To explain it a bit more, if you spend 3 hours every day learning Spanish, you'll achieve fluency in around six months. On the other hand, if you reduce your Spanish time to one hour a day, it will take about 1.5 years to learn, according to FSI.
Based on US Foreign Service Institute (FSI) research, if you start out as a beginner and spend an average of one hour per day working actively on Spanish—such as with a teacher or conversation partner, as well as doing homework—then it can take 480 hours to reach conversational fluency.
You really can speak fluently in just a couple of years if you work hard and apply a few straightforward principles. As a language learner who's also a language teacher, I can confidently say that they work. They helped me learn faster and not lose sight of my goal — moving to Colombia and becoming fluent in two years.
If you're starting from scratch, you could reach this level of fluency in 1 year by studying for 2 – 3 hours per day. If you're already at an intermediate level, you could get there in about 6 months. If this sounds intense, don't worry – this doesn't mean hours of “school-like” studying from grammar books.
How Much Time And Energy Are You Willing To Spend Learning Spanish? The Foreign Service Institute—the people who train U.S. diplomats and foreign affairs officials—estimate that it will take 600-750 class hours for most native English speakers to learn Spanish.
Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.
Good for Practice, Not Always for Learning
Even with some of the well-developed courses, Duolingo may not be enough to completely teach a language to fluency. As mentioned earlier, Duolingo is great for getting a base in a language—but don't expect to get to advanced fluency on Duolingo alone.
Many people believe that you lose the ability to learn new languages as you get older. Language experts, however, will tell you that you're never too old to learn a new language.
It is possible to learn Spanish in 3 months, but it is true that to fully master the language to a native level, you will need more time. An intensive Spanish course covering all levels (from A1 to C2) consists of 62 weeks (about 15 months in total).
No matter how old you are, you're never too old to learn a new language. However, because your brain's ability to adapt and change decreases over time, you'll probably have to practice more.
Can You Learn a Language with Duolingo? Yes, I think you can learn a language with Duolingo, however, as I mentioned before, you can't ONLY use Duolingo to learn a language. It can get you part of the way there, but you won't be able to completely learn a language to fluency with just Duolingo.
If you can multi-task and communicate effectively in Spanish at the same time, it's a pretty good indication that you're Spanish-speaking skills are on point! Imagine sitting at your computer writing something up in English while listening to Coldplay in the background AND having a snack at the same time.
No matter what your mother tongue is, Spanish is generally one of the easiest languages to learn, as it shares some unexpected similarities with many languages. Of course, Spanish still has challenges that may be different for speakers of different languages. Nevertheless, learning Spanish is worth the effort!
The table below shows the results of the speed analysis. Per the results, Japanese is the fastest spoken language from the 17 languages that they studied. Spanish is in second place with around 8-9 syllables spoken per second, whereas, English is in eight place with around 6-7 syllables spoken per second.
After using the Duolingo app and thoroughly testing this program out, our team's consensus is that Duolingo isn't great for learning Spanish. Duolingo has some serious limitations, and we see it more as an e-learning tool or supplement than a comprehensive program if you want to truly learn Spanish.
Duolingo can help you develop a foundation of knowledge for a variety of languages, but it's limited in what it teaches and how much it challenges you. Depending on your goals and prior experience, you'll likely want to strengthen your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.
It takes between 90 and 100 hours to reach a basic level of Spanish that allows you to use and understand common everyday expressions and basic phrases. At this point, you can introduce yourself and talk about some personal details about where you live, your friends and family, etc.
Summary: According to FSI, if you spend 3 hours per day learning Spanish, you'll achieve fluency in around six months. Reduce your Spanish time to one hour a day and, according to FSI, it will take about 1.5 years to learn. As you can see, Spanish is one of the most accessible languages for English speakers.
But research shows that learning a second language offers proven benefits for intelligence, memory, and concentration, plus lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer's. So what if you are over 40 and want to learn a second language? The good news is, it can be done.
Are you ever too old to learn a new language? Well, the good news is that experts say you are never too old. Studies show that anyone at any age can learn a new language. In fact, it is even easier to start speaking in a foreign language now with all the advanced technology available on the market.
Late bilingualism – refers to bilingualism when the second language is learned after the age of 6 or 7; especially when it is learned in adolescence or adulthood. Late bilingualism is a consecutive bilingualism which occurs after the acquisition of the first language (after the childhood language development period).
According to Doyle, bilingual children should hit the same speech milestones as children who only speak one language. You should notice if your child is cooing, babbling or making gestures by the time he or she reaches the 12-month mark. Between 9 -15 months, your child should begin to speak.
Duolingo doesn't release completion rates for its courses, but a report last year said American users ranked 68th out of all countries in the number of lessons completed. A separate informal study put the overall completion rate for Spanish at less than 0.01 percent.
At Duolingo, we're developing our courses to get you to a level called B2, at which you can get a job in the language you're studying. Reaching that kind of proficiency requires dedication, varied practice opportunities, and a lot of time.