How Long Does It Take to Learn Each Language?
How long does it take to learn a language? It’s one of the first questions that comes to mind when you’re starting—or even thinking about starting—a new language.
The answer, as you might expect, varies widely depending on the language you choose, your experience, situation, goals, and your learning approach.
Table of Contents
🍵 Common Misconceptions About Language Learning
Before we get started, it's important to clear up a few common misconceptions.
🏔️ Are Some Languages More Difficult to Learn than Others?
Not inherently. People, regardless of where they grow up, learn their mother tongue as children. In this sense, Japanese is no more difficult than English. The writing systems of Chinese and Japanese require years of study for Chinese and Japanese schoolchildren, but so does learning to write English at school.
Learning a second language is different. Adults and teenagers will use their first language as a point of reference to learn another language, and the similarity between these two therefore becomes an important factor in determining the time it takes to learn.
Similarities in grammar and vocabulary will enable you to learn a language faster than if you spent the same amount of time on a language for which there were fewer similarities, but this doesn't necessarily mean one is more difficult than the other.
🌊 There's Always More of a Language to Learn
The phrasing of the question 'how long does it take to learn each language?' implies that learning a language is something we 'complete', like filling out all the pages of a photo album.
This isn't the case. And that's a good thing. One of the joys of learning a language is that there's always more to learn.
That being said, it's true that the question 'how long does it take to learn each language?' can be given some sort of answer when we consider how long it would take to reach the same (broad) level in each language.
For the purposes of this article, I'll consider how long it would take to reach proficiency in each language. Definitions can vary, but it's widely accepted that proficiency refers to learning a language to the level - or very close to the level - of someone who speaks it as their first language.
If you like to follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), it would equate to somewhere in C1 and C2.
CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) :
Divided into six levels (A1 to C2), this scale emphasizes practical communication skills in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. CEFR is especially popular in Europe and offers clear milestones, like being able to "introduce oneself" at A1 or "participate in complex discussions" at C1.
For learners aiming to boost their career or travel opportunities, this framework provides a structured path. If you're curious about how to integrate such goals into your routine, visit this guide on staying consistent with language learning.
🌳 How Long Does It Take to Learn a Language?
It's far easier to assess how long languages should take to learn in relation to one another. For example, someone who speaks English as their mother tongue will likely find it takes them less time to reach fluency in French or Norwegian than it does in German. Just as they'll be able to reach fluency in German faster than they can in Persian or Russian.
This extrapolation could continue, with Japanese generally thought to take the longest to learn. Again, this doesn't necessarily mean Japanese is more difficult, but that it has fewer similarities with English than the other languages mentioned.
It’s possible to learn any language to fluency in six months, but how realistic this is depends on various factors, both with regard to the learner and the language they’re learning.
Aside from all the countless other small factors that contribute to the process, the time it takes to learn a language will in large part come down to the amount of time you have for active study, as well as the similarity between English and the language you're learning.
📚 Assessing the Relative Time It Takes to Learn Each Language
The USA's Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides a framework for estimating how much time it takes English speakers to achieve proficiency in different languages.
The FSI even state the number of weeks and hours they think would be required to reach proficiency in each language, but I don't think this is helpful. What's useful is to compare the relative time it takes to learn each language.
In other words, the FSI observed how long it usually takes them to train people in each language, and have thus been able to put forward a framework estimating how much longer one language takes to learn in comparison with another language.
🌿 Understanding the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Language Categories
When figuring out how long it might take you to learn a language, the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) categories offer a detailed guideline.
These categories rank languages based on their difficulty for native English speakers, helping you create realistic expectations for your language-learning journey.
🏛️ What Are the FSI Language Categories?
The FSI once grouped languages into five categories, but judging from their webpage at the time of writing, it appears they now group languages into four categories. These categories are based on how difficult they are for English speakers to learn.
But as I mentioned above, a more accurate way of thinking of this is not in terms of difficulty, but rather differences between a given language and English.
🔑 The four categories of the FSI are essentially based on how different each language is from English. **The less similarities, the longer they will usually take to learn.
Category I (24-30 weeks or 552-690 class hours): These are the 'easiest' languages for English speakers. They include languages like Dutch, Spanish, French, and Italian, which share similarities with English in grammar, vocabulary, or cultural context. If you're wondering just how straightforward learning Italian can be, this guide breaks it down.
Category II (36 weeks or 828 class hours): These languages have a bit less in common with English but still relatively familiar. For example, you'll find German here, thanks to its shared linguistic history with English. Other languages in this (small) group, like Indonesian and Swahili, might seem a bit trickier than German. They have less in common with English but have some features that make them feel more familiar than other languages.
Category III (44 weeks or 1,012 class hours): This is a step up. Russian, Hindi, Turkish, Thai, and Vietnamese fall under this category. They often have different scripts, complex grammar, or pronunciation challenges that slow the pace of learning in comparison with learning languages that have more in common with English.
Category IV (88 weeks or 2200 class hours): These are the languages that have the least in common with English, and therefore take the longest to learn. Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean are all in this category. The significant differences these languages have from English - ranging from writing systems and tones to unfamiliar grammar - ensure these require dedication over a longer period of time than languages with similar features to English.
As mentioned above, these categorisations shouldn't be taken too literally. They can be interesting and provide a useful sense of the relative times it will take to learn each language, but the numbers and weeks stated for each category are nigh on pointless.
🔑 How long it takes you to learn a language will be a journey that's unique to your own situation, experience, approach, and goals.
As you spend time learning different languages, you may find that you don't agree with the relative categorisations of the FSI for some languages. For example, you may find Vietnamese more challenging than Korean, despite the fact Vietnamese is listed in Category III and Korean is in Category IV.
So it's worth remembering to trust your own personal experience with the languages you learn. Your journey learning languages is unique to you.
🧭 How Learning Estimates Are Calculated by the FSI
Proficiency Standards: The FSI frames its timelines around learners being able to handle daily work conversations and read newspapers or official documents comfortably. This aligns with high intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency.
Intensive Learning Approach: FSI courses are no joke. They’re full-time, immersive, and highly focused. Their own website states that 'a typical week is 23 hours per week in class and 17 hours of self-study'. In other words, these estimates assume a rigorous, distraction-free environment that most self-learners wouldn't be able to replicate.
Consistent Evaluation: To determine how long each language takes to learn effectively, the FSI uses real-world data from its training programs with U.S. diplomats. They refine timelines over years of practice, making their estimates reliable at least as relative timeframes.
It's helpful to remember that these timelines are designed for professional training environments. If you're learning on your own or casually, your progress might look a bit different.
But don't let that discourage you—there are plenty of ways to accelerate your learning and keep it manageable.
If you're interested in getting the most out of the learning process, I'd recommend the following advice on learning multiple languages and this article on making language learning your New Year's Resolution.
🧘 Category I Languages: The Easiest for English Speakers
Moped parked outside old house in Assisi, Perugia, Italy
(Photo by Danijel Škabić on Unsplash)
If you're an English speaker looking to pick up a second language, good news: some languages are significantly easier for you to learn than others.
These Category I languages, as classified by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), share enough similarities with English to make the learning curve much gentler.
🧉 Languages Included in Category I
Category I languages are those that require approximately 24-30 weeks (or 552-690 class hours) of study to achieve 'Professional Working Proficiency'. For context, that's about 6-7 months of consistent study—much less than more complex languages like Mandarin Chinese or Arabic.
Here’s a list of the most common Category I languages, along with what makes each unique:
Spanish: Its phonetic pronunciation and consistent spelling make it a popular choice. Plus, the abundance of Spanish-language media means you’ll find plenty of ways to immerse yourself.
French: While its pronunciation can be tricky at first, the vast number of English-French cognates (words with a common origin) make vocabulary an easier hurdle.
Italian: Known for its musical rhythm, Italian follows predictable rules for pronunciation. Like Spanish and French, it also shares a lot of common vocabulary with English.
Portuguese: As with Spanish, French, and Italian, Portuguese shares a lot of common vocabulary with English. For example, 'university' is universidade in Portuguese, universidad in Spanish, université in French, and università in Italian.
Dutch: Like English, Dutch is part of the Germanic language family, and thus shares structural similarities with English. Although pronunciation differs between the two languages, they share a lot of cognates.
While these are the most popular, other languages like Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish also fall under this category.
🚅 Why These Languages Are Easier
You might be wondering, what exactly makes these languages simpler for English speakers? It all boils down to familiarity. Picture yourself trying out a new recipe; it’s easier when the ingredients and methods are already somewhat familiar. Let’s take a closer look:
Shared Linguistic Roots: Many Category I languages derive from Latin or Germanic language families, just like English. This shared history means they often feature similar sentence structures and terms.
Cognates Abound: Cognates are words that look or sound similar across languages because of their common origin. For instance, in French you’ll find words like important (important) or hôtel (hotel).
Familiar Alphabets: All Category I languages use the Latin alphabet, so there’s no need to learn entirely new characters. It’s a small advantage that removes one of the challenges when learning less familiar languages with different writing systems.
These factors create a smoother entry point, making it easier to build momentum early in your learning journey.
⛵️ Category II Languages: Less Similar, But Still Familiar
Dresden, Germany
(Photo by Anna Schroeder on Unsplash)
Category II languages, as defined by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), are those that take more effort to learn than Category I languages but are still quite accessible.
These languages typically require around 36 weeks (or 828 class hours) of study to achieve 'Professional Working Proficiency'.
They present additional grammatical or structural challenges but remain approachable for English speakers with consistent practice.
Achieving fluency in these 'moderately easy' languages is possible through commitment and effective strategies.
Understanding their unique traits can help you navigate the learning process with confidence and progress steadily towards your goals.
☕️ Languages Included in Category II
German: The most well-known language in this category, German has a grammar system that includes gendered nouns and case declensions. Although its rules may seem intimidating at first, most learners appreciate its logical structure once they become familiar with it.
Indonesian: An Austronesian language that is surprisingly straightforward due to its phonetic pronunciation and uncomplicated grammar. Although Indonesian has some loanwords from Dutch and English, its vocabulary is mostly unfamiliar, and will therefore require more time to learn than languages that share plenty of cognates with English.
Swahili: One of the most widely spoken languages in Africa, Swahili is relatively quicker language to learn for English speakers because it is not a tonal language and has phonetic pronunciation. Like Indonesian, there are not many familiar words.
Taman Nasional Bromo Tengger Semeru, East Java, Indonesia
(Photo by Fajruddin Mudzakkir on Unsplash)
🎆 Why Category II Languages Are Still Quite Familiar
Logical Grammar: Languages like German often have consistent and predictable grammar rules, which can simplify things once you're familiar with the system.
Phonetic Pronunciation: Languages like Swahili and Indonesian follow phonetic pronunciation (words are pronounced how you would expect them to be based on the sounds of the alphabet) - making reading and speaking highly intuitive.
🛶 Category III Languages
Category III languages represent the broadest category in the FSI framework.
It's often this category that causes most disagreement, as it contains an array of languages from around the world that have their own unique features.
Condensing this variety into one (approximate) timeframe is unhelpful in and of itself, but it's nevertheless a simple enough indication that these languages have sufficient differences from English to make them 'harder' to learn.
In other words, whether you think Georgian would take longer to learn than Nepali or vice versa, these languages will usually take longer to learn than Spanish, Portuguese, German, Indonesian, and Swahili.
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) estimates approximately 44 weeks (or 1,012 class hours) to achieve 'Professional Working Proficiency' for these languages.
Some are tonal languages, others have relatively unfamiliar grammar, and many of them have their own unique writing system. It therefore takes more time to familiarise yourself with these significant differences.
