Spanish is a glorious language, with a long-standing history of culture and traditions, it’s a language that anyone would want to learn…… Quickly!
How long does it REALLY take to learn Spanish?
3 months? A year? Several years?
This, of course, is extremely difficult to calculate as everyone learns at a different pace and some use more effective methods than others.
So, let’s see what the US Foreign Service Language institute says: On average, it takes about 480 hours for an ‘English speaker’
Let’s do the maths- You have to study everyday for 1.3 hours for an entire year to be proficient in Spanish.
Of course, if you study 3 hours per day then it will take only 6 months. Or if you study less, then it may take even longer than a year.
Fluency:
But before we delve deeper into this topic, let us understand what fluency really means.
Luca Sadurny describes learning a language is akin to learning to drive a car. He says, “While learning to drive a car, you need to think step by step about what you need to do to keep going (hitting the brakes, changing gears…). You move slowly, make several pauses and feel quite uncertain. But after some training and practice, you end up being more confident and driving in a more automated way.
If you think about it, reaching fluency in a language is quite similar. Your first steps are uncertain and you speak slowly because you need to think about the words you want to use or how to combine them in sentences.”
There’s no concrete definition for being fluent, so let’s just think of it like this- when you start speaking like a native.
This will obviously take more time as not only you have to focus on the vocabulary and pronunciation, you also have to speak like a local and if you have never been to a spanish speaking country, then that’s going to be a little bit more difficult. But still possible nonetheless!
What's the fastest method to learn Spanish?
Nowadays, there are a lot of apps, videos, and online courses claiming to teach you Spanish in a week or a day or even in just a few hours!
My advice? Definitely stay away from them. It is really not possible to learn a new language in a matter of a day, so if you just take these lessons, you are going to end up being disappointed as you are not learning fast enough and you are probably not going to pick up Spanish again.
So, here’s a few things that you should keep in mind-
- What’s your motivation? Why do you want to learn Spanish? Is it because you want to pursue a career using this language? Or are you learning it for just fun?
- Set your aspirations and plan accordingly. Don’t set unrealistic goals.
- Decide how much time you are going to set aside for learning Spanish and follow accordingly. Just a suggestion: as a beginner spend an average of 1 hour per day and you should be able to reach conversational fluency within 8 – 12 months.
- The method: Try different sources of learning, such as apps, online courses, reading material. You can even play games such as flashcards or watch a Spanish movie to have some fun as well learn. You can also listen to Spanish podcasts.
- Find an online language exchange partner.
- Try to incorporate Spanish as much as possible in your daily life. Read Spanish, speak Spanish and even think in Spanish!
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
- Get a personal tutor.
- Be consistent.
- And the most important part: Have fun!
In the end, I would like to say: If you want to climb a mountain, and don’t think you can make it to the top, then chances are you won’t.
So have a positive attitude and just enjoy yourself in this immersive learning process. Sometimes the right attitude can make all the difference.
And how long does it take to become fluent?
It all depends on you!
