2026-09-11
9 分钟Today I want to talk about something that I hear quite often,
and that is people who say, I understand well talking about their ability in a foreign language, but I can't speak.
And I hear that a lot.
So I want to talk about what can be done and what can be some strategies in order to help people
who claim to understand well, to help them to speak better.
So it depends on your situation.
Obviously, if you're in a situation where you need to speak, then this is quite important.
If you're like me learning, you know, Arabic and Farsi as a dilettante or Turkish,
and I don't need to speak, then it doesn't bother me.
I continue with my input activities, building up my capability in the language.
But the reason I raised this is because the other day I met someone who is a Canadian politician who,
while he's a local politician, but he lives in Ottawa for much of the year.
He's involved in national politics.
Therefore he should.
Be able to speak French and he has an opportunity to speak French.
But when I asked him about his ability in French, he said, well, I understand well, but I can't speak.
So that's kind of my starting off point on this subject.
So there's two sides to this.
One is that person or people like him have an identity which says I can understand well, but I can't speak well.
That's kind of their vision of themselves.