Judging by the amount of adverts on the internet promising to teach a language quickly and the many conversations we have had with colleagues and students – a question a lot of people want an answer to is ‘how long does it really take to learn a language?’ and equally a lot of people seem to be in something of a rush and are hoping that number is fairly low.
As people who have taught languages to a lot of people, and who have learned a few between us to various levels, we promised to ourselves when we started writing this article that we would at the end provide a clear number of hours, a direct answer to that question ‘how long does it take to learn a language?’; partly in response to the annoyance that comes from hearing the entirely truthful but frustratingly vague answer that teachers, including ourselves, frequently give which is: ‘it depends’.
However, it is also true in fact that it does depend, and it depends on a lot of things. So first here are a few of those things it depends on. It depends on how closely related the language is to one you already speak (it is easier for an English speaker to learn French than Vietnamese, although both are entirely possible), it depends on whether you have learnt any other second language to a reasonably high level before (this seems to make things slightly easier), it depends a little on age (although perhaps much less than people assume, there are certainly successful language learners in their 70s and 80s). Most of all though it depends on what one means ‘by learning a language’ and this is where things get complicated.
Frequently a synonym for ‘knowing’ or ‘learning’ a language that we use in every day conversation is ‘speaking’ a language as in the question ‘do you speak French?’ However, this question poses quite a challenge because it may be that speaking a language at any level is at the higher end of competence and understanding. One may know quite a lot of a language before one can actually speak it in even quite simple everyday situations.
One conventional way of understanding language learning is to break it into four skills and doing so illustrates the complexities of speaking. These four skills are reading, writing, listening and speaking: two of which: reading and listening involve comprehension but not expression; to use a clumsy word these are more passive, although in fact your brain is actively doing a lot while listening or reading. Another two involve the original production of language: writing and speaking; and could, again clumsily, be described as more active. And lastly two of which, speaking and listening, involve processing at speed, without time to consult a dictionary, for example. As this illustrates, only one of these involves active production and processing at speed and this is speaking. It is therefore for most of us the hardest skill, especially when speaking is thought of as conversing, of which rapid listening is also part. Hence it is possible to know quite a lot of a language, and to have spent a long-time learning, before one is able to confidently speak, which is a fairly common and frustrating experience for language learners.
Another thing that learning a language depends upon is the domain you plan to use it in. The Common Framework for European languages, which rather confusingly has C at its highest level defines the highest level of language skill (C2) as being able to understand high level professional and academic conversations and texts. It is probably in many ways a good way to understand language levels. However, it is also easy to problematise. Anyone arriving as an international student in a new country with their C2 certificate and walking into the rapid, colloquial, possibly dialect influenced, conversations in a local café or bar will have felt that sense of frustration that their formally awarded high level language is not giving them what they need to just make friends and be part of everyday conversations.
Similarly, it is possible to be highly skilled in one specialist or familiar domain. A friend of ours is a passionate bird-watcher and knows French in this field with fluency beyond that of most French first language speakers. As long as conversations remain in this domain he can converse with fellow ornithologists with confidence. However, he often confesses to feeling lost in other conversations. Similarly, the type of language, the most common phrases and vocabulary, we use when working work in a bar, or a hospital, or with children (or many other possible scenarios) will all have important differences. We might learn to feel confident in one domain that playsa big part in our lives but not in others.
However, as teachers we have found that for most of us learning a language has three possible goals and two possible levels. The first is wanting to be being able to use the language with relaxed confidence to achieve simple tasks such as order a coffee or book a hotel room perhaps with a small amount of coffee related small talk included. The second, higher goal, is to be able to have a fluent and pleasant conversation about the kind of topics we can talk comfortably about in our first language be that football or art or politics, perhaps supported by reading the types of websites or magazines or even novels we read in our first language. The third, not necessarily higher but more domain focused goal, we have found, is people who are learning a language for a specific academic or professional purpose.
And at this point we return to the promise we made at the start of this short article, when we promised numbers. So how long does each of these levels take in a related language, for most people, and please note the emphasis on most people, there will always be exceptions. Reflecting on ourselves, on our classes and on our students; to order a coffee and to feel relaxed about answering the related questions that might come up: do you want milk? Nice weather? Do you mind if I serve this customer first? Probably takes about 100 hours of learning, a vocabulary of 500 words but not all of which we actively use; some we understand when listening but rarely if ever say.
After 100 hours you will still almost certainly make mistakes with grammar; mistakes with understandable but odd choices of words ‘a glass of coffee’; with word order and omission ‘can I have a tea cup’, when you mean a ‘cup of tea’. However, after 100 hours of study a coffee-based conversation may well be possible. Acknowledging though that depending on the café this may be more tricky than it sounds. Ordering a coffee can be a conversation in a queue, in a noisy environment and perhaps with a barista who might well prefer if we just drop into our first language to speed things a long and thus can actually be more stressful than a more complicated conversation in a friend’s living room.
To converse in a relaxed and confident way across a range of topics in a free-flowing conversation takes perhaps 1000 hours of learning and a vocabulary of 6000 or more words; which is also about the amount of learning it takes to be able to read a novel – albeit slowly and the need of some translation; or to function in a specific professional context, while also feeling a bit lost outside this domain.
We really do not know whether this amount sounds like a little or a lot, although it is certainly more than many advertisements for language-learning apps suggest, and we are fairly confident that this is true regardless of which app you choose to use. These goals are certainly achievable, but they represent impressive accomplishments. By overstating how easily learning a language can be achieved, some online advertisements end up understating just how remarkable these achievements are.
Many people though have succeeded in reaching these goals, so do persevere and also be kind to others who are striving to do the same. The person in a café who asks, “I would like a tea cup, please?” in a second, third, or fourth language may have made a minor mistake, but they have also achieved something truly impressive.
However, it is also true in fact that it does depend, and it depends on a lot of things. So first here are a few of those things it depends on. It depends on how closely related the language is to one you already speak (it is easier for an English speaker to learn French than Vietnamese, although both are entirely possible), it depends on whether you have learnt any other second language to a reasonably high level before (this seems to make things slightly easier), it depends a little on age (although perhaps much less than people assume, there are certainly successful language learners in their 70s and 80s). Most of all though it depends on what one means ‘by learning a language’ and this is where things get complicated.
Frequently a synonym for ‘knowing’ or ‘learning’ a language that we use in every day conversation is ‘speaking’ a language as in the question ‘do you speak French?’ However, this question poses quite a challenge because it may be that speaking a language at any level is at the higher end of competence and understanding. One may know quite a lot of a language before one can actually speak it in even quite simple everyday situations.
One conventional way of understanding language learning is to break it into four skills and doing so illustrates the complexities of speaking. These four skills are reading, writing, listening and speaking: two of which: reading and listening involve comprehension but not expression; to use a clumsy word these are more passive, although in fact your brain is actively doing a lot while listening or reading. Another two involve the original production of language: writing and speaking; and could, again clumsily, be described as more active. And lastly two of which, speaking and listening, involve processing at speed, without time to consult a dictionary, for example. As this illustrates, only one of these involves active production and processing at speed and this is speaking. It is therefore for most of us the hardest skill, especially when speaking is thought of as conversing, of which rapid listening is also part. Hence it is possible to know quite a lot of a language, and to have spent a long-time learning, before one is able to confidently speak, which is a fairly common and frustrating experience for language learners.
Another thing that learning a language depends upon is the domain you plan to use it in. The Common Framework for European languages, which rather confusingly has C at its highest level defines the highest level of language skill (C2) as being able to understand high level professional and academic conversations and texts. It is probably in many ways a good way to understand language levels. However, it is also easy to problematise. Anyone arriving as an international student in a new country with their C2 certificate and walking into the rapid, colloquial, possibly dialect influenced, conversations in a local café or bar will have felt that sense of frustration that their formally awarded high level language is not giving them what they need to just make friends and be part of everyday conversations.
