Pages sur ce sujet:   [1 2 3] >
What makes *someone* a native speaker?
Auteur du fil: sdvplatt
sdvplatt
sdvplatt
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 18:54
Membre (2003)
allemand vers anglais
+ ...
Sep 11, 2021

Since I cant comment on the comments.

I am designing a system which looks at testing this remotely and without the need say for a direct interview
What makes someone a native speaker e.g. the purposes of proof-reading documents?

Self-reporting wont cut it.

Some ideas
A school leavers certificate from a standard school in the country with X as its primary language.
What about international schools? IB language

Or
Does on
... See more
Since I cant comment on the comments.

I am designing a system which looks at testing this remotely and without the need say for a direct interview
What makes someone a native speaker e.g. the purposes of proof-reading documents?

Self-reporting wont cut it.

Some ideas
A school leavers certificate from a standard school in the country with X as its primary language.
What about international schools? IB language

Or
Does one have to be able to read native language accent free?
Maybe other common linguistic features which can be tested by having the candidate read out a script.


[Edited at 2021-09-11 17:13 GMT]
Collapse


 
Barbara Carrara
Barbara Carrara  Identity Verified
Italie
Local time: 19:54
Membre (2008)
anglais vers italien
+ ...
Beware! Sep 11, 2021

Can of worms about to be opened. Again!
(As per your desiderata, I've tried to put it as succinctly as possible.)


Kevin Fulton
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
P.L.F. Persio
Tom in London
expressisverbis
neilmac
Rachel Waddington
 
sdvplatt
sdvplatt
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 18:54
Membre (2003)
allemand vers anglais
+ ...
AUTEUR DU FIL
Beware? Sep 11, 2021

Barbara Carrara wrote:

Can of worms about to be opened. Again!
(As per your desiderata, I've tried to put it as succinctly as possible.)


Beware of what whom?
Do you have a link to where posted.


 
Barbara Carrara
Barbara Carrara  Identity Verified
Italie
Local time: 19:54
Membre (2008)
anglais vers italien
+ ...
Forum Search Sep 11, 2021

Succincly put, just type in 'native speaker'/'non-native' or the like and you'll see what I mean.
Hope you've got some time on your hands.


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
P.L.F. Persio
expressisverbis
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
neilmac
 
Tony Keily
Tony Keily
Local time: 19:54
italien vers anglais
+ ...
Maybe... Sep 11, 2021

... not starting posts with 'What makes some a native speaker?'

P.L.F. Persio
Christel Zipfel
Tom in London
expressisverbis
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Barbara Carrara
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
Royaume-Uni
Membre (2011)
suédois vers anglais
+ ...
Recording Sep 11, 2021

Natives are even more likely to be best at editing and proofreading than at translation.

ProZ tests for nativeness by getting you to submit a voice recording. This will doubtless produce a fair few false negatives but very few false positives and is therefore a sensible approach. It doesn’t prove you can write though.

As ever, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.


Victoria Britten
expressisverbis
P.L.F. Persio
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 18:54
Membre (2008)
italien vers anglais
? Sep 11, 2021

What makes some what?

If you mean "what makes some PEOPLE" then your question would have to be "What makes some people native speakers?"

Alternatively you could have asked "What makes someone a native speaker?"

Either way it seems clear you're not a native speaker of English yourself. But hey- there's nothing wrong with that.

[Edited at 2021-09-11 16:35 GMT]


expressisverbis
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Barbara Carrara
P.L.F. Persio
 
Korana Lasić
Korana Lasić  Identity Verified
Membre
serbe vers anglais
+ ...
... Sep 11, 2021

Someone who's internalised a language at a very young age, before they started learning it in any structured way. I also think that if someone thinks, dreams, and makes love in a certain language, that's a good indication of them being native speakers of it. Some people do this in more than one language and that makes them bilingual.

expressisverbis
P.L.F. Persio
 
Michele Fauble
Michele Fauble  Identity Verified
États-Unis
Local time: 10:54
Membre (2006)
norvégien vers anglais
+ ...
Succinct answer Sep 11, 2021

How you learned the language. And no, it’s not knowing the language as well as a native speaker. That definition contains the term to be defined, and is thus circular and invalid.

P.L.F. Persio
Nadja Balogh
RAKOTONIAINA Mino
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
ukrainien vers anglais
+ ...
People who subconsciously curse in said language Sep 11, 2021

When they stub their toe.

A native bilingual is someone who swears in two languages.


Korana Lasić
P.L.F. Persio
Tina Vonhof (X)
 
expressisverbis
expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 18:54
Membre (2015)
anglais vers portugais
+ ...
Let me put it in simple terms Sep 11, 2021

I don't know what makes "someone" a native speaker, but I know what it doesn't make me a native speaker of English.
That's why my profile shows, for example, "English to Portuguese" (in addition to my other two working languages), and not the other way around.


Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
Baran Keki
Esther Dodo
Barbara Carrara
Ryan Shevlane
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
anglais vers français
+ ...
Native writers Sep 12, 2021

Since translation ultimately deals with written text, being a native writer trumps being a native speaker.

Many native speakers are pretty lousy in written communication, as seen in social media. It takes an excellent command of the target language to succeed.

Can you produce a translated text that does not read like to translation to a native readership?



[Edited at 2021-09-12 14:25 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
neilmac
expressisverbis
sdvplatt
Barbara Carrara
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Grèce
Local time: 20:54
grec vers anglais
Speaking for myself Sep 12, 2021

I'm a native speaker of English and a fluent speaker of Greek.

Ask me to complete a line like "Little Miss Muffet sat on a ..." and I can do it without thinking, even though if you asked me what the missing word means, I would have to guess.

I can't do that in Greek, because I learned that language as an adult, not as a child.

It isn't just knowing nursery rhymes, though. There's an entire corpus of language that informs and influences the way I use English
... See more
I'm a native speaker of English and a fluent speaker of Greek.

Ask me to complete a line like "Little Miss Muffet sat on a ..." and I can do it without thinking, even though if you asked me what the missing word means, I would have to guess.

I can't do that in Greek, because I learned that language as an adult, not as a child.

It isn't just knowing nursery rhymes, though. There's an entire corpus of language that informs and influences the way I use English. An extra 23 years of background in my first language, and those were formative years. I know I can never make that up in Greek.

It's that corpus, that background, that makes me a native English speaker.
Collapse


Christopher Schröder
P.L.F. Persio
neilmac
sdvplatt
expressisverbis
Baran Keki
Jean Dimitriadis
 
Baran Keki
Baran Keki  Identity Verified
Turquie
Local time: 20:54
Membre
anglais vers turc
Stating the obvious Sep 12, 2021

How about speaking without a funny accent? You can be bilingual all you want and write in the target language flawlessly, but you'll never be considered a 'native speaker' if you got a foreign accent when you talk.

[Edited at 2021-09-12 10:39 GMT]


expressisverbis
Jean Dimitriadis
Josephine Cassar
P.L.F. Persio
Tina Vonhof (X)
Barbara Carrara
 
Victoria Britten
Victoria Britten  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:54
français vers anglais
+ ...
Native means native: born into it Sep 12, 2021

Korana Lasić wrote:

I also think that if someone thinks, dreams, and makes love in a certain language, that's a good indication of them being native speakers of it. Some people do this in more than one language and that makes them bilingual.



I gave birth (twice) in French, not lapsing into anything else at any point, but I started learning French at secondary school. I am indeed (functionally) bilingual, but definitely not native.


 
Pages sur ce sujet:   [1 2 3] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

What makes *someone* a native speaker?







CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »