7 signs you are FLUENT in your second language

Not sure whether you can write the magic word on your CV and live up to the expectations? Just watch out for these signs:

1. You don’t remember in what language you’ve read something

Once I read an interesting article and didn’t share it on Twitter (I know, crazy).
A few days later I found myself desperately searching for it online. I could remember the topic, but not the publication. I started googling bits, but nothing. Zero results. I had almost given up when suddenly it hit me. What if…?
I googled the same words in Italian, and magically, there it was.

When you are fluent in two languages, your brain can switch from one to the other without really thinking*. That, at times, can cause some confusion in the Stored Information Department… But we can’t have it all, can we?

2. You can tell an interesting story

We all start from the basics. We tell people about what we do and where we’re from. At the beginning, it’s boring. Then fun things start happening to us (usually after a couple of drinks) and so we become more interesting. A few nights out later, we’ve finally crafted it: our story. And every time we tell it, it gets better, until we qualify as proficient storytellers in our own biography. First things first!

Telling a story in a second language is no easy task. You need to have a structure. You need to get people to listen and follow you. You need to sound confident and relaxed. All of this usually comes with a lot of preparation and experience. And you know what else comes with that? Fluency.

3.You can’t translate words in your native language

The other day an Italian student asked me what the word ‘awkward’ meant. I spent five minutes looking for an Italian equivalent in my head, and failed. Awkwardness is such an English thing, Italians don’t really have a word for it. It’s like an exotic illness: they may get the individual symptoms, but not the true pain.

Knowing two or more languages is more than being human dictionaries (even though that’s exactly what your students think you are). When you’re fluent in a second language, you get things that belong to a culture other than your own, and accept that translation simply isn’t enough sometimes.

4. You make up new words… In your native language

The first reason I wanted to become fluent in English was not to sound like an idiot whenever I spoke. However, that did not help me once I got back home. I still remember the puzzled looks on my parents’ faces as I deemed an item not very ‘affordabile’ (I meant to say ‘economico’) or when I criticised somebody’s ‘attitudine’ (should have said ‘atteggiamento’) and hoped the ‘conservativi’ (‘conservatori’… in hindsight, even ‘tory’ would have worked better) didn’t win. So dumb. Can’t believe I still have friends in this country.

Again, it’s the brain struggling to stick to one language at a time. That happens a lot with words that sound similar in both languages, even though they have different meanings. For example, the word ‘attitudine’ does exist in Italian, but it means ‘inclination’, not ‘attitude’. Which is not something you should criticise, really.

5. You understand the lyrics of an old song

This happens all the time. I’m in the car and that song I used to love as a kid comes up on the radio. I get so excited because I still remember every note, and I want to sing along… But then I realise I have no idea what the actual lyrics are. Because this is the first time the song has a meaning to me, and words I can make sense of. It is the strangest feeling, listening to something so familiar and new at the same time. A revelation, almost.

Song lyrics can be difficult to understand even for native speakers. There’s a lot going on at the same time, and poetic licence often makes it complicated to guess what the singer is on about. That’s exactly why understanding the lyrics of an old song means you are a pro. Finally you can enjoy listening to those cheesy 90's songs for a good reason! Wait, what? …You don’t like them now?

6. You can’t stand dubbed films any longer

Once I saw Leonardo DiCaprio dying (as he often does) at the end of a film. It was very tragic, something carefully designed to make viewers shed a tear. Except, his last words were in Spanish. Leonardo DiCaprio spoke Spanish. It was simply hilarious. I started laughing so hard that I ended up crying anyway…

Dubbed films are simply ridiculous and even when they’re supposed to make you laugh, they’re never as fun as the original version. Once you realise that, you won’t be able to go to the cinema in Spain or in Italy anymore. As a result, you’ll lose many friends, but at least you’ll know that you’re actually fluent in some other language. Congrats!

7. You start getting the humour and making jokes

I still remember the first time I made someone laugh after saying something in English. And it wasn’t because I said ‘I like crap’ instead of ‘crab’ or anything like that. It was because I got not just the words right, but also the tone and, on an unconscious level, the sense of humour. In other words, I had just reached the next level in the game of fluency.

To be truly fluent in a language, you also need to understand its culture and the way native speakers think. A good sign that you are doing it right is… Being able to make a good joke! Because a sense of humour, in most cases, is the result of a cheeky use of language tempered by cultural awareness.

*In bilingual people, both languages are always active in the brain at the same time. Which sounds cool but kind of drains a lot of battery power too.