Trinity Gergeti Church, Kazbegi, Georgia
(Photo by Iman Gozal on Unsplash)
🪷 Languages Included in Category III
Vietnamese: With (at least) six tones in the standard northern dialect, one of the biggest challenges when learning Vietnamese is pronunciation. Although its romanised alphabet can seem confusing at first, it actually helps with learning the language. English speakers also tend to find Vietnamese grammar to be less complicated than those of Category I and Category II languages like Italian and German.
Khmer: Unlike many languages in Southeast Asia, Khmer is not a tonal language. However, it has its own unique script, and this can make it feel quite challenging to learn for English speakers. If you're interested in learning Khmer, you can find more information and resources for learning Khmer in our Get to Know area.
Lao: Lao highlights why some people disagree with the FSI's (broad) categorisations. It is both a tonal language and has its own unique script, thus making it even less familiar than Khmer. Yet the FSI timeframes put them under the same category. If you're interested in learning Lao, you can find more information and resources for learning Lao in our Get to Know area.
Thai: Thai is a tonal language that also has its own unique script.
Hindi: Hindi also has its own script, known as devanagari.
Russian: Not only does Russian have its own alphabet based on the Cyrillic script, but its grammar is also considered challenging for English speakers.
There are many more languages in Category III, including Albanian, Kurdish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Finnish, Turkish, and Burmese.
🌊 Tips for Learning Category III Languages
The scenery of southern Laos
(Photo by Joule Benjarat on Unsplash)
Tackling a slightly tougher language requires strategy and consistency. Here are some useful tips to keep you on track:
Dedicate Time as Consistently as Possible: Whether it's a daily 30-minute session or an hour-long burst on weekends, try to keep a routine.
Immerse Through Media: Watch shows, listen to music, or follow podcasts in your target language to get used to its rhythm and tone.
Learn Grammar in Context: Rather than memorizing grammar rules in isolation, try practicing them through real sentences or dialogues.
If you're considering learning more than one language, check out this advice on how to learn multiple languages and sustain motivation.
🏊 Category IV Languages: Significant Challenges
Fujiyoshida, Japan
(Photo by David Edelstein on Unsplash)
Category IV languages are a fascinating yet demanding hurdle for learners. These languages require approximately 88 weeks (or 2200 class hours) of dedicated effort, according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI).
What makes these languages so formidable to English speakers? It's a mix of unfamiliar writing systems, tones, and grammar that sets them apart.
But don’t let that intimidate you—any language is learnable with the right mindset and strategies. Many learners find these challenges to be deeply rewarding, offering not just the ability to communicate but also to learn about countries and regions with rich cultural histories.
⛩️ Languages Included in Category IV
Mandarin Chinese: The most spoken language in the world might also be the hardest for English speakers. Its tonal nature (where one word can have different meanings based on pitch) and unique writing system (Chinese characters) make it a challenge. Fortunately, English speakers usually find Chinese grammar to be less challenging than the grammar of languages like Italian, German, and Russian.
Arabic: Widely spoken across the Middle East and North Africa, Arabic combines a unique script with regional dialects that vary significantly. However, there is a standard form of Arabic used in the media across the Arabic-speaking world - known as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Arabic grammar is considered to be unfamiliar for English speakers.
Japanese: Japanese is infamous for its three writing systems—hiragana, katakana, and kanji - the latter being based on Chinese characters. Add honorific speech levels and vocabulary that changes depending on who you're speaking to, and you've got one of the most intricate languages out there.
Korean: The Hangul script is logical, but Korean grammar features complex honorifics and verb endings to indicate levels of politeness, which add an extra layer for learners to grapple with.
Cantonese: Like Mandarin, Cantonese uses tones—six to nine, depending on who you ask. The added challenge of fewer resources compared to Mandarin makes it a niche but rewarding pursuit.
These languages push you far outside the comfort zone of English. But, while the steep learning curves might feel daunting, they're also what make learning them so special. The sense of achievement you feel when learning these languages is so great exactly because of all the time and effort they require to learn in comparison with other languages that have more similarities with English.
🏅 Strategies for Learning
Tackling a Category IV language requires even more persistence than learning languages that are less unfamiliar to English speakers.
But the right strategies can make it not only manageable, but also enjoyable.
Here are a few proven methods to help you along the way:
Start with the Basics: Don’t try to do everything at once. Break it into mini-goals.
Immerse Yourself: Exposure is key. Watching movies or shows in your target language helps you to start recognising sound patterns and common phrases.
Break the Script Barrier: Start by dedicating time to mastering the script or becoming more familiar with characters before diving into other aspects of active study. For example, learning Hangul for Korean can be done in a matter of hours to a matter of days, giving you a strong foundation for learning the language. In the case of Mandarin, focus on frequently used characters to build your confidence during the early stages of learning the language.
Make Tones Your Friend: If you're learning a tonal language like Mandarin or Cantonese, prioritize tone practice from day one. This also applies to learning any language; prioritise making yourself as familiar with its pronunciation as possible. It's an essential foundation from which to learn any language.
Practice Patience: Progress might feel slower due to the nuances of Category IV languages, but small daily wins add up. Consistency will lead you to your goals.
Find a First-Language Speaker: Practicing with a tutor or partner can help you overcome pronunciation hurdles. Language exchange apps like Tandem and HelloTalk work perfectly if you're on a budget.
Find a Community: Practicing with first-language speakers is crucial for picking up nuances like intonation and word choice. Participating in a community that speaks the language you're learning will not only help you make progress, it will also make the whole process more rewarding. Indeed, it's often one of the key motivations for learning languages.
Track Progress: Stay motivated by keeping a small journal to record your milestones. Did you master hirigana and katakana? Write down the date and celebrate your achievement!
🔑 Ultimately, patience and consistency are key. **These languages might feel like an uphill climb, but the view from the top is spectacular.
By following these steps and embracing the process, you'll transform these challenges into some of the most rewarding achievements of your life.
🪷 My Personal Experience of How Long It Takes to Learn Languages
Rather than go through each language I've learnt individually, I'll instead summarise and compare my journey learning Romance languages like Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese with my experiences learning Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese, as this will highlight how various factors make each language we learn a unique journey that doesn't need to be categorised.
☕️ How to Learn Any Language
Before discussing how I learnt these languages, it’s important to understand the fundamental elements required for learning any language. I call these :
🌊 Passive Learning
Immersing in authentic content that first-language speakers would watch, listen to, or read - and doing this as often as possible.
Fortunately, the passive nature of immersion means you can attach this to things you already do, such as your commute, cooking, cleaning, or exercise.
⛩️ Active Learning
Taking time out of your day to actively learn the language through learning whole phrases or sentences.
I call this Sentence Collecting, but you might have come across other terms like 'chunking' or 'sentence mining'. They all boil down to more or less the same thing; learning whole phrases or sentences.
This is much more effective than trying to learn individual words, as learning a phrase or sentence provides you with multiple words in one go, improves your understanding of the grammar contained within that phrase, and gives you phrases you can use in conversation with first-language speakers.
🪷 Practice
This is simply having conversations with first-language speakers - be it through typed messages, audio messages, voice calls, or even in person if you happen to live in a country, region, or community where the language you’re learning is spoken.
Practice is the most natural and authentic way of applying one of the most effective memory techniques: using or applying what you've learnt.
🪴 How to Learn Any Language: Free 40 Minute Video + eBook
If you'd like to learn more about these fundamental principles of language learning, check out How to Learn Any Language: Free 40 minute Video + eBook. They’re the principles that provide the foundation for how I learn languages, including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and Vietnamese.
🍃 My Experience Learning Romance Languages
Winter at the Sorbonne
(Photo by the Author)
Romance languages are classified as Category I languages by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), meaning they typically take about 600-750 hours (or 24-30 weeks) to learn for English speakers.
Although I'd learnt French at school, it wasn't until spending a study abroad year reading History at the Sorbonne that I made a breakthrough with the language. In fact, that was also the breakthrough for me with language learning in general.
