I have been a student of the French language for as long as I can remember. I took French during high school and French was one of my majors in college. I chose the linguistics route over literature, which led me to take some fascinating classes in linguistics. One of my favorite classes was on pronunciation which consisted of three months of reading out loud and speaking in a small group while the instructor, a French native, corrected us. After graduation, I moved to France for an internship and decided to stay for nine years. During that period, I spoke French every day in my daily life with friends and organizations I needed to interact with to live in Paris, such as my bank, shops, the doctor and dentist, utilities and local government offices. I also worked for French companies where I interacted on a professional level with colleagues and clients and further developed the four main language skills. The last company I worked for, a consulting company, required me to work on projects in Lebanon and Senegal, where I also worked in French. The nine years I spent in France helped me to develop a strong foundation in the French language.

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I moved back to the USA more than twenty years ago and although I listen to French news daily, I don’t converse in French every day and feel that although my level is still strong, it is not as sharp as it was when I lived in Paris. To self-assess my level today, I will need to refer to the Proficiency Guidelines (2012). The aim of the Guidelines is to provide an evaluation of a learner’s ability in the four primary language skill areas of speaking, writing, reading and listening. Each of these four skills is then rated according to five levels: Distinguished, Superior, Advanced, Intermediate and Novice. The last three are also further sub-divided into High, Mid, and Low.

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In the first skill area of Listening Comprehension, I feel that I am at a Superior level. At this level a learner can comprehend complex discourse that is both in academic and professional environments such as lectures, speeches and interviews. At this level learners are able to understand complex linguistic structures as well as understand the cultural nuances in language and meanings that are sometimes implied by what is expressly not said. I believe I also have a Superior level in the area of reading as I am able to understand written texts from any subject area as well as use of complex linguistic structures. I am not always able to identity the meaning of every single word, but am able to deduce the meaning.

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Whereas I am listening and reading French almost daily, I am speaking and writing less. I feel that for both these skill areas I am an Advanced-High. Advanced speakers can engage at ease in every day social situations and communicate topics in the past, present and future. Knowledge of the language is abundant and speakers can concretely manage unexpected situations that arise in conversations. I am able to communicate meaning in almost any subject with ease but here and there struggle with fluency in subjects with which I am unfamiliar which would equate more to a Superior rating. I also feel I have an advanced level in writing and am able to easily produce formal and informal correspondence and produce descriptions and narratives in any timeframe using the most frequent grammatical structures. I am also able to elaborate and paraphrase.

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As I look at my current level with the four language skills combined, I believe I am an Advanced-High level in regards to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.