Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-usage>
Title: Can I say "I speak Chinese as well as Spanish"?
Question: I speak Chinese  as well as  Spanish.   I want to say that my Chinese and Spanish are equally strong. So please help me out with this. I think it's weird to say speak "as well as". I don't know if there are other better expressions.

Answers:
sents: text: I speak Chinese as well as Spanish is "ambiguous", in that it could mean either of...
text: 1:
text: I speak Chinese and also I speak Spanish 2: I speak Chinese as competently as
text: I speak
text: Spanish Context will normally make it obvious which sense is intended.
text: #1 above is probably more likely , but you can easily force the sense of #2 using something like just as well as, for example.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/126/FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica
score: 41
sents: text: To announce that you speak both languages, you can simply say: ' I speak Chinese and Spanish '.
text: But to announce that you speak them equally well, the construction alters to: ' I speak Chinese and Spanish equally well '.
text: To native English speakers, the latter is still ambiguous, but for a different reason.
text: It can mean 'I speak them both well', certainly; but it can also mean 'I speak them both, equally badly'.
text: The fact that a person has equal ability in each language tells us nothing about his level of competence, only that it is equal in each case.
text: An unambiguous construction is ' I speak Chinese and Spanish fluently '.
text: Avoidance of the comparative term equally is a way of avoiding a comparison between the two: by substituting an absolute term, fluently , in place of a comparative term.
text: In English, comparatives are a common cause of ambiguity.
text: This is especially true of written English, where there are no verbal clues of stress and intonation to clarify what the intended meaning is.
text: For example, "I speak Chinese as well as I speak Spanish" can be interpreted as meaning "I speak Chinese about as well as I speak Spanish", because the phrase 'as well as' can mean 'as (in)competently as'.
text: It does not solely mean also , it can mean at what level of competence ; and in point of fact it is just as ambiguous as equally .
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/38234/Ed999
score: 10
sents: text: What you're saying now technically does communicate what you want to say, but you should say: I speak Chinese as well as I speak Spanish.
text: or, I speak Chinese and Spanish well.
text: What you're trying to say now can - and probably will - be interpreted as: I speak Chinese and Spanish.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/41196/Steve
score: 4
sents: text: "I speak Chinese as well as Spanish.
text: " Is a perfectly acceptable construction.
text: You could even add "I speak Chinese as well as Spanish fluently" or any other adjective besides 'fluently' really.
text: You could even say "I speak Chinese and Spanish" without the 'as well as'.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/18879/Zessa
score: 1
sents: text: Your original suggests more that you speak them both than that you speak them equally well (though it's ambiguous).
text: With the right timing/emphasis/tone on "as well as" would help to convey the intended meaning (to convey it via something more like "as well-as Spanish" rather than "as well ... as Spanish").
text: However, I'd say it this way:
text: "I speak Chinese
text: as well as I do Spanish" (which is true for me, since I speak only a few words of either
text: -- I speak them both extremely poorly)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/13965/Glen_b
score: 1
sents: text: How about next phrase.
text: My Chinese and Spanish are at the same level.
text: My Chinese is at the same level as my Spanish.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/41032/Takahiro Waki
score: 1
sents: text: As a native English speaker, I understand you if you were to say "I speak Chinese as well as Spanish."
text: Personally, it is easier and more natural to say "I speak both Chinese and Spanish." to demonstrate competence in the languages, or "I am fluent in both Chinese and Spanish." to demonstrate mastery of them.
text: Generally, shorter sentances are better, and "As well as" is longer than "Both".
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/41257/MadisonCooper
score: 0
sents: text: I think it's good to use "as good as",
text: So you could say:
text: I speak Chinese as good as Spanish.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/87858/U10-Forward
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
It may be easier and more natural to say "I speak both Chinese and Spanish." to demonstrate competence in the languages, or "I am fluent in both Chinese and Spanish." to demonstrate mastery of them.   However, to express that you speak them equally well, the you may say:  'I speak Chinese and Spanish equally well'.  
The original sentence makes sense but is ambiguous. In order to show that you speak both languages equally well, use "I speak Chinese and Spanish equally well". "I speak/I am fluent in both Chinese and Spanish" or "I speak both Chinese and Spanish fluently" also sounds natural, as well as "I speak Chinese as well as I speak Spanish". "I speak Chinese and Spanish" works, too. Another way of saying it is "My Chinese and Spanish are at the same level" or "My Chinese is at the same level as my Spanish". The sentence "I speak Chinese as good as Spanish" is another good alternative.