"Are you proficient in any other languages?"

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>Does this mean fluent, or what? I've taken six years of French, but I don't know if this means completely able to converse in the language.</p>

2

<p>I’m in the same boat as you here.</p>

3

<p>If you can have a fluent conversation with a native french speaker, you are fluent and by that I mean, that you don’t take forever trying to come up with a sentence.
Taking a language class for 6 years doesn’t make you fluent, just like going to school doesn’t necessarily make you smart.</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>The OP was not asking what “fluent” implied; he or she was asking what “proficient” implied.</p>

5

<p>I guess 6 years should be considered quite proficient.</p>

6

<p>I’m guessing you would be quite proficient at a language after taking it for 6 years, but you should really base your answer on your actual level of the language.</p>

<p>I know plenty of people who have “taken” a language for 7~8 years and still don’t speak it proficiently. On the other hand, I know people who’s lived in a country for only a year and speak the language fluently.</p>

7

<p>I am Polish. Also, im taking AP Spanish this year.</p>

8

<p>Do we have to know how to read/write?</p>

<p>My Mandarin is very fluent verbally, but I can’t read or write Chinese.</p>

9

<p>what If you can speak conversational bengali? would that be proficient enough?</p>

10

<p>I’m also wondering this. I’ve self-studied Japanese and am fairly conversational. I can also read and write some of it. As for Spanish, I’ve only taken two years. I guess I could be considered conversational there too. I don’t know if it counts if I’m not near fluency.</p>

<p>Princeton’s online dictionary gives these definitions:</p>

<p>adept: having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
proficiency - the quality of having great facility and competence
proficiency - skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity</p>

11

<p>I had this same question. Here is the answer from the Common Application Support Center:</p>

<p>“For the purposes of this question, please respond ‘yes’ if you can converse comfortably in the language”. </p>

<p>I decided to put “proficient” myself. I have completed AP Spanish, and I passed the exam. I am not a perfect speaker, but I can hold a conversation without too much trouble.</p>

12

<p>^ That settles it for me. Thanks.</p>