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Old 09-12-2010, 06:49 PM
 
3,085 posts, read 7,212,818 times
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but cant speak it? i know i cant say "fluent" but is there another word?
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Old 09-12-2010, 10:37 PM
 
Location: Macao
16,284 posts, read 42,968,010 times
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I guess, you can 'recognize it when you hear it'....?
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Old 09-13-2010, 04:27 AM
 
43,303 posts, read 43,983,660 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiger Beer View Post
I guess, you can 'recognize it when you hear it'....?
I agree you can recognize a language that you can't speak sometimes. But you are only fluent in a language if you can speak & understand it at least.
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Old 09-13-2010, 07:12 AM
 
2,319 posts, read 4,781,123 times
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If you're putting it on a resume or work application, I would say, "understand ---".
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Old 09-13-2010, 07:44 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
3,336 posts, read 6,911,357 times
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perhaps "aural comprehension" would be a good way to put it. this happens a lot with people who have studied a language, even at length, but have had limited opportunities to speak.
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Old 09-13-2010, 09:05 AM
 
Location: Paris, France
321 posts, read 957,323 times
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On job applications in France, people put things quite precisely, such as:

Spanish: understood, written, spoken
English: understood, written
Arabic: understood, spoken
Russian: understood

And when they want to be imprecise about how much they really know, they put:

German: notions
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Old 09-13-2010, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Houston
441 posts, read 1,322,190 times
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I believe it's something like: basics, intermediate, fluent, (native speaker)
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Old 09-13-2010, 02:41 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,109 posts, read 85,909,223 times
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Many immigrants kids are that way - they understand their parents native language, but cannot speak/write or read it.
Others understand and speak, but cannot write or read in that language.
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Old 09-13-2010, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Brno, Czech Republic
69 posts, read 335,163 times
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I'm pretty sure it's called a passive knowledge:
What is a "passive knowledge" of a language? - Yahoo! Answers
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Old 09-13-2010, 09:03 PM
 
3,754 posts, read 5,269,417 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peppermint View Post
If you're putting it on a resume or work application, I would say, "understand ---".
Yes, on a resume it is common to write: "Understand spoken Chinese" or whatever language it is you are claiming aural understanding. If you can also read it: "Understand spoken and written Chinese". I used to peruse hundreds of resumes when I was trying to hire new lecturers, and I knew what they meant. It doesn't mean that the resume writer can speak or write the language.
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