. There are actually different ways of defining language proficiency, depending on the purposes for which you are defining it. One very widely used proficiency scale is the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. (ACTFL is the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, a professional organization of language teachers.) These guidelines are a holistic definition of language proficiency. You can see the ACTFL guidelines here:
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/languagelearning/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/contents.htm

Answer 4

Yeah, pretty much. If the person knows how to communicate perfectly in that language, then he's mastered it. If his grammar is always correct, his spelling is fine, he can recognize other errors of other people, and if he can get his voice heard in that language, then yeah, he's mastered a langage.

Answer 5

In my opinion, one's language skills could be considered native when one can converse easily with native speakers, read news articles with only the help of a monolingual (one language) dictionary and can write with few mistakes at the speed of a native.

Answer 6

can understand the slang of that language. knowing a language is actually nothing if you don't know the slang words.
English is my 3rd language, and I don't really think I know it well.

Answer 7

I once heard that you know you have truly mastered and become comfortable with another language when you dream in it.

Answer 8

Fluent.

Answer 9

When you can speak, read and understand it while dealing with native speakers. So, basically the things you named yourself.

Keep it up.

Answer 10

all of what you say of course,but a sure sign is when you make your inner conversations with yourself in that language