I work with a guy who was born and raised in Taiwan. To his detriment, he speaks perfect English.

His English is so good that most people think that he was born in the US. Unfortunately, he has a very limited vocabulary. So, he doesn’t understand a lot of conversations. If people had realized that his English was limited, they might have talked differently to him.

But, because he speaks perfect English, they assume he is fluent in the language.  As is, he picks up on a few key words and then asks what they mean. From there, he guesses as to what the conversation is about.  I just hope that he doesn’t miss something critical.