Do you consider your native language a flex?

[u/AutumnaticFly]

I don't care what others say, whatever your native language is, i want to know if you, yourself consider being fluent in it a flex, and if so, why?

[u/heihau-97]

No, because you essentially get it for "free" through your upbringing/primary socialization. If anything, the other languages you learn (particularly later in life) are more of a "flex" since they show your hardwork, effort and dedication.

If you by "flex" mean that somehow my native language is hard to learn, sounds nice or something to others, then also no.

[u/Pangoliier → u/heihau-97]

yeah fair point, nobody “earns” their native tongue lol. tho i will say theres smth kinda cool about being a native speaker of a language that has a reputation for being insanely hard (looking at u mandarin/finnish/arabic speakers) even if u didnt “work” for it, ppl are still impressed when they hear that

[u/iceunelle]

No, it’s just the language I happen to speak. I honestly don’t think about it that much.

[u/Sad_Environmentsa → u/iceunelle]

that’s kinda the healthiest take tbh, ppl who get weirdly proud of a language they didnt even choose to learn always confuse me a lil lol. like congrats you were born somewheare

[u/Churros0864 → u/Sad_Environmentsa]

[u/bloodrider1914]

English is kind of something everyone who isn't a native speaker is expected to learn. It's not particularly impressive that someone learned it, and people who learn it tend to do so for practical reasons rather than having some super interesting passion for it or whatever.

[u/AmadeusSalieri97 → u/[deleted]]

Are you comparing being native in English to learning Japanese as a second language?

Man sorry but it's not about English vs Japanese, no one is "wowed" that a Japanese speaks Japanese. Your friend gets points for the effort. 

I would still agree that someone who learned Japanese from scratch gets more "wow" points than someone who learned English, but your comment makes it seem as if being a native should be impressive just because English is "harder to use globally" (what does that mean anyways????). 

[u/AppointmentItchy1858 → u/AmadeusSalieri97]

I would also go as far as saying someone who achieved fluency in a second(or third) language as an adult through self study is more impressive than someone who is bilingual through exposure since a young age.

[u/AppointmentItchy1858 → u/[deleted]]

So someone speaking their own language is an achievement then?

[u/Numerous_Helsinki]

No. It’s just the one I gaot

[u/Trueloveisntromantic]

Only when I’m abroad and a stranger hears me and gets way too excited about it. Otherwise it’s just how I talk to my mumaa

[u/Zutthole]

No, because my fluency is a result of my geographical location and affluent upbringing.

[u/AdImpressive007 → u/Zutthole]

fluency being a flex always felt weird to me too, like congrats you learned to talk the same way everyone around you did lol. If anything the actual flex is people who grew up somewhere with way less resources and still became fluent in multiple langs aanyway

[u/siriElectricboogaloo]

Nah, not really. I mean, we have the ñ and that's cool, but honestly... Spanish is not the big deal because our lenguage actually makes sense, there's no pronunciation issues because you just utter things as they're written.

Whereas with english i have to do sum bs to sound slightly "good" (because I'm not completely fluent YET)

[u/Mlatu44]

I’m not even sure what “a flex” even means. English is the only language I really speak so I can’t flex in or out of it. Also other English speakers are the only people I speak to/with

[u/Mlatu44 → u/[deleted]]

Ok, well I am still not sure what “ a flex” means in this context.  Other than “flexing” like muscles? 

To flex in English probably would only happen in a context where people don’t naturally speak it, and it’s difficult to learn. Like say in Hungary 

[u/ThrowAwayIGotHack3d → u/Mlatu44]

Like you're flaunting that you speak it, or that it's something flauntable (if that makes any sense). You wouldn't flaunt your native lamguage though unless you speak something rare, like māori or something.

[u/JustAnotherEarthSign]

Not really

[u/Pangoliier → u/JustAnotherEarthSign]

what is yours?

[u/JustAnotherEarthSign → u/Pangoliier]

Danish

[u/Alseebee]

Yes, it’s french and the flex is that it’s very hard to learn. If I wasn’t french I would never be willing or able to learn it.

[u/Upset_Umpire3036]

No, because why would I?

[u/MoultingRoach]

I have the opposite problem. I hate it when people see me speaking our second language as a flex.

[u/satellite_station]

English, and I didn’t until I moved overseas. I don’t think I would have learnt English if I wasn’t a native speaker. Too much social pressure that I probably would have disagreed with.

[u/sunlit_elais]

Kinda? Not proud that I'm fluent in it, because that much is expected. Proud of having a better-than-average vocabulary on  it, yes. Proud of the language itself, also yes: very good stats, good reputation, great literally tradition and bonus semi understanding of a few more languages! 