Similarly, it is possible to be highly skilled in one specialist or familiar domain. A friend of ours is a passionate bird-watcher and knows French in this field with fluency beyond that of most French first language speakers. As long as conversations remain in this domain he can converse with fellow ornithologists with confidence. However, he often confesses to feeling lost in other conversations. Similarly, the type of language, the most common phrases and vocabulary, we use when working work in a bar, or a hospital, or with children (or many other possible scenarios) will all have important differences. We might learn to feel confident in one domain that playsa big part in our lives but not in others.
However, as teachers we have found that for most of us learning a language has three possible goals and two possible levels. The first is wanting to be being able to use the language with relaxed confidence to achieve simple tasks such as order a coffee or book a hotel room perhaps with a small amount of coffee related small talk included. The second, higher goal, is to be able to have a fluent and pleasant conversation about the kind of topics we can talk comfortably about in our first language be that football or art or politics, perhaps supported by reading the types of websites or magazines or even novels we read in our first language. The third, not necessarily higher but more domain focused goal, we have found, is people who are learning a language for a specific academic or professional purpose.
And at this point we return to the promise we made at the start of this short article, when we promised numbers. So how long does each of these levels take in a related language, for most people, and please note the emphasis on most people, there will always be exceptions. Reflecting on ourselves, on our classes and on our students; to order a coffee and to feel relaxed about answering the related questions that might come up: do you want milk? Nice weather? Do you mind if I serve this customer first? Probably takes about 100 hours of learning, a vocabulary of 500 words but not all of which we actively use; some we understand when listening but rarely if ever say.
After 100 hours you will still almost certainly make mistakes with grammar; mistakes with understandable but odd choices of words ‘a glass of coffee’; with word order and omission ‘can I have a tea cup’, when you mean a ‘cup of tea’. However, after 100 hours of study a coffee-based conversation may well be possible. Acknowledging though that depending on the café this may be more tricky than it sounds. Ordering a coffee can be a conversation in a queue, in a noisy environment and perhaps with a barista who might well prefer if we just drop into our first language to speed things a long and thus can actually be more stressful than a more complicated conversation in a friend’s living room.
To converse in a relaxed and confident way across a range of topics in a free-flowing conversation takes perhaps 1000 hours of learning and a vocabulary of 6000 or more words; which is also about the amount of learning it takes to be able to read a novel – albeit slowly and the need of some translation; or to function in a specific professional context, while also feeling a bit lost outside this domain.
We really do not know whether this amount sounds like a little or a lot, although it is certainly more than many advertisements for language-learning apps suggest, and we are fairly confident that this is true regardless of which app you choose to use. These goals are certainly achievable, but they represent impressive accomplishments. By overstating how easily learning a language can be achieved, some online advertisements end up understating just how remarkable these achievements are.
Many people though have succeeded in reaching these goals, so do persevere and also be kind to others who are striving to do the same. The person in a café who asks, “I would like a tea cup, please?” in a second, third, or fourth language may have made a minor mistake, but they have also achieved something truly impressive.
Dr James Underwood is Assistant Professor and Academic Director for Coaching and English Language Assessment at the University of Cambridge's Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). After twenty years in state secondary schools as a teacher of English, history, sociology, and the humanities — and then in leadership roles — he completed his PhD at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. His doctoral research explored how knowledge is shared and how learning occurs within communities that foster positive and supportive environments. He subsequently spent ten years as Principal Lecturer in Education at the University of Northampton, leading innovative degree programmes for teachers, teaching assistants, mentors, coaches, and other professionals. Now at Cambridge's PACE, his research spans practitioner knowledge communities, coaching and mentoring in education, student voice, children's rights, and adult self-directed learning. Recent publications cover environmental education, dance education, the use of coaching in schools, and children's stress coping mechanisms.
