I remember one of the things for me living in Germany was the fear of making a mistake in German and being laughed at. I had to get over that hurdle and once I did, I no longer felt like I was at a standstill.
I'm sorry that happened to you. Being laughed at is such a cruel thing to endure when you're in the vulnerable space of learning a language. Mistakes are 100 percent part of the experience. Unavoidable and timeless.
Having just come back from visiting Spain, I’ll admit it’s a bit disheartening when you pronounce a word that seems to sound like what everyone around you has said, appears to pass the Duolingo smell/speaking test … and the person speaking to you scrunches up their face in complete confusion and goes: “huh?”
Cue a lot of “perdón, perdón, disculpe…”
On the other hand, it is then immensely heartening when you apologise for your Spanish and their face breaks into a smile and they brush away your apology. So swings and roundabouts.
Stephanie, I know the scrunching of the face all too well. It comes out for all matter of big and small errors or using different vocabulary (e.g., zumo versus jugo). I felt the immediate judgement and felt so disheartened for months after I arrived. And yes, the swift facial correction that an apology bring is... good to know linguistically, but also being made to feel like you have to apologize for trying isn't a great feeling either. Oy.
I’ve been a professional language guy (I don’t have the academic chops to say linguist) for almost half a century. I’ve embarrassed myself and avoided conversations with the natives in numerous languages.
I can say both that Americans are mostly very understanding (both ways, really) of people with little English ability and that some people need to be more that way. Learning foreign languages is hard. It’s easier when the locals try to help you communicate. While it’s true that Japanese is really hard, I many ways I had a harder time learning German, a much easier language for English speakers, because I felt much less encouragement from Germans for my halting attempts.
Some of my best experiences as a tourist were in places like Turkey, where I didn’t know the language at all, but learning even a few words can bring great joy. One of my favorite tiny events was seeing a musical group performing on the streets of Tbilisi , Georgia, dressed in the costume of Otavalo, Ecuador, and astonishing them by greeting them in Quichua. That “Alli puncha!” was all I could remember from the language, but the response was gratifying.
I love learning languages and keep trying new ones. I'm currently on language number 11. While I have a good ear, I’ve also received my fair share of tough love from teachers (and partners) who spoke the language I was learning.
When I was studying Jula in Burkina Faso, my teacher constantly compared me to another anthropologist who, in her view, was far more talented, never mind that the guy had lived there for years, married a local woman, and then started taking classes. Even though I have been complimented on my English by many a native speaker, my American ex corrected my pronunciation quite a bit, so much so that even now, when I say words like “onion,” “also,” “wonder,” “wander,” or “pronunciation,” I still pause and wonder if I’m getting them right.
The th sound remains a challenge for Slavic speakers like me. And I still have to concentrate when a sentence includes words starting with w and v one after the other, I tend to mix them up if I’m not careful.
When I first moved to Ethiopia to teach at the university, I really wanted to learn Amharic. After a year of frustrating private lessons, I enrolled in an intensive course designed for Protestant missionaries, where I finally started making progress (and learned a few hymns along the way). Oddly enough, my Ethiopian colleagues didn’t expect me to learn the language at all. The other two expat teachers in my department barely spoke Amharic, even though both were married to Ethiopians. (One was fluent in a South Omo language, as that’s where she’d done fieldwork.) But still, Amharic wasn’t seen as essential for foreigners. I felt differently. And I’m glad I stuck with it.
These days, I’ve let go of the perfectionism I had when I first started learning languages. If I can read books, watch movies, and hold a basic conversation, I feel like I’m doing pretty well. In Slovene, we say I’m on a horse, meaning, I’m in a good place.
Eleven languages is so impressive, but more so is your ability to persist when people didn't make it easy for you. I'm really glad we stumbled into this topic together.
I don't speak all of them equally well, but it doesn't stop me from trying. And I won't answer your survey, since I know nothing stops me from learning a new language.
So, I studied Spanish in high school and a bit in university, but never practiced it. Why had a lot to do with the latent prejudice in anglo american society. A second issue is my own tendency toward perfection, which is a class characteristic of English language. Now that we have retired to Spain, we are continuing to work on our Castilian (called that as in Spain there are four constitutional languages). The major encouragement is the way my stumbling attempts are met by the vast majority of Spaniards. Ellos siempre dicen mi castellano está perfecto. HA! But it really does encourage one. The major obstacle is time spent on the project. I need to spend more time. More time listening to radio or TV shows or movies. More time taking the many lessons that are available to me. More time reading in Spanish. More time speaking with my friends in Spanish and not in English.
