How to Develop Fluency in Another Language
What Is Fluency, Anyway?
Alright, so before we can talk about how to develop fluency in a language, we first need to establish what exactly “fluency” is, and it’s not quite as simple as you might think, but here’s my best attempt to define it:
Fluency is having the ability to communicate easily and articulately through oral or written expression.
Now, there’s also reading fluency, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on production (speaking and writing) as it relates to learning another language.
Fluency Is Subjective
While some might argue there is a definite point at which someone becomes “fluent,” but I believe fluency is subjective. It’s determined by several factors which vary from person to person. Essentially, when a person knows if he/she is fluent will be determined by:
Level of Fluency Desired
That’s right, there are different levels of fluency. Think about your native language. Does everyone you know speak it at the same level, in the same way, with the same educational background?
It’s highly likely that they don’t. I mean it’s pretty unreasonable to expect, for example, a teenager to have the same level of fluency and academic linguistic abilities as, let’s say, a business professional.
But, the cool part is, they are all forms of fluency. Each of these native speakers is fluent even though they have different abilities. You can probably see right about now why the topic of fluency is quite subjective, so let’s go a little deeper. . .
Conversational fluency
It’s quite a bit like it sounds. Conversational fluency means you can converse in your target language easily and accurately. You’ll still make some mistakes from time to time (I don’t know about you, but I make mistakes even in my native language!), but you’ll be able to express yourself clearly in simple terms. You may even be able to use this level to discuss more complex topics outside basic conversation; you’ll just need to use simple vocabulary to explain any concepts you don’t yet have the vocabulary for.
Academic Fluency
You likely don’t speak quite the same way in school as you do in informal conversations, or maybe you do . For the purposes of this though, let’s say you use more advanced, formal vocabulary and sentence structures in an academic setting. Typically theses are acquired through classes, reading, writing, listening, and formal speaking (think books, essays, presentations and partner work).
Professional Fluency
Depending on your profession, you may need a specialized set of vocabulary. This jargon is unique to what you do and is it’s own type of fluency in your target language and your native language. Some fields where you’d likely need to study job specific vocabulary are:
Medical
Legal
Astrology
Psychology
Engineering
Linguistics
The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. Unless you’ve studied one of these areas, you likely won’t have the vocabulary or “fluency” in that field. If you want to learn more about fluency, make sure to watch this:
What do you think fluency is?
Okay, I’ve shared my thoughts on fluency, but remember, this is only one opinion. I encourage you to think about your language studies and abilities and form your own definition of what language learning is. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below😊