My time in Paris had taught me how to learn languages in an effective and enjoyable way - founded on the fundamental principles of language learning I mentioned above.
When I returned to the UK for my final year of university, I spent several months immersing in Spanish radio, podcasts, and series, as well as a few months actively learning the language through Assimil's L'espagnol book. This technique - using French to learn Spanish - enabled me to maintain and improve my French whilst learning Spanish.
I used Assimil’s L'espagnol book to learn Spanish through French
(Photo by the Author)
After around two to four months, I was able to understand a lot of the Spanish content I was immersing in, and was able to read primary sources and the work of Spanish historians for dissertation research.
Although many factors contributed to reaching this level of Spanish in a relatively short space of time, some of the key reasons were :
I used an enjoyable and effective approach to learning languages
French and Spanish are both Romance languages
French and Spanish have a lot of shared vocabulary with English
My main goal for that timeframe were to be able to conduct research in Spanish for my dissertation and other final year modules
For a much more detailed guide through my journey learning Spanish, check out the article and video I posted - How I Learnt Spanish.
Paragliding near Baños, Ecuador
(Photo by the Author)
My final year dissertation compared fascism in Europe during the 1930s (with a particular emphasis on Spain), and so one of my main goals at that time was to be able to conduct research in other European languages - including Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, and German.
With university commitments, research, a part-time job, and trying to squeeze in time with friends and family, I only had enough spare hours to drag my German reading level up to a point where I could just about work through German primary sources without it taking days.
Fortunately, though, the similarity of Romance languages and my experience with French and Spanish ensured I was able to rapidly develop my reading ability in Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan.
I used the same technique as with French and Spanish, following Assimil's Spanish edition for learning Brazilian Portuguese and their French editions for Italian and Catalan.
I can't remember exactly how long I spent working through the Assimil book for each of these languages, but I remember I hurried through them at a faster pace than I had done when actively learning Spanish. This was both because I was more familiar with Assimil by that point and because I was in a bit of a rush to ensure I could read these languages in time for my dissertation research.
My listening ability in these languages made good progress over a few months, but for my goals at that time it wasn't the priority, and so I was happy to come back to that when I had more spare time. For example, I remember making great strides with my listening level in Italian and Portuguese about a year after I'd finished actively learning them with Assimil.
Front page of El Socialista, Tuesday 31 January 1933
(Photo by the Author - scanned at the Hemeroteca Municipal, Madrid, Spain, January 2019)
🇨🇳 My Experience Learning Mandarin Chinese
When learning Mandarin Chinese, I knew it would take plenty of time and commitment.
The tones (four in Mandarin), Chinese characters, and the romanised system for writing Mandarin sounds - known as pinyin - were challenges I hadn't faced before.
In the future, I'll write an in-depth article and create a video about how I learnt Mandarin Chinese, but for now I'll keep it as concise as possible :
Learning Chinese Characters : once I got to grips with how I would actually go about learning Chinese characters, the process took me about three to four months. Of course, there's always more Chinese characters to learn, but thanks to a great two-volume book called Remembering the Hanzi, I was able to establish a solid grounding in Chinese characters - to the point where learning them from then on would be a more natural part of the process (embedded in my passive learning, active learning, and practice - as oppose to being its own separate endeavour).
Learning Pinyin : although at the beginning pinyin can seem like yet another challenge to overcome when learning Chinese, it actually makes the process so much easier than it would otherwise be. And it doesn't take long to get used to.
Learning Tones and Pronunciation : although it's possible to prioritise tones and pronunciation to the point where you reach a high level, it's usually one of those things that is never 'completed'. I've even come across a video of a very experienced Chinese learner with a high degree of proficiency in the language in which he said he still makes time to improve his tones. When I started learning Mandarin Chinese, I paid attention to pronunciation, but mostly hoped tones would naturally improve along with that whilst I prioritised other things like Chinese characters. Since learning Vietnamese, I've gained a much greater appreciation for the importance of focusing on tones when studying. It's well worth it.
