Ok, so I find it ridiculous that I got "The Casual Spanish Speaker" on a quiz called "The Spanish Test" that I took on this site.

Even though I scored 100% on it, it is the test creator's belief that that means I am not a native speaker (I'm guessing, because I know too many academic and/or rarely used words...).

Let's get things straight- I teach Spanish. I've studied abroad in two Spanish speaking countries and have been to 8. I have been speaking it since I was put into bilingual education classes at the age of 5. Most native speakers think I am also a native speaker. Why, then, would I only get "Casual Spanish Speaker" as a result?

My thoughts are that this test creator probably believes that being a "native speaker" does not = knowing academic vocabulary and language use... which, in a way, demeans those native speakers that ARE educated.

So, yes, ok- I'm bitter about the results of this test. But more so, I'm frustrated that the results (and the test in and of itself) negatively stereotypes Spanish speakers in general.

Grr.