Poll: How good is your Spanish?

[Saturnine]

I'm fluent. And nobody has ever bothered to ask me where I'm from.
In some cases the "native" accent can be acquired, and phonology be damned.
If I ever meet any difficulties in conversation, it's usually when I reach the philosophical depth of any talk about screws and bolts and valves. Which I'm not sure I'm familiar with in my own language, so thank you, Argentines, for the beautiful all-purpose phrase "el coso ese"

 

[glasgowjohn]

I lived in Spain for quite a few years and most people here think i am a "Gallego" / after two years a few porteno words are slipping into my vocabulary

 

[Hache]

To me, fluent means your vocabulary's large enough to talk spontaneously and confidently. You're past thinking what words you'd use. You just let them come out. Yet you're accent may be recognized as foreign.

I'd add a 6th level: flawless language and accent. Can pass as a local.

 

[Gringoboy]

The phone lets me down every time. Face to face just fine, but more than 6 or 7 Argentines and it becomes white noise.
I'm fluent, but can I write a cheque? Those numbers do my head in

 

[tangobob]

There is also the level; fluent, but when I meet a pure porteno it becomes utter gibberish. Sort of like when you know English but meet someone from the Gorbels.

 

[barnaby33]

ah que feo

Don't be a snob. Mexican Spanish is far superior!

 

[philamote]

Probably worth mentioning that, according to a slew of research, phonology is the one area of second-language acquisition where most adult learners will never become "native-like." An adult can indeed master the language, and achieve native-like proficiency in basically all aspects... but, if they began learning it after the age of 12 or so, will always retain some kind of accent (some SLA researchers refer to it as the Schwarzenegger Effect.)

There are two primary components of speech. One is phonology, as in how you pronounce the words; the other is intonation, the way your voice rises and falls in pitch when you speak a sentence.

I'm often told I speak Spanish well, but I think this is mainly because I'm good at accents, which fools people into thinking I'm more fluent than I really am. The accent itself is kind of pan-American: Argentine-Peruvian with a hint of Mexican I'd say. (Side note: I wonder if a pan-American Spanish-speaking accent is doable, like the way Cary Grant's English in the movies was trans-Atlantic.) My intonation, on the other hand, is pure Argentine, especially when I say something like "Viste?" (a word I use way too much ) -- with a sharp rise on the second syllable followed by a slow descent back to earth.

 

[philamote]

As for the levels: "can pass as a local" was exactly what I had in mind for "fluent", or otherwise people who would pass as natives in another Spanish-speaking country (including Mexico ). But there is a bit of a gray space between fluency per se and perfection. The debate is really a question of terminology. So, basically, if you're voting, go with your instinct. Fully confident in your abilities, pretty close to perfection, even if your accent is shaky? Choose level 5. Confident in your abilities, able to fully participate in society, but feel there are expressions, colloquialisms and other nuances you can still pick up? Go with 4. Again, there's no shame in being "merely" advanced.

 

[Hop]

My intonation, on the other hand, is pure Argentine, especially when I say something like "Viste?" (a word I use way too much )

If you REALLY want to sound Argentine, try saying "vistes!"

My Argentine friends say they've heard me say it but I find that very hard to believe!

 

[starlucia]

As for the levels: "can pass as a local" was exactly what I had in mind for "fluent", or otherwise people who would pass as natives in another Spanish-speaking country (including Mexico ).

Gaaaah! Sorry to nitpick, but this attitude is exactly why SO many adults have no confidence in their L2 speaking abilities. Fluent merely means that the language is automatic, that you are able to produce with no prior planning. But for the overwhelming majority of adult learners, "sounding like a native" is a pipe dream. The more exposed you are to a dialect, the more you'll imitate the local pronunciation, but *most* adult learners will always, always retain some trace of their L1 accent. But it has absolutely no bearing on fluency.

(sorry, I guess the "sounding like a native" attitude is a thorn in my side, because SO many adult language learners ARE fluent and speak beautifully, but are terrified to open their mouths, because of their accent. Oh, did I mention my dissertation topic is World Englishes and the effect of native-speaker norms on SLA?