On the same vein the lack of an adequate and simple way to assess proficiency let way to very different interpretations of what "speaking a language" implies.

On the same vein the lack of an adequate and simple way to assess proficiency let way to very different interpretations of what "speaking a language" implies. According to many being able to talk is sufficient, but IMHO (and AFAIK according to most linguists(?)) it implies to be able to read a (generic) newspaper and to write like the average native. French is my mother tongue, and it seems to me that learning to talk in 20 different Romance languages would be more easy for me than commanding (including the written form) Mandarin, Arabic and Hungarian.