Why do people lie about being fluent? (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

Why do people lie about being fluent?
Tags: Fake Reviews \| Fluency
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

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tracker465
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5147 days ago
355 posts - 496 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch

Message 57 of 88

29 April 2011 at 12:54am | IP Logged

Naomi Chambers wrote:

tracker465 wrote:

Arekkusu wrote:

Naomi Chambers wrote:

That being said, without
divulging too much information about the woman in question, I can tell you that she did
not even earn an A in Beginning Spanish. She has only taken a few semesters total.

I think you'll find a lot of people on this site to disagree with any claim that you
would need an A to be fluent. You can get an A and not be fluent, and you can be fluent
and not get an A, it's not very relevant.

I don't think many would argue that you couldn't become relatively fluent in, say, a
year. How many semesters is that? 2 or 3?

I know many Hispanics in my local high school and college as well, who are (or have)
taken Spanish classes and did not get an A, despite the fact that this was their mother
tongue. ;)

Then they were being lazy and just taking the class for credit.

This person is an American, who took Spanish 101 and could not ace it. Now, she is
claiming to be fluent.

Doch! Maybe they were taking the class just to be lazy (probably were), but the fact is I know many native English speakers who couldn't pass a grammar test for the life of them. Grammar is primarily tested in the classroom setting, and there are plenty of native speakers of various languages who do not understand the grammar rules or have perfect grammar, yet are fluent in the language. Yet these people wouldn't earn an A in a grammar course test. Hmm...

Also to say a bit more about some of the Hispanic students I deal with (I substitute teach): Many of these students are taking ESL classes during the day, and speak IN Spanish when with their Spanish-speaking friends. I really do not think this is for show or has anything to do with Hispanic pride, I think it truly is because Spanish is their mother tongue, and the tongue spoken at home.
1 person has voted this message useful

portunhol
Triglot
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United States
thelinguistblogger.w
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Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: German, Arabic (classical)

Message 58 of 88

29 April 2011 at 1:46am | IP Logged

It seems we've gotten a bit off topic. The point is not to discuss why this particular person is or isn't really fluent or if the person who started the thread was too harsh. The point is that many of us have come across people who we feel have a much higher opinion of their language skills than we do. The question is why.

I think that most productive comments fall into one of three categories:

1. The person is a beginner who doesn't know how good things can get and innocently thinks that he is better than he is.

2. The person is bragging and secretly hopes that he will not be exposed.

3. The person simply has a different opinion of what fluency is (like everyone on this forum).
2 persons have voted this message useful

leosmith
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Studies: Tagalog

Message 59 of 88

29 April 2011 at 3:18am | IP Logged

Naomi Chambers wrote:

Then they were being lazy and just taking the class for credit.
This person is an American, who took Spanish 101 and could not ace it.

Oh, she's an American! Why didn't you say so? Yeah, they like totally don't speak Spanish.
2 persons have voted this message useful

hrhenry
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Message 60 of 88

29 April 2011 at 3:23am | IP Logged

leosmith wrote:

Naomi Chambers wrote:

Then they were being lazy and just taking the class for credit.
This person is an American, who took Spanish 101 and could not ace it.

Oh, she's an American! Why didn't you say so? Yeah, they like totally don't speak Spanish.

But at least she's not lazy, being "American" and all.

R.
==
1 person has voted this message useful

Naomi Chambers
Newbie
United States
thepolyglotexperienc
Joined 4866 days ago
23 posts - 30 votes
Speaks: Spanish
Studies: French^C1, Swedish

Message 61 of 88

29 April 2011 at 6:16am | IP Logged

Ari wrote:

Regarding intelligence: non-intelligent people are born that way, even
moreso than, say, overweight people.
We could even call it a handicap. Some say that less intelligent people (such as this
woman of whom we
have a very one-sided view) will often claim to be intelligent. Seeing as this is a
result of the way they are
born, does this mean they deserve our ridicule?

Topic two: people may use a word differently than you use it. It does not mean they are
wrong, unless it's a
technical term with a precise definition, which the word "fluent" certainly is not.
There is no "slippery slope"
that will lead to a state where nobody is able to communicate with anybody else.
Languages don't work that
way.

Topic three, this on a more personal note. Confidence is a good thing and in my
experience people suffer
more from low self esteem than from high. If this is the case, trying to take people
down a peg when they
are feeling good about themselves is not a good thing. If you think the person in
question may get in trouble
from her overestimation of her abilities, you'll do her a favor by correcting her in a
friendly manner. If it does
no harm to you or anyone else, give her a "good for you!" and be happy for her, as
she's found some
confidence, some belief in herself, which is not always easy to find in this world.
She's most likely better at
Spanish than someone who has never studied it. Let her be happy about that! Or if the
boasting is a result
of low self esteem rather than high, taking the person down a notch is not helping
anyone and is in fact kind
of a dick move.

Who is being ridiculed?
1 person has voted this message useful

Naomi Chambers
Newbie
United States
thepolyglotexperienc
Joined 4866 days ago
23 posts - 30 votes
Speaks: Spanish
Studies: French^C1, Swedish

Message 62 of 88

29 April 2011 at 6:20am | IP Logged

seldnar wrote:

I give up too. The OP seems obsessed with this, yet has not provided
any proof of the accused's ability (or lack
thereof) in Spanish, nor proof that she is lying. I would suggest that she forget this
person who irritates her so
much and apply that energy to her own studies.

There is noting in my post implying an obsession.

This is a simple question about why people lie about fluency. The topic does not even
have to center around the individual i have in mind. It seems the respondents are more
obsessed with this than I am.
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hungh3
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Message 63 of 88

29 April 2011 at 6:52am | IP Logged

As someone has said, "fluency" is rather subjective. Some people are more reserved with what they say, some take it more "easy" with words.

And, I figure many people "lie" without being aware of that. That is, they don't lie purposely.

We're going into psychology, it's not my domain so that's all I have to offer.

Edited by hungh3 on 29 April 2011 at 6:52am
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Ari
Heptaglot
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Norway
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Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese
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Message 64 of 88

29 April 2011 at 7:18am | IP Logged

Yeah, I think the original question has been answered in more than one way already. I join the ranks of people who bow out of this thread.

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