[Deactivated user]
Language level  I wonder, assuming that we aren't natives or teachers when we create our profile, do we really have an accurate assessment of the levels of the languages we learn? I think that in most cases people tend to underestimate their level.
Apr 20, 2017 11:26 AM
Comments · 9

Some people underestimate their level and some people overestimate their level. We may not really know what a person's language level is just by looking at their profiles but we can go through the disscussions that they joined and the notebooks they wrote.

I think underestimate can show a person's modest attitude towards language learning. If we can't make an accurate assessment for ourselves, perhaps underestimate will be better than overestimate.

April 20, 2017
I was thinking just the opposite, that most people overestimate their level. But honestly, I can't be sure about my levels either. It's just my best guess. Also, teachers and natives are not an exception. Not all teachers really have the levels they claim to have, and some people even believe to be natives when they are not. And some natives don't know their language well. It's getting complicated. Anyway, no, you can't believe those self-evaluations. You have to judge for yourself or ask someone you trust.
April 20, 2017
The problem is also, that in most cases we don't progress with all language skills at the same speed. I'm always good at reading and writing, but much weaker with speaking, what if I'm A2 in speaking/listening, but B2 in reading/writing, should I set my level at B1? It's really hard to tell. Also, when I learn a language, I don't know, at which point I can say, that I reached the next level. So, as long as we don't sit professional language proficiency exams we can't really tell.
April 20, 2017

Very interesting question.

I personally use the exam results that I have and am preparing for. For example, I have been studying for the CPE (C2 English) for some time and have been passing by a small margin (low C). The problem is that someone can have advanced listening and reading skills but poor speaking skills. So in reality, it's impossible to really know a person's level of proficiency without knowing them a lot. I might have made a basic mistake and some people reading my comment might then think I am not a C2-level student. So no, I don't believe there is any accurate way to know your level unless you've passed a recognized exam (like DELE or DELF), that's the best way I can think of examining someone's level of proficiency and even then it's not perfect.

Its a very difficult problem to resolve because, as others have mentioned, we probably underestimate or overestimate our abilities. 

April 20, 2017
Sure, I've just got C1 in Spanish by guessing, just because it's similar to Italian. I can't speak Spanish at all.
April 20, 2017
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