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I know how to read, write and speak Arabic, yet I don't understand it. I tried to look for a word that describes my predicament, yet I can't find one. Since many share this issue I am convinced there is one. Thus my question: does such a word even exist? If yes, what word is it?

I know the phonetics. For example: if you were to give me an Arabic text I would read it out loud correctly, but I would have no clue as to what it is I am saying.

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    I have exactly the same problem with all the languages I know, and as far as I know there is no word for such a person except linguist. We linguists tend to figure out the syntax fast because we have some idea what to expect, and knowing phonetics means a good accent (eventually, with lots of practice). But I tend to speak like a textbook instead of idiomatically. My colleague Jerry Sadock, who spent his entire career studying Eskimo (he majored in it in college in Denmark!), tells me that he can understand it pretty well for about half an hour, and then he has to lie down for a while.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 18:51
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    Many people struggle to master even their own native language and if you come up with a word you will be faced with the further predicament of using it to describe a rather large number of the global population. I describe my own competence in two particular languages as 'schoolboy French' and 'schoolboy Latin'.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 19:37
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    Hello namesake! I thought it was impossible for a person to read, write and speak a language but not understand it... Do you mean that when others speak Arabic you can't understand what they are saying, or that you know the basics of the language but do not understand its details? Or do you mean something else? Please edit your question to clarify this point.
    – English Student
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 19:56
  • Do you not understand some spoken Arabic because [there are many variations / colloquialisms which make it hard to understand the others with different variations?] (slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_gist/2002/04/…). If this is the case, consider this thesis, which touces on that problem (in reading novels/ texts), it uses the idiom lot in translation
    – JJJ
    Commented Mar 18, 2018 at 3:55
  • So do you mean you can pronounce it correctly from the written word and can readily copy something in writing that you have read or remembered the pronunciation of but with no understanding?
    – George White
    Commented May 4, 2021 at 5:36

4 Answers 4

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One way of describing language competence which is not very competent is 'schoolboy French' or whatever.

David Cameron, who has notoriously poor schoolboy French, is urging today's youngsters to abandon the language of Molière and Voltaire to concentrate on the tongue of the future – Mandarin.

The Guardian

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    That's usually reserved for people with some exposure to the language but with little fluency in any of the four language skills. The OP is suggesting he has some level of fluency in all but listening.
    – KarlG
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 19:45
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    Well that needs clarifying as @English Student has pointed out in comment.
    – Nigel J
    Commented Mar 17, 2018 at 20:32
  • i just edited the question based on the comments. no clue whether that is the correct way.
    – english student
    Commented Mar 18, 2018 at 20:50
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I don't know if this is related to medical terms; but if you're looking for it, then:

Wernicke's aphasia, also known as receptive aphasia, sensory aphasia or posterior aphasia, is a type of aphasia in which individuals have difficulty understanding written and spoken language.

Patients with Wernicke's aphasia demonstrate fluent speech, which is characterized by typical speech rate, intact syntactic abilities, and effortless speech output.

Aphasia itself is an inability to comprehend or formulate language.

Source: Receptive Aphasia

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I speak, read, and write Arabic parrot-fashion

OED:

parrot-fashion B. adv.

Without thought or understanding, mechanically; by rote; = parrot-like adv.

1948 A. Paton Cry, Beloved Country ii. ii. 138 He had heard them reciting, parrot-fashion,..things that could mean little to them.

1977 ‘F. Clifford’ Ten Minutes on June Morning 111
Reassurances..were passed on, parrot-fashion, without knowledge or understanding.

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If you have studied classical Arabic, yet cannot understand that language in spoken form, then you lack the skill aural comprehension. This is rather unusual, since as one of the passive skills, it's usually one of the first skills acquired. There is no word for this other than "someone who needs practice listening" if the skill is desired.

If, however, you can understand spoken classical Arabic, but would be utterly clueless if someone dropped you in Morocco or Bahrain because the local dialect diverges so much from what you can understand, then you could be termed monodialectical in Arabic.

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    The ability to follow along with a liturgical language such as Hebrew, Arabic, or Latin without understanding what you're actually saying is incredibly common.
    – Stu W
    Commented Mar 18, 2018 at 1:26
  • Language without understanding is behavior or perhaps music, but it is speech only in a mechanical sense. Those who "follow along" are hardly likely to have any fluency in the other three language skills as the OP claims.
    – KarlG
    Commented Mar 18, 2018 at 14:36

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