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I once heard a definition that you are not really competent in a foreign language until you're able to solve crosswords in it. This principle is obviously tongu
by V-2 13y ago
I once heard a definition that you are not really competent in a foreign language until you're able to solve crosswords in it. This principle is obviously tongue-in-cheek, but there's much truth to it in my opinion.
- gbog 13y agoBut... crosswords in Chinese? How'd you do that?
- irishpolyglot 13y agoI can't do crosswords in English, my native language. I definitely can't breeze through classical texts. It's important to be realistic on the other end of the scale too. Criteria like this are way too demanding, and it's one of the biggest problems in language learning that makes people feel worthless; having elitist standards that you "don't" speak a language unless you speak it like a university professor, regardless of the fact that you may not speak your mother tongue that way.
- V-2 13y agoWell there's different types of crosswords. I guess they mean the ones that focus on the language itself (eg. idiomatic stuff) and not requiring some obscure knowledge
- antimagic 13y agoI personally like using the ability to understand stand-up comedy as the gold standard of fluency. I've lived 10 years in France now, and I was already capable of doing a job interview in French on arrival, until recently I only had French friends, only watched films / tv in French, read books in French 90% of the time, and I still struggle with comedy. Part of it is that they speak so fast, part of it is cultural references which I don't have, but a lot of it is that nuance is a major part of the comedian's trade, and I'm more or less nuance tone deaf, even after all these years of effort.