Hi there, Vladimir here, with another video about how to learn English
Fluent, what does it mean to be fluent in a foreign language?
Fluent is a big word, it means different things to different people.
"Fluent" comes from the Latin word "fluere" meaning "flowing"
"Fluency" is the noun and it means "flow"
According to Cambridge Dictionary "when a person is fluent, they can speak a language
easily, well, quickly and without many pauses"
the most general definition of fluent is to be able to speak the language well
For many people, fluent means to be able to speak like a native
to be able to speak the second language the same way you speak your first language
The 1,000,000 dollar question is:
Are you a fluent speaker of your mother tongue?
The mistake people make is that they don't consider their own native language fluency
but instead focus on other people's fluency
The fluency goal language learners set for themselves is usually about being able to
emulate somebody else's fluency
That somebody is often the language teacher, but for many people that
somebody could also be a movie star like Robert De Niro or Johnny Depp
or a business person like the late Steve Jobs
giving a perfect product presentation smooth, engaging and confident
That's the image most learners have when they say
I want to be a fluent speaker of the English language
the teacher, actor, celebrity or a person they often see on TV
And then I ask my students:
Are you a fluent speaker of your native language?
do you speak your mother tongue well?
Most of them are quite startled by this question and they usually say:
Of course I can speak my mother tongue I am a native speaker
But then I ask again:
I'm not asking you whether you are a native speaker
I'm asking you whether you are a fluent speaker?
I'm asking you whether your first language usage is smooth and flowing
as opposed to slow and halted
Do you string together sentences easily and quickly?
Or do you pause a lot and use a lot of fillers
um, uh, like, y'know, well
Being a fluent speaker of a language, native or foreign, is a special skill and
it's not just about knowing vocabulary and grammar
Fluency requires vocabulary and grammar
but vocabulary and grammar alone don't guarantee fluency
It's a logical fallacy called
non sequitur, Latin for "it does not follow"
1. If A is true, then B is true.
2. B is true.
3. Therefore, A is true.
1. If I speak fluently (A), then I know vocabulary & grammar (B)
2. I know vocabulary and grammar (B)
3. Therefore, I can speak fluently (A)
This form of non sequitur is called "converse error", also called
"confusion of necessity and sufficiency"
To be fluent, to be able to speak easily, well, quickly and without many pauses
we need to know words and grammar but knowing words and grammar
does not guarantee speaking fluently
In that sense knowing words and grammar is necessary but not sufficient for language fluency
Robert De Niro is a native speaker but does not speak very smoothly
In interviews he is painfully shy, his sentences are short and he is often lost for words
Johnny Depp is not that good either
They both are native speakers and know English grammar and a lot of words
but their language lacks fluidity
In movies, actors memorize their lines and do a lot of takes before they get it right.
People like Steve Jobs and other public speakers practice a lot before they
get on stage and give their presentations
not to mention the teleprompters
Language learners set themselves unrealistic goals of speaking fluently
without taking into consideration their native language fluency
I tell my students to take a long and hard look in the mirror
and make an honest assessment of your native language fluency
if you cannot do an honest self-assessment then ask your friends or parents to
secretly record one of your conversations and then listen to it and you be the judge
I've had over 1,100 individual students and the surprising yet obvious thing I realized
is that most of my students who are relatively fluent in English are also fluent in their native language
and vice versa
most of my struggling students are not that fluent in their mother tongue either
But that does not mean they are less intelligent or less educated
It means that being fluent, being able to speak easily, well, quickly and without many pauses
is a very different skill
There are a lot of smart people who are not very good communicators
At the same time, there are people who are very good at using language
very smooth and expressive, but who are not all that intelligent
In the description bellow I've provided a link to my blog with some videos
to better illustrate my point
to sum up:
Second language fluency depends very much on practice but also on first language fluency
in order to be fluent in a foreign language you have to be fluent in your native language first
Don't set yourself unrealistic goals, it's something I talk about in my book
in the chapter on Goals about foreign language learning.
Save yourself time, money and frustration and read my book Virtually Native
which is available on Amazon and virtuallynative.com
For more infomation >> Your Tea is TERRIBLE! Let's sort this out! - Duration: 3:55. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét