If you’re anything like me, when you decide to learn a new skill, you’ll want to know what to expect in terms of progress. With language learning, knowing when to expect a certain level of proficiency or fluency can really help to motivate you.
In my line of work as a freelance writer and translator and previously as a language teacher, I’m often asked how long does it take to learn Spanish? Or how long does it take to become fluent in Spanish?
The quick answer (and one that’s a bit of a cop-out) is: it depends!
To give you a better answer, this article will discuss what you can expect from your Spanish learning journey, including how much time it takes to learn Spanish and what the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) says about this.
How long does it take to learn Spanish as a native English speaker?
According to the FSI, you need 24 to 30Â weeks (600-750 class hours) to achieve general professional proficiency, which is a good degree of fluency, in Spanish. We’ll look at this more later but the time taken to learn Spanish as a native English speaker depends on a number of things, like your dedication and motivation, your natural ability to learn languages, how intense your study is, and your chosen learning methods.
What the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) says
The Foreign Service Institute is responsible for training US diplomats in languages. The FSI has produced categories of languages based on how easy or difficult they are for English speakers to learn. There are four categories:
Group 1: The easiest languages for English speakers to learn. Examples include French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.
Group 2: These are still relatively easy for English speakers to learn but more challenging than Group 1 languages. They include Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, and German.
Group 3: These languages have significant differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Examples include Vietnamese, Turkish, Hindi, and Russian.
Group 4: These are the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn as they have significant differences in tone or script. They include Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic.
Since Spanish is among the Group 1 languages, this means it is one of the easiest for English speakers to learn. Hoorah!
The FSI estimates you can get to a level of general professional proficiency after around 600 hours of study.
That said, the FSI’s estimate will be based on studies in an intensive classroom with a good teacher. It doesn’t take into account other factors like immersion experiences or self-study that could slow down or accelerate your learning.
As I used to tell my students, the more effort you put into studying and practising what you’ve learned, the quicker you’ll progress.
How long does it take to become fluent in Spanish?
Before we can answer this question, we need to clearly understand what we mean by fluency. Each learner will have a different idea of what they class as being fluent.
Typically, though, we define fluency as having the ability to communicate well in a range of contexts using a wide variety of grammar structures and vocabulary, and with high accuracy and ease.
Here are some general signs that you’re fluent in the language:
1. You’re able to participate in and understand conversations with native speakers on a broad range of subjects without struggling to express yourself or understand responses.
2. You’re able to read authentic Spanish-language resources like websites, newspapers, and books without having to look up lots of words.
3. You can write clearly and accurately in a range of formats like emails, essays, and reports.
4. You speak Spanish with accurate stress patterns and intonation and an accent that sounds natural (I’d like to add here, though, that one of the most fluent professors I knew at university had a very English accent when he spoke Spanish, but he never failed to be understood and had perfect accuracy otherwise).
5. You’re able to use a broad range of vocabulary and grammatical structures and your written work and speech don’t have lots of errors.
CEFR levels
If you want more of an idea of how to gauge fluency, CEFR levels are useful.
CEFR stands for the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and is a standardised system that measures language proficiency throughout Europe. Language proficiency is described in six levels, from A1 (beginner) to C2 (advanced).
Here is a quick overview of the different levels in relation to Spanish:
A1 (Beginner) – The learner has a basic understanding of Spanish and is aware of common phrases. They will need speech to be slower for understanding.
A2 (Elementary) – The language learner can understand and use daily expressions and routine questions, and can communicate easily on these topics.
B1 (Intermediate) – The learner can communicate easily and form sentences with good structure. They will be better at communicating their views and opinions in Spanish.
B2 (Upper-Intermediate) – At this level, the learner will use clear sentence structures and communicate with more spontaneity and fluency, including with native Spanish speakers.
C1 (Advanced) – At this level, the learner is much more fluent and can use Spanish for both academic and professional purposes. They have no difficulty in speaking, reading, or writing.
C2 (Proficient) – The learner can use Spanish with no restrictions or problems.
Despite all of these descriptions, fluency is not absolute – for anyone. Just think about how many mistakes native English speakers make in their own language in terms of grammar errors or pronunciation errors.
Like us, native Spanish speakers have different proficiency levels depending on their background, language exposure, and education.
Most important of all is to continue to practise and improve your skills so that you’re able to communicate well will other people and reap the benefits of having a second (or third) language.
Is Spanish hard to learn?
Though we’ve explained the FSI categories, whether or not an individual finds Spanish easy to learn will depend on several factors. This includes their dedication and motivation for learning and how familiar there are with pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
Someone living close to or within a Spanish-speaking community in the United States, for example, might have a basic general exposure which means they pick things up a lot quicker initially.
Here are the reasons why Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn:
1. The vocabulary
English and Spanish share a number of cognates (words that are the same or similar between the language).
For example: occasion and occasion, memory and memoria, and ideal and ideal. This makes language acquisition much easier, especially when you learn the patterns like how words ending in -ary in English (e.g., vocabulary) will end in -ario in Spanish (e.g., vocabulario).
2. The grammar
Though Spanish does have some complex grammar like the subjunctive mood, their grammar system is much more straightforward than many other languages.
Still, if you want to bolster your studies, this list of great books for improving your Spanish grammar can help.
3. The pronunciation
Spanish is a phonetic language, which means its pronunciation is much more regular. This makes it easier to remember how to pronounce words and easier to learn new ones.
4. Resource availability
Given how many people speak Spanish around the world, there are so many resources available to help you learn. There are Spanish learning apps, online courses, exchange programs, textbooks, and videos galore. There are lots of native-speaking Spanish tutors throughout the world too.
Of course, a language is only easy to learn if you actually put the effort in. You need to be an active learner when studying any language. With a positive attitude and consistent practice, most people find they’re able to make good progress.
How long does it take to learn Spanish?
Many factors influence the time it takes someone to learn Spanish, including:
Previous experience learning a second language
When I learnt Spanish, I’d already been learning French for four years. This meant that there were a lot of language skills and terminology that I’d already acquired. As such, I progressed more quickly in the initial stages of learning Spanish than I did when I first started learning French.
Dedication and motivation
Never underestimate just how important dedication and motivation are for progress. One of the weakest students (on paper) that I ever taught was so motivated to learn Spanish that she came out with the top grade (A*) despite her target grade being an E.
Language exposure
The more exposure you have to Spanish, the quicker you’ll pick things up. The more you can immerse yourself in a Spanish-speaking environment, whether that’s by travelling or seeking out native speakers living in your city, you’ll learn more quickly than someone who only does their Spanish learning in a classroom or studying at home.
Effort and time
Learning a language requires both effort and time. The more of these you invest, the quicker you’ll learn. Being consistent with practise and study will also help progression.
Overall, everyone’s learning experience will be unique, but being mindful of how you can influence your progression can help you.
How many hours a week to learn Spanish?
The number of language learning hours required per week will depend on your available time, resources, goals, and current proficiency level.
Language experts generally recommend you spend between five and six hours a week actively studying and practising if you want to make steady progress. This doesn’t mean six hours in a classroom. Rather, it should include a combination of self-study, language immersion, and classroom instruction, for example.
Those who are studying in a class will have pre-determined hours in their course. A beginner’s course might include 2 to 3 hours a week and this might all be in one evening, for instance. It’s important to dedicate extra time outside of these hours to review and practise what you have learned.
Those who are studying on their own generally have more flexibility (though the other challenge here is that they aren’t accountable to anyone). When you are learning Spanish on your own, it’s recommended to set aside a specific time every week to study and practise.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, the more effort and time you put into learning Spanish, the more you’ll progress. There are lots of ways you can make things easier for yourself, including working on your Spanish vocabulary and using Spanish speaking apps. ¡Buena suerte!