Way to stay focused, David! I'm glad you're staying so focused on the task. I truly believe language learning should be fun or we won't keep with it. Do you know the Spanish show, Aquí La Tierra? It's on at 20:30 every night, 30 minutes of weather, Spanish food and wine, and more weather. It's goofy and delightful, I recommend it highly!
Rachel, thanks for the mention. I think it can be intimidating for people. You're basically starting over! I remember a sweet episode of Modern Family, and Gloria yells in frustration, "Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?"
NB: I don't know the military guy in Japan is the best example. The US military moved him there, it was not a journey of self discovery or whatever. He had a full time job on base with a grocery store, church, gym, etc. For better or worse, the goal of deployment is not a "cultural experience." (There are specialized roles for that, but not the point.)
I would just add that my cousin was stationed in Japan, and they made a HUGE effort to integrate, and experience the food, culture, and the kids spoke some Japanese. I think my cousin and his wife picked up enough Japanese to be polite "Hello, how are you? May I have? etc."
Also, I personally have never met someone who had a bee in their bonnet about speaking English in America. I grew up in rural Iowa, and most of my friends are pretty conservative. Never came up. --shrug--
Thank you for posing this question. I love this topic and I have a working theory! Learning to speak a language involves an ego death. You lose the ability to express your needs, wants, desires, and feelings. You essentially become a beginner at being human.
Your nervous system has to be able to hold this loss of self. You have to trust that you are safe, even if you can’t communicate everything you want to. I think some people have trauma or childhood experiences that gets in the way of this ego death. They constantly return to their native language because it doesn’t feel safe to be in this liminal space where they have lost their sense of self. (Even though it is just temporary, the body doesn’t accept that.)
This is just a theory and I don't think it doesn’t apply to everyone. However, it did give me more compassion for people who seem to not be “trying” to learn the language. I write more the ego death piece of learning a language here: (https://freebirdhotel.substack.com/p/the-ego-death-of-learning-a-language.)
This is EXCELLENT, Rachel. Absolutely agree with everything you said here.
I was in our local bio shop a couple of days ago (small surf town north of Lisbon) and there was a German mom and young son shopping there. Little guy was maybe three and wandered around the store saying “hallo!” over and over to everyone, in the sweetest way. I would’ve paid a lot in that moment to be able to ask him how old he is or his name in German; I got the sense that they were new here and Mom had to communicate in English. Instead we practiced saying “coco” together while pointing at the bulk bins of coconut. I plan to learn a couple of basic phrases in German in case I see them again.
I’ve lived in Portugal for three years and speak SO little Portuguese; it’s a huge regret. We (husband and I) took lessons for a while after moving but the teacher was difficult for us both to keep up with and then lessons dwindled as she started caring for her aging parents. We got busy with life and then decided a year ago that we wanted to move to another country. So here we are and I’m deeply embarrassed that I speak this little. We are headed for France around the end of the year and I started French lessons several months ago. I’ve promised myself that I will never again live in a country without learning the language to at least a conversational level. It feels essential going both ways (respect for the people around me and so that I can fully engage with/enjoy life) and this current experience had been a valuable lesson.
Looking forward to your further writing on this topic.
Thank you for sharing your experience! The interaction with the littleboy is very sweet and I like that it's motivating you to learn some German phrases :)
I'm sorry to hear your learning experience with a teacher wasn't so great. I can imagine that would be a very demotivating factor. Best of luck with your French lessons and I hope they are more enjoyable than your experience learning Portuguese.
Thanks for a thoughtful essay ! I enjoy language learning; though it is a never-ending effort, the rewards are great--not just for learning a different language, but also for better understanding your own or other languages. And as for be basics, a shop in my neighbourhood (Nice, France) has a slate board out front that says: "Important: Bonjour, Merci, Au revoir." They're so right.
I liked how you say that nobody should think of traveling if they aren’t willing to learn another language, even just basic thank you yes no phrases. I’d add: nobody should think of taking up residence in a country they don’t plan to learn the language to a B1-B2 level (posted foreign workers excluded).
