Eighty Percent

Recently I heard someone say that he was happy if a native speaker understood eighty percent of what he said.

I think that's far too low of a percentage for a goal. What do you think?

I agree with you, and I don't think it's too hard to be understood 100% of the time - I think understanding what the native speaker is saying is the largest difficulty, I don't think it's too hard to express yourself in another language and always be understood.

Um, who are you to judge his goals? How do you know his situation. Why should he have a higher goal? Maybe he doesn't actually care.
Just because it's "not that hard" doesn't mean he should do it. There are a lot of things that "aren't that hard" that aren't worth doing, for various people and for various reasons. It's not that hard to do your grocery calculations in your head, but people can't be bothered and use a calculator. Big deal!

This is a forum. It's for people to discuss things and express opinions. Get a grip.

This was a percentage given by a teacher. That's why it surprised me.
I hope that native speakers understand everything or almost everything I say. I may not be able to understand 100% in a language I'm learning, but I want to speak well enough to be understood by THEM.

I am thinking primarily about people who have no known speech or hearing issues.

<<I may not be able to understand 100% in a language I'm learning, but I want to speak well enough to be understood by THEM.
>>


Duh. Because YOU aren't the one who said "I would be happy if people understood 80% of what I say".