Have you ever found yourself contemplating learning a new language but backing out before you can start because you tell yourself, “I’ll never be a native speaker, I’ll never be able to speak this language perfectly, so why bother trying?” If this is you, don’t worry, this is only fear talking, and it’s a common fear. Putting yourself out there to learn a new language is scary. There is unknown pronunciation to master, confusing verbs to conjugate and a whole host of cultural differences apparent in the structure and practices of the language. If you’re a perfectionist, then this can seem like a whole storm of things to master, things which you may never master to 100% perfection. But, does the lack of perfection mean that you shouldn’t even try to learn something new?

The topic of language mastery, native speaker versus fluent speaker, is one that I often find myself discussing with friends and family: Will you ever achieve native speaker fluency in a second language or can you only ever hope to achieve a high level of mastery? Why bother learning a language if you will never be a native speaker? What is a native speaker exactly, and how is it any different from being fluent in a language? Let’s start by defining a native speaker versus a fluent speaker.

First, a native speaker is someone who learns a language from the time they are born. They are raised with this language. Unless you are raised bilingual (or trilingual, etc.) then you have one native language. Let’s assume, if you’re reading this, that you are a native English speaker like me. As a native speaker, you are aware of the many nuances of your language, and hopefully, you can tell if something “sounds wrong” or is in some way incorrect. You are also aware of many sayings and idioms which are used to explain or illustrate things. These are all part of the culture of your country and therefore of your language. This means then that even throughout all the countries that speak English, there are slight differences in the language based on culture and history. These are things that you were raised with and so you understand them implicitly.

Now, if you are fluent in a language, you have an effortless grasp of the different verb tenses in your second language, as well as a wide range of vocabulary. You are aware of the most common sayings and idioms and you can use them if you want. You have learned most of the cultural reasons behind why one saying or another exists, and you are comfortable with these cultural norms. You may be qualified as being a near-native speaker. What differs a native speaker from a fluent speaker, however, is that as a fluent speaker, there will always be new information, either about a word, saying, or a cultural phenomenon to learn in order to increase your knowledge in this second language. While the same may be true even for a native speaker, there is a more implicit understanding that usually comes with being a native speaker that is often not the case for someone who is fluent. In other words, there will always be experiences and cultural immersion that separate a fluent speaker from truly becoming a native speaker.

This is not a reason to be alarmed and decide that it is useless to learn a new language. Being fluent in a language that is not your native one is an incredible feat and one that should make you proud. There is plenty to be learned through language about the culture and customs of the people who speak it. If you want to learn about a country or region, then the best way to do so would be to study the language spoken there. Language contains layers of culture, history and, customs, woven into its words, expressions and verbal tenses. Even better, learning the language opens up the possibility to study texts in their original language, because translation, no matter how masterfully done, will always lose some of the meaning from the original language.

As I said before, I often debate the difference between a native speaker and a fluent speaker with people in my life. While some may argue that if you live speaking your second (or third, or fourth) language long enough, then you will eventually become like a native speaker, I disagree. I believe you will become a near-native speaker because I believe that there will never be a language as instinctive for your brain to understand than the language (or languages, if you’re lucky) that you were brought up knowing. When you are upset or in danger, the instinctive part of the brain takes over. Your native language, most likely, will be the language that your brain will prefer because it is automatic to produce it. 

So, in the end, is it important to differentiate a native speaker from a fluent speaker? No, it really is not. As long as you can communicate, does it matter if you’re a native speaker or not? This should hopefully help assuage any fears you may have around language learning, and give you that push to start learning a language now! And if this topic interests you, ask your friends and family what their position is in this debate of native versus fluent. 

Happy Language Learning!

À bientôt!

Shannon