Because it’s the level where one person can not only follow basic conversations but also engage in reading and handling more complex issues (taxes, local elections, administrative and banking issues). Additionally, it’s the basic required level for local employment or education (more often than not, a B2 is sufficient for clerical work). I’ve got a B2 certified in all the languages, never bothered to certify higher even when I could.
This is a great topic! My greatest fear was freezing up in a face to face interaction. I will use Italian as my example. You can read guide books, Duolingo/Memrise, YouTube, etc. and you gain what I call digital confidence. But nothing prepares you for a live interaction with a native whose dialect is different by region and is spoken at lightning speed…except for practice with a sympathetic teacher. I am fortunate to live in a US capital city with an Italian Heritage Museum that offers two 10 week courses by a native Italian speaker. In my opinion, immersion is the best tool for confidently learning a language.
Brian I agree with you and I like the term "digital confidence." There's much to be gained in the passive learning stage, but speaking in real time is a whole other level of learning. I'm so glad you have access to Italian courses! Immersion, whether for an hour or a week or longer, is key.
This is a really great post Rachel, thank you for bringing this up and highlighting this. Particularly at a time where it's needed to be discussed more than ever, as people are moving abroad at alarming rates.
So now is the uncomfortable time where I need to explain why I still don't speak Thai after 15 years in Thailand.
* Sigh * ok here we go.
So I need to start this off by saying that I am someone who loves languages, who speaks French as a second language, and was very excited to learn Thai when I first moved here. I've taken all kinds of Thai classes, from online, to apps, to one-on-one private lessons, to group lessons, to even attending a language school for a year. And through that, I've picked up quite a bit of Thai. I can communicate most of my needs. But no, 'm not conversational.
The problem with my approach has been that it hasn't been consistent. I keep planning to leave, and Thai isn't exactly a language that will serve me well in any other country except for here.
And the learning curve, with 66 characters that are so completely foreign compared to English or any other language I have ever seen, combined with five tones for each and every word in the entire language that gives those words five different meanings, as well as vowels that come before and even above the characters but are pronounced after... It's so intense.
Add to that the fact that you get laughed at for even attempting to speak to a Thai person (it's a cultural thing), and the fact that everyone on the very touristy island I live on speaks pretty good English, and it all adds up the result of me having lived here for 15 years and still not being able to hold a proper conversation in the language of the country in which I live.
But I also agree that it's polite, respectful, and more importantly necessary to speak the local language of wherever you live. Which is a big reason why I'm leaving. I realised after some time that one of the reasons I kept stopping my Thai lessons is that it's not a language I really want to learn. Which also showed me that this is not a country I really want to live in. So I think paying attention to your resistance to language learning can actually be very telling about your feelings toward a place.
I'm an immigrant in the Czech Republic. I did actually learn Czech, so perhaps I'm answering a question that's not really intended for me (if so, feel free to ignore what I say). In the Czech Republic (as in many other countries), English is a high status language. A native English speaker, or merely a highly fluent one (such as myself), will get more respect by simply speaking English than by speaking poor Czech. Now, you are better off speaking good Czech than just sticking to English! However, show me any person anywhere who managed to get good at a language without having sucked at it first (heh). So, you go through what I call the B1 valley of death, where you keep having bad experiences, and it's up to you to keep going or just give up. Now in my case, giving up was quite simply out of the question because I'm a proud language nerd (currently learning Spanish, btw - yay me!), and as such, I had my reputation to protect. :-) Imagine: a language nerd who doesn't bother learning the language of the country she lives in. But it was hard on the soul for a while. Life got much better once I was a legit C1, and luckily, I had an extremely nice online teacher to help me through.
I suggest you provide an "Other" option in addition to the five choices in your survey, because in my case my hesitation to use (for example) my little bit of Italian when I'm in Italy is due to my nervousness about the likely awkward transition that will occur when the person I'm speaking with realizes I really know only a few words, and we have to navigate switching to English, asking someone else to help, using Google Translate, etc. I still make the attempt in most cases, but I do hesitate as part of the "what's stopping you?" phase.
I remember one of the things for me living in Germany was the fear of making a mistake in German and being laughed at. I had to get over that hurdle and once I did, I no longer felt like I was at a standstill.
I'm sorry that happened to you. Being laughed at is such a cruel thing to endure when you're in the vulnerable space of learning a language. Mistakes are 100 percent part of the experience. Unavoidable and timeless.
Having just come back from visiting Spain, I’ll admit it’s a bit disheartening when you pronounce a word that seems to sound like what everyone around you has said, appears to pass the Duolingo smell/speaking test … and the person speaking to you scrunches up their face in complete confusion and goes: “huh?”
Cue a lot of “perdón, perdón, disculpe…”
On the other hand, it is then immensely heartening when you apologise for your Spanish and their face breaks into a smile and they brush away your apology. So swings and roundabouts.
Stephanie, I know the scrunching of the face all too well. It comes out for all matter of big and small errors or using different vocabulary (e.g., zumo versus jugo). I felt the immediate judgement and felt so disheartened for months after I arrived. And yes, the swift facial correction that an apology bring is... good to know linguistically, but also being made to feel like you have to apologize for trying isn't a great feeling either. Oy.
I’ve been a professional language guy (I don’t have the academic chops to say linguist) for almost half a century. I’ve embarrassed myself and avoided conversations with the natives in numerous languages.
I can say both that Americans are mostly very understanding (both ways, really) of people with little English ability and that some people need to be more that way. Learning foreign languages is hard. It’s easier when the locals try to help you communicate. While it’s true that Japanese is really hard, I many ways I had a harder time learning German, a much easier language for English speakers, because I felt much less encouragement from Germans for my halting attempts.
Some of my best experiences as a tourist were in places like Turkey, where I didn’t know the language at all, but learning even a few words can bring great joy. One of my favorite tiny events was seeing a musical group performing on the streets of Tbilisi , Georgia, dressed in the costume of Otavalo, Ecuador, and astonishing them by greeting them in Quichua. That “Alli puncha!” was all I could remember from the language, but the response was gratifying.
Hi Rachel, great points.
I love learning languages and keep trying new ones. I'm currently on language number 11. While I have a good ear, I’ve also received my fair share of tough love from teachers (and partners) who spoke the language I was learning.
When I was studying Jula in Burkina Faso, my teacher constantly compared me to another anthropologist who, in her view, was far more talented, never mind that the guy had lived there for years, married a local woman, and then started taking classes. Even though I have been complimented on my English by many a native speaker, my American ex corrected my pronunciation quite a bit, so much so that even now, when I say words like “onion,” “also,” “wonder,” “wander,” or “pronunciation,” I still pause and wonder if I’m getting them right.
The th sound remains a challenge for Slavic speakers like me. And I still have to concentrate when a sentence includes words starting with w and v one after the other, I tend to mix them up if I’m not careful.
When I first moved to Ethiopia to teach at the university, I really wanted to learn Amharic. After a year of frustrating private lessons, I enrolled in an intensive course designed for Protestant missionaries, where I finally started making progress (and learned a few hymns along the way). Oddly enough, my Ethiopian colleagues didn’t expect me to learn the language at all. The other two expat teachers in my department barely spoke Amharic, even though both were married to Ethiopians. (One was fluent in a South Omo language, as that’s where she’d done fieldwork.) But still, Amharic wasn’t seen as essential for foreigners. I felt differently. And I’m glad I stuck with it.
These days, I’ve let go of the perfectionism I had when I first started learning languages. If I can read books, watch movies, and hold a basic conversation, I feel like I’m doing pretty well. In Slovene, we say I’m on a horse, meaning, I’m in a good place.
Eleven languages is so impressive, but more so is your ability to persist when people didn't make it easy for you. I'm really glad we stumbled into this topic together.
I don't speak all of them equally well, but it doesn't stop me from trying. And I won't answer your survey, since I know nothing stops me from learning a new language.
So, I studied Spanish in high school and a bit in university, but never practiced it. Why had a lot to do with the latent prejudice in anglo american society. A second issue is my own tendency toward perfection, which is a class characteristic of English language. Now that we have retired to Spain, we are continuing to work on our Castilian (called that as in Spain there are four constitutional languages). The major encouragement is the way my stumbling attempts are met by the vast majority of Spaniards. Ellos siempre dicen mi castellano está perfecto. HA! But it really does encourage one. The major obstacle is time spent on the project. I need to spend more time. More time listening to radio or TV shows or movies. More time taking the many lessons that are available to me. More time reading in Spanish. More time speaking with my friends in Spanish and not in English.
Way to stay focused, David! I'm glad you're staying so focused on the task. I truly believe language learning should be fun or we won't keep with it. Do you know the Spanish show, Aquí La Tierra? It's on at 20:30 every night, 30 minutes of weather, Spanish food and wine, and more weather. It's goofy and delightful, I recommend it highly!
Eso es lo que me motivó mucho! Los españoles son muy amables especialmente cuando tú intentas hablar con ellos. Ellos aprecian el intento.
Rachel, thanks for the mention. I think it can be intimidating for people. You're basically starting over! I remember a sweet episode of Modern Family, and Gloria yells in frustration, "Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?"
NB: I don't know the military guy in Japan is the best example. The US military moved him there, it was not a journey of self discovery or whatever. He had a full time job on base with a grocery store, church, gym, etc. For better or worse, the goal of deployment is not a "cultural experience." (There are specialized roles for that, but not the point.)
I would just add that my cousin was stationed in Japan, and they made a HUGE effort to integrate, and experience the food, culture, and the kids spoke some Japanese. I think my cousin and his wife picked up enough Japanese to be polite "Hello, how are you? May I have? etc."
Also, I personally have never met someone who had a bee in their bonnet about speaking English in America. I grew up in rural Iowa, and most of my friends are pretty conservative. Never came up. --shrug--
Very interesting to hear that no one was bothered by people not speaking English in rural Iowa
I would read this. https://undervineandfigtree.substack.com/p/where-yall-from-btch
Also, Iowa was a purple state for a long time. Google "Tom Harkin." 🙄
Yes, I love this piece of yours, it’s a must-read. Not disappointing, but contrary to the stereotype
Disappointing, huh?
Thank you for posing this question. I love this topic and I have a working theory! Learning to speak a language involves an ego death. You lose the ability to express your needs, wants, desires, and feelings. You essentially become a beginner at being human.
Your nervous system has to be able to hold this loss of self. You have to trust that you are safe, even if you can’t communicate everything you want to. I think some people have trauma or childhood experiences that gets in the way of this ego death. They constantly return to their native language because it doesn’t feel safe to be in this liminal space where they have lost their sense of self. (Even though it is just temporary, the body doesn’t accept that.)
This is just a theory and I don't think it doesn’t apply to everyone. However, it did give me more compassion for people who seem to not be “trying” to learn the language. I write more the ego death piece of learning a language here: (https://freebirdhotel.substack.com/p/the-ego-death-of-learning-a-language.)
This is EXCELLENT, Rachel. Absolutely agree with everything you said here.
I was in our local bio shop a couple of days ago (small surf town north of Lisbon) and there was a German mom and young son shopping there. Little guy was maybe three and wandered around the store saying “hallo!” over and over to everyone, in the sweetest way. I would’ve paid a lot in that moment to be able to ask him how old he is or his name in German; I got the sense that they were new here and Mom had to communicate in English. Instead we practiced saying “coco” together while pointing at the bulk bins of coconut. I plan to learn a couple of basic phrases in German in case I see them again.
I’ve lived in Portugal for three years and speak SO little Portuguese; it’s a huge regret. We (husband and I) took lessons for a while after moving but the teacher was difficult for us both to keep up with and then lessons dwindled as she started caring for her aging parents. We got busy with life and then decided a year ago that we wanted to move to another country. So here we are and I’m deeply embarrassed that I speak this little. We are headed for France around the end of the year and I started French lessons several months ago. I’ve promised myself that I will never again live in a country without learning the language to at least a conversational level. It feels essential going both ways (respect for the people around me and so that I can fully engage with/enjoy life) and this current experience had been a valuable lesson.
Looking forward to your further writing on this topic.
Thank you for sharing your experience! The interaction with the littleboy is very sweet and I like that it's motivating you to learn some German phrases :)
I'm sorry to hear your learning experience with a teacher wasn't so great. I can imagine that would be a very demotivating factor. Best of luck with your French lessons and I hope they are more enjoyable than your experience learning Portuguese.
Thanks for a thoughtful essay ! I enjoy language learning; though it is a never-ending effort, the rewards are great--not just for learning a different language, but also for better understanding your own or other languages. And as for be basics, a shop in my neighbourhood (Nice, France) has a slate board out front that says: "Important: Bonjour, Merci, Au revoir." They're so right.
The people have spoken! I love that they’re clear about their expectations 😊
I liked how you say that nobody should think of traveling if they aren’t willing to learn another language, even just basic thank you yes no phrases. I’d add: nobody should think of taking up residence in a country they don’t plan to learn the language to a B1-B2 level (posted foreign workers excluded).