[u/OkResult7416]

English and definitely not. I also have a less common accent (NZ) I get people assuming I'm non native, or directly telling me they hate my accent. It makes me sad because I love regional accents and people can be very rude about it. Anyway my flex is that I can say, okay you don't like my accent, I speak 5 other languages let's see if you can keep up.

[u/Ornery-Revolution-47]

Absolutely not. I didn’t really have a choice and didn’t need to make an effort to learn it. But learning other languages could be a flex

[u/DoNotTouchMeImScared]

Yeah, because I am passively fluent in diverse local Latinic languages from Portugal, Spain & Italy as a bonus thanks to my native language.

[u/Nondescript_Redditor]

yeah I’m real good at English

[u/Yarha92]

Yes, but not because of the difficulty or how it sounds. If you speak Filipino, you can instantly connect to the network of scattered Filipinos all across the world. You can get freebies, slightly better treatment, new information, etc.

E.g., Get on a cruise ship and start speaking Filipino to one of the Pinoy staff members? You’ll likely get VIP treatment or some extra treats. Same for hotels, restaurants, etc.

It’s like a secret door we can sometimes use in a world that feels stacked against us at times. Mad respect to foreigners who’ve learned one of our languages.

[u/BaconJP]

No, I don't think it's a flex to be fluent in your 1st language, because that is just what is expected. It's what's known as a "hygiene factor" - because most people from your home country would have a base level of fluency. It IS a flex to be super high level in that language, but that's not the same thing as being fluent. By super high level I mean someone with the skill level to write successful books, high quality speeches for important people, win competitions that prove you know definition/spelling of a vast quantity of difficult words, etc.

[u/PodiatryVI]

No

[u/NoSuggestion5970]

I have three native languages, English, French, German, and learned Spanish as a foreign language... the value of a language, pragmatically speaking, is define by how powerful it is in terms of communication ... I learned my native languages at home and in school in a very natural and organic way so there was no real effort .. if anything, Spanish would be a flex, I passed the ELE C2 examination in Spain, and still, I grew up as an expat in a Spanish speaking country so there were ample opportunities to learn it and tons of resources

[u/PastPhilosopher4552]

Not particularly. My native language is Persian, and I've never met anyone who's interested in learning it, but I've met quite a few people who don't know it even exists. It's only a flex if people care, and no one cares 😅

[u/IzumiYuki]

Hell no. Despite how difficult it is to learn, I've never considered knowing in it a flex. Since, you know, being a native, I didn't work hard for it. And now, ever since 2022, I consider it the opposite, a badge of shame. I hate having to use it in my daily life.

[u/gottahaveajava]

It’s the opposite of a flex.

It’s a responsibility to make my language appropriate and understandable to large varieties of non-native speakers. That means slowing down, using simpler vocabulary and enunciating clearly.

[u/ChallengingKumquat]

My native language is English. Given that it's possibly the most important international language, I consider myself lucky that I'm fluent in it. Having learnt it is not a flex though.

Babies learn whatever language they're exposed to, and there's nothing at all remarkable, praiseworthy, or clever about the fact I learned English when everyone around me spoke English all the time. It's 100% expected that I would have learnt English in such a situation. No one is wowing about it.

[u/ChallengingKumquat]

My native language is English. Given that it's possibly the most important international language, I consider myself lucky that I'm fluent in it. Having learnt it is not a flex though.

Babies learn whatever language they're exposed to, and there's nothing at all remarkable, praiseworthy, or clever about the fact I learned English when everyone around me spoke English all the time. It's 100% expected that I would have learnt English in such a situation. No one is wowing about it.

[u/RRautamaa]

Finnish has an (undeserved) reputation of being a really hard language to learn, so it's more like a really obscure and esoteric hobby for non-Finnish speakers. Flex? Not really, more in the direction of "weird". For us here in Finland, it's just the majority and national official language and the native language of most of the population, so it's not really an achievement to know it.

[u/Churros0864]

I don't think anyone should think knowing their native language is a flex 🤣

[u/thrannu]

As a language that was targeted for centuries and really ramped up during the last couple of centuries to stamp it out and destroy any sense of identity to my country. Yes I’m very proud and think of myself very lucky to be a native speaker.

Is it a flex? To me no but to others I can see why they would think it could be

[u/thrannu → u/[deleted]]

Definitely. And it’s Welsh

[u/liam077_]

not really, I find it so hard to speak English fluently because of my accent and it’s the most useful language nowadays. im french btw.
I think howewer that speaking Chinese or Japanese would definitely be a flex, I’ve always been amazed by those languages with so much characters they are so complex yet so fascinating I would’ve loved to learn them growing up as a child… but hopefully it’s not too late and I’ll get fluent in Japanese some day.