How long do you think it would take you to learn a new language?

[mareebaybay]

I think it would take me about one year to learn a whole language. Although some people learn at different paces, I have never met someone who was exceptionally quick at learning languages. How long do you think it would take you to learn a new language?

[thekernel]

It depends how much you want to learn. If you are gunning for fluency, it would take a lot of learning and immersion, which I think would take longer than a year.

Language difficulty is also another variable. I find Spanish exceptionally easy to absorb, while languages like Cantonese or Russian are fundamentally challenging.

[Guest isabbbela]

Depends on how fast you can learn, what language it is and how much effort you put into it. Each language has a level of difficulty. So for me , who speak native Portuguese for example, Latin languages like Italian or French are easier to learn. But take Mandarin, that would take me forever and a day!

[Baburra]

If it were a language completely unrelated to my own, I'd give myself about a year just to be realistic, but if it were somehow related, I could probably pick it up in half that time. Still, it would take years to become fluent at any language, I think, and to be able to use it as naturally as your native language. This is probably especially true if you aren't forced to use it on a daily basis.

[Rosa]

I believe that the time it takes to learn a new language depends on your ability and or how much you really want to learn. If you have an interest or a great need to learn a language it could happen in a very short time, maybe a year or two. For others doing it as a hobby or those that are slow learners it could take several years.

[healthandfitness]

Some languages are harder to learn than others, but conversationally speaking, there are universal words that will assist with communication. On the other hand, when it comes to being fluent, I feel that with regular study and practice, I will be able to speak another language in about 9-12 months.

[SpringBreeze]

It depends on how much fluency you are talking about. It would take me many years to be perfectly fluent and native sounding. But i think it would take me only one year, with total immersion, to be able to speak fluently in a non-perfect way.

I did a study abroad in Italy for a summer. By the end I was surprised how good I got and how quickly it happened. It took me years to learn what I did that summer in the States.

[Canadien]

Learning a language is highly variable and dependent upon both (a) the person; and ( the language.

First of all, the amount of concentration, time, and effort you put into your self study of the language will determine how quickly you learn to grasp it. The age old saying "you only get out of it what you put into it" really applies in language learning. If you watch a foreign film once a week and occasionally browse through a foreign language newspaper, you'll never become fluent. But if you create a daily routine for yourself which combines reading, practice, memorization, and some conversing (if possible), you are able to learn within a year or so.

The language you plan to learn also plays a role in the time it takes to become fluent in it. If you're learning french, which uses the same alphabet as English (with some differences), you don't have to worry about learning new letters and the majority of the pronunciations are very similar. Whereas if you're aiming to learn Russian, you've got an entirely different set of letters and symbols with the cryllic alphabet. For English speakers (or speakers using that alphabet), learning Russian and many of the Asian languages is extremely daunting. It all depends on your willingness to learn and the difficulty of the language.

[trenchant]

Personally speaking, I'm a rather slow learner, so it would take me at minimum two years to really become comfortable with a language - maybe even three.

That's assuming I attempt learning the language in my current setting, though. If I were to try moving elsewhere and fully submersing myself in that language, I'd likely learn much faster.

[Gelsemium]

I think that to pick up a new language it can take between one and two years if you're studying a couple of hours per day. If you are doing more hours that time can be cut half maybe, but it's a lot of work.

[AmYy]

You can never learn a whole language, even your native language. So the answer to your question depends on how much you actually want to learn. If it's just basic, it would take you a couple of months. Also it depends on which method are you using for learning. If you're surrounded by native speakers, you will make a better progress in a shorter period of time. If you want to get more advanced, maybe it takes around a year or more.

[eyedea1]

It depends on how well you intend to learn it. As you are probably reffering to a moderate level of knowledge, I would say at least 2 years. The only way to do it faster is obviously by living in a place where that language is frequently spoken of by people around you.

[1inamillion]

I think it would take me about one year to learn a whole language. Although some people learn at different paces, I have never met someone who was exceptionally quick at learning languages. How long do you think it would take you to learn a new language?