Curious to know: what makes you choose B1 or B2?
Because it’s the level where one person can not only follow basic conversations but also engage in reading and handling more complex issues (taxes, local elections, administrative and banking issues). Additionally, it’s the basic required level for local employment or education (more often than not, a B2 is sufficient for clerical work). I’ve got a B2 certified in all the languages, never bothered to certify higher even when I could.
This is a great topic! My greatest fear was freezing up in a face to face interaction. I will use Italian as my example. You can read guide books, Duolingo/Memrise, YouTube, etc. and you gain what I call digital confidence. But nothing prepares you for a live interaction with a native whose dialect is different by region and is spoken at lightning speed…except for practice with a sympathetic teacher. I am fortunate to live in a US capital city with an Italian Heritage Museum that offers two 10 week courses by a native Italian speaker. In my opinion, immersion is the best tool for confidently learning a language.
Brian I agree with you and I like the term "digital confidence." There's much to be gained in the passive learning stage, but speaking in real time is a whole other level of learning. I'm so glad you have access to Italian courses! Immersion, whether for an hour or a week or longer, is key.
You need to add "I am afraid I'm not smart enough".
I wish I had more room, but the poll limits me to five questions. Can we file that concern in the "imperfection" category, Janine? It's a good one.
I am hoping that I will overcome my fears but it does nag at the back of my mind a bit
This is a really great post Rachel, thank you for bringing this up and highlighting this. Particularly at a time where it's needed to be discussed more than ever, as people are moving abroad at alarming rates.
So now is the uncomfortable time where I need to explain why I still don't speak Thai after 15 years in Thailand.
* Sigh * ok here we go.
So I need to start this off by saying that I am someone who loves languages, who speaks French as a second language, and was very excited to learn Thai when I first moved here. I've taken all kinds of Thai classes, from online, to apps, to one-on-one private lessons, to group lessons, to even attending a language school for a year. And through that, I've picked up quite a bit of Thai. I can communicate most of my needs. But no, 'm not conversational.
The problem with my approach has been that it hasn't been consistent. I keep planning to leave, and Thai isn't exactly a language that will serve me well in any other country except for here.
And the learning curve, with 66 characters that are so completely foreign compared to English or any other language I have ever seen, combined with five tones for each and every word in the entire language that gives those words five different meanings, as well as vowels that come before and even above the characters but are pronounced after... It's so intense.
Add to that the fact that you get laughed at for even attempting to speak to a Thai person (it's a cultural thing), and the fact that everyone on the very touristy island I live on speaks pretty good English, and it all adds up the result of me having lived here for 15 years and still not being able to hold a proper conversation in the language of the country in which I live.
But I also agree that it's polite, respectful, and more importantly necessary to speak the local language of wherever you live. Which is a big reason why I'm leaving. I realised after some time that one of the reasons I kept stopping my Thai lessons is that it's not a language I really want to learn. Which also showed me that this is not a country I really want to live in. So I think paying attention to your resistance to language learning can actually be very telling about your feelings toward a place.
I'm an immigrant in the Czech Republic. I did actually learn Czech, so perhaps I'm answering a question that's not really intended for me (if so, feel free to ignore what I say). In the Czech Republic (as in many other countries), English is a high status language. A native English speaker, or merely a highly fluent one (such as myself), will get more respect by simply speaking English than by speaking poor Czech. Now, you are better off speaking good Czech than just sticking to English! However, show me any person anywhere who managed to get good at a language without having sucked at it first (heh). So, you go through what I call the B1 valley of death, where you keep having bad experiences, and it's up to you to keep going or just give up. Now in my case, giving up was quite simply out of the question because I'm a proud language nerd (currently learning Spanish, btw - yay me!), and as such, I had my reputation to protect. :-) Imagine: a language nerd who doesn't bother learning the language of the country she lives in. But it was hard on the soul for a while. Life got much better once I was a legit C1, and luckily, I had an extremely nice online teacher to help me through.
I suggest you provide an "Other" option in addition to the five choices in your survey, because in my case my hesitation to use (for example) my little bit of Italian when I'm in Italy is due to my nervousness about the likely awkward transition that will occur when the person I'm speaking with realizes I really know only a few words, and we have to navigate switching to English, asking someone else to help, using Google Translate, etc. I still make the attempt in most cases, but I do hesitate as part of the "what's stopping you?" phase.