What's new

Question Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge to me.

Oh, it sounds right.
OK. Thanks, Buntaro.
One of the parts I was not confident with was "to me". Does "a challenge for me" sound off?
Another is "in English". Can you also say "fluent at English"?

When I write English, I'm always at a loss which word to use, whether to put an article or not, and so on...
 
(1) Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge to me.
(2) Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge for me.

(2) is more grammatically correct, but (1) could be commonly heard in spoken American English (英会話). This is a perfect example of conversational English being different than "correct English."

---

I would say "fluent at English" is a mistake. "Fluent in English" is correct.

---

When I write English, I'm always at a loss which word to use, whether to put an article or not, and so on...

頑張って!匙なげるな!
 
Did you find this sentence somewhere, or did you create it?

Grammatically, the sentence is fine if you change "to" to "for", but the meaning is a little ambiguous. Usually, the words "is a big challenge for me" are used in a context to describe a challenge someone is already facing or regularly faces, not to describe a challenge that someone has not yet begun to face. So I would expect this precise sentence to be used only in a very specific context.

I think that maybe this is not a good model sentence to be introducing to your students.
 
Hirashin,

Correct examples:

"Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge for me."
(The year has begun. It has not ended yet.)

"Becoming fluent in English in a year is going to be a big challenge for me."*
(The year has not begun yet.)

"Becoming fluent in English in a year has been a big challenge for me."
(Two possible meanings.
A. The year has begun. It has not ended yet. (same as the first example)
B. The year is ending right now.)

"Becoming fluent in English in a year was a big challenge for me."
(The year has already ended. The student was successful in becoming fluent in English in a year.)

---

* "Going to" is more common in spoken American English, but "becoming fluent in English in a year will be a big challenge for me." is also correct. (In spoken American English "gonna" is more common than "going to".)
 
Last edited:
Oh, it sounds right.
OK. Thanks, Buntaro.
One of the parts I was not confident with was "to me". Does "a challenge for me" sound off?
Another is "in English". Can you also say "fluent at English"?

When I write English, I'm always at a loss which word to use, whether to put an article or not, and so on...

I have heard many people say "He is fluent in speaking in English".
 
Thanks for the useful information, joadbres, Buntaro and musicisgood.
Musicisgood, are you Japanese?

Joadbres, what do you think of Buntaro's sentence "Becoming fluent in English in a year is going to be a big challenge for me"? Would it be good for my students?

How about the one without "for me", that is, "Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge"? I suppose it would sound right because it is a general statement.

I have heard many people say "He is fluent in speaking in English".
Oh, really? I didn't know you can say "He is fluent in speaking in...". Thank you for the information.
 
Last edited:
Joadbres, what do you think of Buntaro's sentence "Becoming fluent in English in a year is going to be a big challenge for me"? Would it be good for my students?

The sentence is OK, but is not so worthwhile for teaching English, I think. Why, exactly, do you want to use a sentence like this?

How about the one without "for me", that is, "Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge"? I suppose it would sound right because it is a general statement.

It's OK. "... is quite a challenge" and "... is a significant challenge" are slightly more natural, I think, but "... is a big challenge" is simpler for your students, so feel free to use it. I prefer this sentence to the one above ("... is going to be a big challenge for me").
 
Hirashin,

The examples I like are:

He's fluent in English. (ok)
He speaks English fluently. (best two of the four)
He can speak English fluently (best two of the four)
His English is fluent. (least of the four)

But this depends on the situation. If a person asks, "Which languages is he fluent in?" it would be perfectly acceptable to answer, "He's (only) fluent in English."
 
OK. You don't say "He is fluent in speaking in English".
How about "He is fluent in talking in English"? I think you can say "talk in English".

The examples I like are:

He's fluent in English. (ok)
He speaks English fluently. (best two of the four)
He can speak English fluently (best two of the four)
His English is fluent. (least of the four)
I think you can also say:
He speaks fluent English.
He can speak fluent English.

What do you think?

The sentence is OK, but is not so worthwhile for teaching English, I think. Why, exactly, do you want to use a sentence like this?

I just wanted to create some example sentences using "a challenge".
How about these?
(1) This project was quite a challenge for me.
(2) Landing in such a stormy weather was quite a challenge.
(3) Poverty is a significant challenge we face here in this country today.
 
How about "He is fluent in talking in English"?

No.

He speaks fluent English.
He can speak fluent English.

These are grammatically correct. But I would not say them.

(1) This project was quite a challenge for me.
(2) Landing in such a stormy weather was quite a challenge.
(3) Poverty is a significant challenge we face here in this country today.

These are correct. But for (2) I think it is better to say, "Landing in such stormy weather was quite a challenge" or "Landing in such a bad storm was quite a challenge" (The word "weather" is uncountable.)
 
I agree. Either
He is fluent in speaking English
or just
He is fluent in English
are natural speech imo.

I did mention that I have heard " He is fluent in speaking in English" many times. I heard it mostly while living in Southern California.
 
I would agree with Mdchachi and Buntaro. You just don't say "fluent in speaking in ......" You could say "fluent in (English)" or "speaks (English) fluently" basically. In some cases you would say "a fluent (English) speaker", but I have never, ever heard "fluent in speaking in .....". "Speak" is a transitive verb. There is no need for a preposition.
 
I have heard "He is fluent in speaking in English" many times.

If these words were, in fact, spoken around you, they were undoubtedly spoken by a non-native speaker like you, who is NOT fluent in English. A native English speaker would not use this phrase.

If you think you heard it from a native speaker, then you undoubtedly misheard it.
 
(1) Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge to me.
(2) Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge for me

I know you have already had a discussion on this but I wanted to offer my 2 cents on your original question.

I think there's a small difference between these 2 sentences that change the meaning slightly.

(1) 'to me' implies that you think that the challenge of beginning fluent in a year would be difficult in general.
(2) 'for me' implies that if you were to undergo the challenge of becoming fluent in English it would be difficult for you personally.
 
This one is a hard one. but i do enjoy it.

Both are correct depending on the direction on sharing your opinion or making a statement and how others hear it.

My example:
For me; is sharing your opinion or directing someone
To me; is making a statement.

I would go with "To me" Than "For me."
or you can change how you say it.\

Example...
"For me "Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge.""
you are directing the person with your words
"Becoming fluent in English in a year is a big challenge to me."
your making a statement.

I will say, NOT every native English speaker, ..."speak English good."
Oops, i mean ..."speak English well." (correct)

hope it help. lol
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom