non-native speakers & Native speakers

Status
Not open for further replies.

Karima-19

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Algeria
Current Location
Algeria
Hello!

I am a non native speaker, but I have a good experience in learning Enlgish, I'm also very motivated to speak English fluently as long as I can...but there's something I wanna ask about: Is any non-native speaker of English can speak the language fluently as the native one?
I'm asking such a question because some expectations assume that whenever non-native speakers of English have a good level in English they cannot speak the language 100 per cent as the native one. I want an answer from people who have experience about the topic.

Thanks in advance

Karima
 
Last edited:

probus

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
It is my experience that fluent non-native speakers sometimes know a language better than most native speakers of that language.

Two examples: my wife's native language is Konkani, the language of Goa. Growing up in Kolkata, she spoke Konkani at home with her mother, Bengali and Hindi outside the house, and heavily accented Indian English at school. Now that she has spent thirty-five years in Canada I think she speaks fluent and unaccented AmE as well as a native speaker.

We have a friend in Mexico city who is a corporate lawyer. His native language is Spanish, of course, but as a corporate lawyer he relies on his excellent knowledge of English to earn his living. Occasionally he will make a small error. For example, one day I was quizzing him about the Mexican drink pulque and he said it was an acquired flavour when he meant an acquired taste. But on the whole I think his English is as good as mine, and I am a native speaker.

It is interesting to consider the people who do simultaneous translation at the United Nations and similar places. There are special colleges that train such people, and one of the friends of my youth attended one of them. His languages were English and French, and he was beautifully fluent in both, but English was his mother tongue. He told me it is an absolute rule of simultaneous translation that you translate only into your mother tongue. So I guess some experts disagree with me about non-native speakers gaining absolute fluency.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
When you say 100%, it's hard to assess- there are non-native speakers who can pass as native speakers, and there are plenty of others who may have a slight, or even marked accent and make the occasional mistake but can do anything in English that a native speaker can do.
 

Karima-19

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Algeria
Current Location
Algeria
When you say 100%, it's hard to assess- there are non-native speakers who can pass as native speakers, and there are plenty of others who may have a slight, or even marked accent and make the occasional mistake but can do anything in English that a native speaker can do.
That's great, I can do it.
 

Opus018

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
United States
Current Location
France
Well, in my case. I was born in the United States but my family was born in Puerto Rico. Spanish was the dominated language in my household, when i started school when i was 4, i wasn't registered as a native English speaker so i had to take ESL classes up until i graduated from high school. To be honest with you, i was living between two different worlds for a long time. I spoke Spanish with my family and English with my friends. As an American, i know i can never speak as well as an native English speaker because my vocabulary will be influenced from other languages such as Spanish. Now, that i decided to take a third language, i know most of my words will be coming from Spanish or French. My English will never be "pure" spoken because i grew up bilingual already, so i have to work twice as harder to keep up with a native English speaker, inwhich it should have been my mother tongue. Everytime i express myself in writing, it's never the same compared to a native English speaking. When i was young, i was struggling in English because all i heard was Spanish. I would make the same mistakes as a non native speaker and my teachers would think that i wasn't normal being an American born. Now, I speak Spanish, French, and English. I want to be a translator for the European Union. I noticed that a native speaker who grows up speaking one language has a harder time learning a new language then a non native speaker who has grown up speaking two languages at once. It's very interesting because a native speaker has a harder time speaking a language with out having an accent from his/her mother tongue.
 

supernj

New member
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
United States
I wish I could speak English as good as a native.
 

Karima-19

Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Algeria
Current Location
Algeria
Last edited:

a...

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Arabic
Home Country
Saudi Arabia
Current Location
Saudi Arabia
My dream is to speak English like native speakers ...
 

Learner91

Banned
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Latin
Home Country
Holy See
Current Location
Iceland
Hello!

I am a non native speaker, but I have a good experience in learning Enlgish, I'm also very motivated to speak English fluently as long as I can...but there's something I wanna ask about: Is any non-native speaker of English can speak the language fluently as the native one?
I'm asking such a question because some expectations assume that whenever non-native speakers of English have a good level in English they cannot speak the language 100 per cent as the native one. I want an answer from people who have experience about the topic.

Thanks in advance

Karima

whr there's a will,there's a way..
 
J

Janvandebreek

Guest
Yes, that's absolutely possible but it takes A LOT of hard work and many hours practice every week. I achieved it. There is no one who doesn't think I am not a native speaker now, I even got a perfect (British) accent.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top