❗Warning before you read❗
In today’s post, I outline how long it takes to learn a language. The amount of time required is, potentially, more than you had in mind. This may discourage you.
If you are anything like my mother (she’s learning French) and prefer not to know how long it takes to reach fluency, please stop reading now.
Check out the following two graphics
Graphic #1: This is my best attempt at creating a guideline for how many hours it takes adults, on average, to learn a language. I’ve used two data sources to make the chart. The first one is FSI data on how long it takes their adult learners to reach an ILR Speaking-3/Reading-3. The second is a relatively short paper that explores factors which influence how quickly one learns another language.
Aside from those two sources, I also took the following into account:
My 16+ years experience learning multiple languages
My experience of having taught hundreds, if not thousands, of people
Anecdotal evidence based on language learners I’ve observed or interacted with over the past 16+ years who I didn’t necessarily teach directly
I recognize that individual results may vary based on factors such as, but not limited to:
The similarity of your target language (i.e. the language you’re learning) to another language you already know
The methods and/or resources you use to learn
The learning environment
My intent was to create an approximate guideline that gives you an approximate idea of how long it takes to reach different levels of proficiency.
And now let’s look at the second graphic
Graphic #2: I have converted the number of hours in Graphic 1 into months and years. That way, you can compare how much self-study you do per day with approximately how long it will take you to progress between levels. I’ve rounded the numbers in the graphic so that everything ends in either a .0 or .5.
Some of you will find this knowledge helpful to know…and some of you won’t.
In my case, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Here’s why: I currently spend about 30 minutes a day learning Mandarin. I have a low-B2 level and want to reach at least a C1. Therefore, at my rate I am likely 5+ years away from my goal. Eek.
I’m glad that I got the reality check, even though it hurt my feelings.
I’ve now increased how much time I spend learning Mandarin a day to 60 minutes instead of 30. That should allow me to reach my goal of having an advanced Mandarin level in 3-ish more years.
For those of you who have made it to the end of this article: how are you feeling?
I’m curious. Send me a message and let me know.
Having started from absolute z 25 ero, not ever studying any Spanish at all, I have now been studying for two years. So I am aware of how long it takes. And add to my situation the advanced age of 73 years. I don’t know exactly what level I’m at now, but I think an A2.
I plan to keep plugging on. I’ll get to as high-level as I can and however many years I have left on this earth.
Every so often I get discouraged. And that happened to me in medical school as well. You just have to work through it. Getting frustrated or immobilized just delays your learning even more. So you just keep plugging on day by day. Some days are good. Some days are horrible. But overall, the learning curve is on the way up. But you have the blip along the way and can’t let them discourage you
This article is brilliant and I agree with your stats. Thank you for being so very generous with your knowledge; always.