Speaking fluently - Meaning
In a recent post, someone said they speak fluent German, but still get the articles wrong.
Someone else commented that something along the lines of "So you're not fluent then" and then, in discussion, supplied a Wiktionary link as proof what "fluently" means.
I answered with a Wikipedia link, and then the user got butthurt, called me a troll and blocked me.
I got several down-votes for claiming that you can be fluent while still getting articles wrong, so I want to clear this up for learners here who might get worried reading that exchange.
Questions:
- What does "speaking fluently" mean to native speakers?
- Does "making article mistakes regularly" mean you're not fluent, even if you can discuss geopolitics?
To me, someone who speaks fast and understandably and gives me a feeling that I can speak however I please (not making an effort to dumb down my speech) is a fluent speaker.
I think there is no ultimate agreed upon definition, but I am pretty darn sure that "speaking flawlessly" is not part of the feature set of fluent speech.