How long does it take for me to learn a new language? I would say it depends. Most language teacher will tell you that what you put in is what you get out of language studies. Companies that sell language products or software may claim that their method of material will guarantee fluency in a certain period of time. Language experts tends to skeptical of claims that a certain method will guarantee fluency in a short period of time. The fact is that language learning is a complex process that involve communication, grammar, structure, comprehension and language production along with reading, writing, speaking and listening, just a few of simpler aspects of language learning.     

[Lasonax]

Very much depends on what your goal is (see my thread "When do you consider yourself to be "done"?"), how fast of a learner you are, how close the language is to other languages you already know... and so on.

I spent three years studying German, and I still didn't really reach some kind of fluency even though I were pretty good at it. But, that was in a school class. Meaning I had to adapt my learning speed to the rest of the class, and to be honest: my classmates were terrible.

I'm currently studying Japanese on my own, in my own speed, and I think it will take me ATLEAST 3 years before I can read and listen to some basic things. In 4-6 years, I might be able to listen and read somewhat fluently, but i would not be surprised if it took up to 10 years before I became fluent in reading and hearing. It really depends on how much time I will have in the future. At the moment my studying speed is VERY slow, but I expect it to go up in the future, when I am done with the grammar book I am currently reading. I'd rather expect too little from myself, in that it would take a lot of time, than think that it would go quickly. Because if I think it will take a lot of time, I'll just be happy if it took less time. Thinking that I "will probably make it in a year" would more or less put pressure on myself that I "have to" make it in a year. Something that I would not be able to do, for sure. Months fly by so quickly, and even if I'm sure I will have gone a very long way in a whole year, reaching fluency, or even semi-fluency in a year: is out of the question.

[hoodoowytch]

I think it would depend on the language. Since I would not actually be learning to speak it because I can't actually hear the way most letter sounds are made, then it might come easier learning to read and write a language.

I have picked up bits of various languages over the years...particularly Mexican Spanish and French because they are written on just about everything you buy anymore. (I say Mexican Spanish because there IS differences in the language in Mexico and Spain.)

I can read a little bit of Hebrew, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Gaelic and some others. A dictionary that gives translation and pronunciations of the words of ANY language is definitely a must too.

[skywatcher]

I think it depends on how much you're willing to learn and how much energy (time and resources) you're willing to give to that endeavor. A year might be enough to learn the basics, but for me it'd take much more than that, HAHA. Not because I'm aiming for fluency and perfect grammar, but because I'm not always that dedicated to learn a language I want to learn.

Not because I'm lazy, but because I also have other things to do aside from this. Not only that, but I have limited resources regarding the languages I want to learn - I sometimes mostly rely on movies and series and books to learn a language, and those things are hard to find where I live.

So I guess it also depends on the circumstances involved.

[g2narat]

I see that everyone basically answered it depends. I don't blame them. There's a lot of factors to consider when learning languages.  :wacky: But if you want a rough estimate, Personally, the fastest I ever learned a language was two months. I didn't have a choice though as I stayed in the country and I was exposed to the language daily.

[Gelsemium]

Two months is a really short period of time g2narat, but it's like you say, you were in the country, so it was your life on the line. In that way is much faster, but if we are doing it without urgency it takes way longer.

[trenchant]

I see that everyone basically answered it depends. I don't blame them. There's a lot of factors to consider when learning languages.  :wacky: But if you want a rough estimate, Personally, the fastest I ever learned a language was two months. I didn't have a choice though as I stayed in the country and I was exposed to the language daily.

Wow, two months is really impressive.

If you don't mind me asking, what language was it? Did you already have prior exposure to the language, or was this a completely 'fresh' two months where you started from nothing and then learned it all? How fluent would you say you were by the end of those two months?

... Sorry for all the questions, heh. But I'm genuinely curious.

[Peninha]

I am in Portugal and I've met two Moldavian guys here that also learned the language super fast, I can't precise how long it took them, but they need to know it in order to get paid...