How long does it take to learn a language?
An English speaker needs 552 to 2,200 class hours to learn a new language well enough to use at work.
An English speaker needs 24 to 88 weeks of full-time study, or 552 to 2,200 class hours, to speak and understand a new language well enough to use at work. That's the estimate from the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which trains American diplomats. Spanish, French and Italian are at the low end. Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are at the high end.
At 1 hour a day, 552 hours takes about 1.5 years and 2,200 hours takes 6 years.
What is the FSI language chart?
FSI sorts languages into four categories by how long its students usually take to learn them. Its students are US government employees who study full time. A typical FSI week is 23 hours in class and 17 hours of self-study.
The hours are for level 3 in speaking and listening on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale. The ILR scale calls this level "general professional proficiency." At level 3, you can take part in most formal and informal conversations about everyday, social and work topics.
How long does each language take?
| Category | Weeks | Class hours | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 24–30 | 552–690 | Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish (24 weeks). French, Spanish (30 weeks). |
| II | about 36 | 828 | German, Haitian Creole, Indonesian, Malay, Swahili |
| III | about 44 | 1,012 | Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese and 31 more |
| IV | 88 | about 2,200 | Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean |
FSI calls Category I languages "close to English." It calls Category III "hard languages" because they have big language or culture differences from English. Category IV languages are "super-hard," which FSI says are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers.
The full Category III list is Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Czech, Dari, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Kazakh, Khmer, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Mongolian, Nepali, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian, Tajiki, Thai, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek and Vietnamese. FSI says the list isn't complete.
A typical FSI week has 23 class hours. For Norwegian, 24 weeks × 23 hours = 552 hours.
How long will it take at 30 minutes to 3 hours a day?
Divide the class hours by the hours you study each day. For Norwegian at 1 hour a day, 552 hours ÷ 1 hour = 552 days, or 79 weeks.
Category I: Spanish, French, Italian and others (552–690 hours)
| Hours a day | Weeks | Time to reach 552–690 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 158–197 | 3–3.8 years |
| 1 hour | 79–99 | 1.5–1.9 years |
| 2 hours | 39–49 | 9–11 months |
| 3 hours | 26–33 | 6–8 months |
Category II: German, Indonesian, Swahili and others (828 hours)
| Hours a day | Weeks | Time to reach 828 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 237 | 4.5 years |
| 1 hour | 118 | 2.3 years |
| 2 hours | 59 | 1.1 years |
| 3 hours | 39 | 9 months |
Category III: Russian, Hindi, Polish and others (1,012 hours)
| Hours a day | Weeks | Time to reach 1,012 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 289 | 5.5 years |
| 1 hour | 145 | 2.8 years |
| 2 hours | 72 | 1.4 years |
| 3 hours | 48 | 11 months |
Category IV: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean (2,200 hours)
| Hours a day | Weeks | Time to reach 2,200 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 629 | 12.1 years |
| 1 hour | 314 | 6 years |
| 2 hours | 157 | 3 years |
| 3 hours | 105 | 2 years |
To get a date for your own schedule, enter your hours a day and days a week in the 10,000 hours calculator. It shows when you'll reach 100 and 1,000 hours. 1,000 hours is close to the 1,012 hours for a Category III language.
Do the FSI hours include homework?
No. The numbers count class time only. FSI students also do 17 hours of self-study a week, so a typical week is 40 hours in total.
| Category | Weeks | Class hours | Class + self-study hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 24–30 | 552–690 | 960–1,200 |
| II | 36 | 828 | 1,440 |
| III | 44 | 1,012 | 1,760 |
| IV | 88 | 2,200 | 3,520 |
The last column is weeks × 40 hours. For Norwegian, 24 weeks × 40 hours = 960 hours. So if you study alone with no class, use the last column as your estimate.
Will it take you longer than an FSI student?
It can. FSI says the real time depends on your natural ability, your past experience learning languages and how much time you spend in class. FSI students study full time with teachers who are native or near-native speakers. If you study with an app and a textbook, use the class + self-study hours.
You may not need level 3. It's the level for doing your job in the language. For travel or casual talk with friends, you need less, but FSI doesn't publish hours for lower levels. Set a first goal you can reach in a few months, such as 100 hours, and check how well you can speak when you get there.
What you do in practice matters more than the total hours. The 10,000-hour rule post covers the research.
How do you track your language study hours?
Time each study session and keep a running total. Then you can compare your total with the FSI number for your language.
- Find your language in the chart, for example Spanish at 690 class hours.
- Pick a daily pace from the tables, for example 1 hour a day, which is 7 hours a week.
- Start a timer when you sit down to study and stop it when you take a break.
- Once a month, enter your total in the calculator to see when you'll reach your next milestone.
In timespent, create a Timed Activity called "Spanish" and give it a weekly goal of 7 hours. Start the timer on your iPhone or Mac each time you study. timespent adds up your time for each week and for all time, so you always know how far you are from 690 hours.
Common questions
What is the easiest language for English speakers to learn?
The FSI Category I languages. Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian and Swedish take 24 weeks (552 class hours). French and Spanish take 30 weeks (690 class hours).
What is the hardest language for English speakers to learn?
The FSI Category IV languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean. Each takes 88 weeks, or 2,200 class hours.
How long does it take to learn a language at 1 hour a day?
About 1.5 to 1.9 years for Spanish, French or another Category I language. German takes 2.3 years, Russian 2.8 years, and Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Korean 6 years.
Can you learn a language in 3 months?
Not well enough to use at work. At 3 hours a day, 3 months gives you about 273 hours (3 × 91 days). That's half of the 552 hours FSI lists for the easiest languages.
How many hours a day should you study a language?
FSI students study 40 hours a week: 23 in class and 17 on their own. If you have a job, 1 to 2 hours a day is a realistic pace. At 2 hours a day, you reach the 552 to 690 class hours for a Category I language in 9 to 11 months.