On Fluency

image from here

We've lived in Germany for a year (this time), and I desperately want to become fluent in the language.  It's been a slow and steady road, and the question bugging me is a basic one: when will I know I'm fluent?

I'm an engineer; I like black-and-white answers- clear solutions.  The idea of fluency, however, is . . . fluid.  My 4-year-old, 7-year-old, and 9-year-old are all fluent in English, but they each have a different grasp on the language.  My wife (an Elementary Education major) and I (Electrical Engineering)  have different vocabularies.  In short, just because we're all fluent doesn't mean we all know the same words or can articulate the same concepts.  It's driving me crazy, but it's also amazing.

Language is beautiful; there are many different ways of expressing the same thing.  Thus, my family can all get our point across even with our different maturity levels or educational differences.  The possibilities are delightful . . . except when you turn to learn a new language.

As an adult taking on a new language, how do you know when you're fluent?  When you've 'arrived'?  It's such a hard question to answer, and I suspect the answer varies from person to person.  If fluency is simply 'knowing [x] words,' what does [x] equal?  Let's start from the top.

It's extremely hard to identify how many words a language has.  One source suggests that there are 500,000 words in English.  Another suggests there are over one million words in English, but only about 170,000 words currently used.  This source suggests about 250,000 words, with the same 170,000 currently used.  But 'currently used' simply means not archaic- it doesn't mean commonly used.  What's that answer?

Apparently, your average American adult knows 20,000-35,000 words- about 20% of the 'currently used' words in English.  This same article discusses how many words children know; a 5-year-old knows about 10,000.  That number has been identified as the 'magic number' for fluency.  We have a starting point.

Knowing 10,000 words is a great goal, but it's not the whole story.  Fluency must involve not just knowing words but how to put them together (grammar).  I have no idea how to measure this, outside of language proficiency tests.  And there's still more: google 'fluency' and the results focus on reading fluency (in your native language, presumably).  The typical answers to that question include categories of accuracy, automaticity, and rate.  It's reasonable to include these in the idea of second language fluency- how accurate, automatic, and fast are you?  (And how do you possibly measure that?)

Another factor I've encountered is passive vs. active fluency.  Passive means you understand when you read/hear it; active means you can generate it.  The first is easier.  And, of course, we have to consider the two ways we communicate: written and oral.  It's possible to be good in comprehending/generating one way and poor in the other.

Of course, your starting point- your native tongue- matters, too.  These sites suggest the languages that might be hardest or easiest to learn for native English speakers.

So how do I know when I'm fluent?  I have no idea.  I studied German for four years in school, and lived here for five years (2007-11, 2018-present).  For the past year, I've been practicing daily (with DuoLingo), reading basic books in German, and speaking when I can with the locals.  DuoLingo tells me I know 4,300 words from the app, and my other studies put me over 5,000 words total.  So on word count, I'm half fluent.  My reading level is that of an 8-10 year-old, so my passive written comprehension might be considered fluent on some level.  My active speaking abilities are much lower- if grammatical accuracy matters (I probably sound like a 3-year-old).  Earlier this year, we stayed with German friends (both English professors) for a weekend, and we spoke in German almost the entire time.  At the end, one said she considered me fluent, but I certainly don't think of myself as such.  For now, I'll continue on this road, aiming to complete the DuoLingo app by mid-2020 and investigate tests or other mechanisms to more quantitatively determine where I really am with the language.

What about you?  If you know a second language, how did you know when you were fluent?