What is Fluency?

Fluency is the ability to speak a foreign language easily and accurately.

The most important words here are: easily and accurately. Remember those!

Andrea Davis, commenting on her experience with TalkBox.Mom said:

“Y’all know what you’re doing when it comes to fluency!! 

“In my Spanish university classes, we focused on sentence structure, and I have to think SO HARD to understand/translate the stuff I’ve learned. 

“With TalkBox.Mom, when we speak, it rolls right off the tongue and requires no translation!”

Speaking a language with fluency means that the language falls out of your mouth easily and accurately.

In Andrea’s university experience (as well as other university and high school courses), the courses focus on translation rather than fluency.

For example, students focus on memorizing vocabulary words through translation.

You’re given a list of vocabulary words with their English equivalents, and you learn how to say the English words in another language. This is translation, not fluency.

University courses also focus on memorizing grammar rules, which teach students to build sentences through analysis and translation.

When speaking, learners are in their heads translating and running grammar rules through their mind. This isn’t fluency. 

This isn’t done easily and often not accurately.

When speaking another language, the words and phrases should fall out of your mouth like in your first language, where you’re simply sharing ideas and thoughts.

You’re not running grammar rules through your mind or translating to understand the meaning of words.

From here, it is important to note that university students often have their hearts set on achieving the status of “fluent.”

This is different from fluency.

Fluency is the way in which you learn and use a language. It’s better seen as a path you walk down.

Fluent is a finish line that, for many learners, means they know all of the language.

This is an interesting idea because, as a native English speaker, I do not know all of English.

There are words that I sometimes need to look up or need to hear in order to pronounce.

And although I do have a robust knowledge of formal English grammar, there are many native English speakers who do not but speak just as well as I do.

This brings me to two important points of this fantasy finish line of “fluent.”

Number 1: If you’re fluent in your first language and do not know all of the language, does fluency in a second language mean that you know all of that language?

Number 2: If many native speakers can speak their language fluently without being able to analyze or explain grammar, does fluency in a second language mean that you know every grammar rule formally?

It does not.

Yet many learners focus on memorizing every vocabulary word through translation and memorizing every grammar rule in order to know all of a second language. They believe this will help them to suddenly cross the finish line of “fluent.”

But this path of translation will not take you there. There is always more to learn, and you are never good enough.

Fluency, on the other hand, allows you to not only use the language but to learn through the language, expanding what you know without any hindrance.

You’re able to hear grammar rules and reproduce the correct patterns and exceptions as you speak—without thinking about it.

You’re able to add new words you hear to sentences and use them properly.

You’re able to understand definitions in the language when you get stuck.

You’re always part of the conversation. You’re always using the language. You’re always growing.

That’s our focus at TalkBox.Mom.

We want you to start on the path of fluency and walk very far down this path to where the language is part of your everyday life.