fluency= what?

In those countries if you drink with the locals...you'll become very fluid.

thank you for your informative reply. I was not aware that France had splintered into several countries. In which might one become most fluid?

jdubya, there is actually more than one wholly or partly French speaking country. France didn't get "fragmented". Monaco, Andorra, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, for example. Québec in Canada, as well as St Pierre et Miquelon, quite a few countries in the Caribbean, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific...

As to your question, your tutors and professors are there to help you! Ask them what "complete flency" actually means, practically, for you, in the context of your planned gaduate program.

If "Complete fluency" means a top-of-the-scale level of accomplishment, where your reading, speaking, listening, writing and comprehension skills are absolutely faultless exactly like a well educated, widely read, knowledgeable native speaker, then that takes years, decades even, (a lifetime, ultimately) spent living and working in a French-speaking country. (It would be beyond level five below).

In 3 or 4 years of an undergraduate level program, with a semester in France, you might get to levels 3 to 4 if you are sufficiently motivated. That is realistic. More than that, you have special circumstances like you are a genius, your mom is from Marseille, (or like Brian Molko you were born & bred there) etc, No postgrad course is going to expect you to come on like you've lived in Paris since 1950...

Sufficiently motivated, like you are crazy about France! You watch films, catch TV and radio broadcasts, follow the news, find out about politics, listen to music, find the language exciting and fun to use and learn about, etc.

I would say that I am around level 3 in the AF table, maybe approaching 4 on a good day or when within my comfort zone. I was so flattered when a French lady on a train asked if i was Belgian or Swiss...

The Alliance Française is a worldwide French language teaching organisation, accredited by the French educational authorities. To help intending students assess their own actual or target fluency, they list the levels of the classes as follows:-

(These designations and levels are not any kind of official thing, just how they organise their classes in the UK)

STAGE ONE: Elementary

Part 1: Foundation
If you have no or very little knowledge of the language, you will acquire 'survival' skills to use in everyday situations; enough to establish social contact and interact in areas of immediate need and on familiar ground.

Part 2: Breakthrough
At this level you will be able to deal with most practical aspects of everyday living and handle short social exchanges.

STAGE TWO: Intermediate

You have studied the language before but need to acquire the skills to deal efficiently with most social, work or travelling requirements.

STAGE THREE: Proficient

At this level you will obtain a broader language range. This will allow you to communicate more spontaneously on a wide range of topics using more colloquial or formal French.

STAGE FOUR: Advanced

You can express yourself with a good degree of fluency already, but you need to develop your skills in order to cope with complex situations. You access a broader repertoire to communicate appropriately in varying contexts with mother-tongue speakers.

STAGE FIVE: Fluent

Close to mother tongue standard, you would like to keep up your French, learn more about the culture, the language's colloquialisms and connotative meanings, or develop your skills for professional use.

contrex, I am aware that other francophone countries exist! I merely assumed that Algis was refering to my upcoming semester abroad, which I noted will take place in France, not Morocco/Belgium/etc. (though I do hope to visit some of the countries you named).

Thank you for listing those stages . . . I reckon I'm about a stage 2.

This is just a question aside: I've learnt French (like English and Latin) at school - like everybody here learns a foreign language usually at schools.

At college/university, we study that language = a good, if not 'fluent' knowlefge of that language is stringent necessary. (Thus, I would never ever got the idea of studying a foreign language, especially not French :wink: )

(Of course you can have courses on various foreign languages at colleges/universities as well. But - generally - not as part of your actual language study.)

Complete fluency is when you can understand everything going on around you when you are smashed on warm beer. At least that's what I'm told.

:wink: