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IAmTriscuit t1_j4kepx2 wrote

Reply to comment by Apprehensive-Fix1202 in What it means to “know” a language by thenousman

If most people aren't meeting the criteria for "fluency" under the definition you have given to it, what use is that terminology? Surely it would be more logical to adjust your criteria for "fluency" than to have it be a mostly useless term.

That's why in sociolinguisutics fluency has much more to do with whether or not all of your needs are able to be met and accomplished with the linguistic repertoire you possess. It actually is able to function as a useful term through that lens.

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Apprehensive-Fix1202 t1_j4lc7y1 wrote

You have a good point.

This is also not my personal definition of ''fluency'', but as I have understood it from society and native speakers of different languages. Perhaps my comment was not 100% appropriate to the thread. I just noticed over the years: I could say I'm fluent in english though a native speaker could say they do not agree with that statement. I was commenting under a video in which a deaf person was talking about how people with hearing cannot speak sign language fluently because it is not the language in which they need to communicate their needs 24/7. If that's their definition of ''fluency'' - I get it. And if that's your definition of ''fluency'' - I get it. You seem to have more knowledge of the term so thank you for clearing that up for me.

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