At my faculty, one of my our professors asked us the above question.Regardless of the avalanche of answers we gave,I only still remember his.He said:
"When you speak it correctly & unconsciously without thinking like when you are under pressure or anesthetized or dreaming.this & only this means you do."
My question is for you now do you master English in this sense?
Comments
@dusa :May Allah achieve your goal & grant you all what do you want!
Amen
Ah, I'm still a beginner. I guess, it would take me ages to master English(if it is ever going to happen in my life). However, it is one of my "dearest" dreams. May God help me to achieve my dreams. Ameen!
Thank so much Amal for this blog. Your question is really thought provoking. I've read many wonderful replies here and I'm so looking forward to read more people's opinions about this.
amal: Your story just reminded me of my good friend Steve. You might like to read this blog for more details.
So, accroding to all of the above comments, it seems like it's impossible at all or just a dream to master English or to be fluent in English. I don't think so, though. We, non-native learners, could be fluent in English, but it sure is totally impossible to be a native speaker. Actually, I noticed some people from non-English speaking countries were already fluent in English - they made it and English didn't seem to be a problem for them. So, you can do it, too. Don't give up. Just keep learning, but bear in mind it does take time and pains to get to that level. Don't you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
I wonder if native speakers are aware of the grammar when they're writing here. I noticed everything by Tara (our native English teacher) was grammatically correct. I bet if Tara hadn't been here to teach our English, she would have written things in a quite different way. I know if I were trying to teach you Chinese here, I would make everything grammatically correct.
@Syubi ,thank you.Your comment makes me laughing.
@Anele,me too .You know determination & enthusiasm are the keys of success.
@ CHARIVELL ,thank you for your comment.
@Expector smith,thank you for your comment.I really appreciate it.You know all our answers were mainly around what you say ,namely :being excellent or good at the four skills of the language.But our professors answer were very shocking &very true.Our native language is part of our subconsciousness .That it flows very very...easily without stopping for searching for a word or a preposition or what so ever.As a result of this ,we are able ,for sure,to speak our language in the above mentioned cases.He sure meant fluency &this is its standard.
I tell you a story that I swear it is true.My friend's fiance is working in torrism field & he is dealing with Italians .When he was making a medical surgery and totally anesthetized,he kept uttering sentenses & secrets in Italian .One of those working with him was understanding & laughing and asking him & he answers back .All in Italian!At this moment I remembered our prof's words .
As for whether one can reach this state without living in an English speaking country ,I think no because one must be so immersed in English & this is not available in our native countries unless we are like my friend's fiance working all the time with natives. I wish it is clear now.
such a nice topic!!!
Yes, how would you know you mastered English Language already. I think, Expector Smith is right. If you understand the four cores of English Language ( listening, Speaking with correct grammar, reading and writing with correct grammar) you can say you mastered already the English Lan., but as for my own opinion, as English is my Second Languge, I couldn't say that I CAN master English, for me, it's a life long learning since English is not my mother tongue.
BUT, I'm teaching English here in Vietnam, BUT.... being a teacher of English I still need to study a lot to keep in track. Especially, methods and strategies for them to finds English as an enjoyable skill to learn.
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