Pathway high up on Sanqing Mountain, Shangrao, China
(Photo by Stefan Wagener on Unsplash)
The biggest challenge I've faced learning Mandarin Chinese has not been characters or tones. The hardest part about learning Mandarin Chinese has been finding enough time to actively learn the language.
Because there are so many differences with English - most notably Chinese characters - I found it's easier for the things you learn in Chinese to fall from your memory than it is when learning languages like Spanish. I therefore felt that if I didn't have a certain amount of spare time for active learning, then it would almost be pointless spending any time doing active learning at all.
Together with prioritising other things like work and learning Vietnamese, this has led me to learn Mandarin Chinese sporadically over the last five years.
Over that long period, I've only probably been learning Chinese for about a year and a half of that. And this year - if I have enough spare time - I'm hoping to take the HSK 6 exam. So if I manage it, I guess it would have taken me about a year and a half to two years to do so, but if I'd been able to prioritise Chinese more over the past five years, then I think I could have done this much sooner.
The point is that how long it takes to learn each language will be unique to your situation and goals.
🇻🇳 My Experience Learning Vietnamese
Autumn in Hà Nội, Việt Nam
(Photo by the Author)
Vietnamese shared some challenges with Mandarin but also had its own unique challenges.
When starting to learn Vietnamese, its romanised script (known as chữ quốc ngữ - 'national script') actually feels like more of a hinderance than a help. This is because the letters are often covered in a range of diacritic markings that indicate tones and different pronunciation of letters.
To overcome this challenge, it's absolutely essential to become familiar with Vietnamese pronunciation and chữ quốc ngữ at the same time. This way, you demystify the alphabet through your familiarity of the sounds and tones the letters and markings are referring to.
Vietnamese grammar actually feels less complicated than the grammar of Romance languages, German, and Russian, for example - thus highlighting how categorising language difficulty neglects such nuance.
Later this year, I'll write an detailed article and create a video about how I learnt Vietnamese, but for the purposes of the topic of today's article :
🪴 In less than one and a half years learning Vietnamese, I was able to achieve Level 5 (the highest being Level 6) of the official Vietnamese proficiency exam of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities at the National University, Hanoi (Trường Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn - Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội).
This was possible because I followed the three fundamental principles of language learning mentioned above, put in the time and effort, and had a deep motivation to understand the country I live and work in. Being able to talk with Vietnamese people in daily life, read Vietnamese books, and understand Vietnamese films has been a wonderful experience.
Each of these languages taught me unique lessons about persistence, focus, and adaptability.
Whatever your language of choice, remember to bring curiosity and patience to the process—it’s never just about the destination but the journey itself.
To make this journey as effective and enjoyable as possible, I’d recommend the following article, audio, and video on how to create a language learning routine.
✨ Factors That Affect Individual Learning Times
When it comes to learning a new language, no two journeys are ever the same. The time it takes to reach proficiency can vary greatly depending on your experience, how much spare time you have available, your goals, and your motivation.
Contrary to popular opinion, personal aptitude for learning languages isn't a significant factor. Sure, it might make the process quicker for some than it might for others, but it's far less important than other factors.
The most common reason people don't reach their language learning goals isn't because they 'aren't good at languages'. It's because they stop learning.
This is often due to feeling disheartened when the process doesn't go as expected. Many people aren't aware that for much of the learning process, it won't be obvious you're making progress.
Understanding the process is therefore essential in sustaining your motivation, because it arms you with the knowledge that if you keep going, you'll reach your goals.
All you need is an approach to learning languages you enjoy, and that follows the fundamental principles for learning languages.
🔑 Access to Resources
Waterfalls in the forests of Minas Viejas, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
(Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash)
Aside from understanding the process, the other essential factor for learning languages is having the right resources.
This doesn't mean they need to be expensive programmes or app subscriptions. It just means they need to provide you with everything you need for passive learning, active learning, and practice.
Whether you’re looking for resources for learning a language or you’d like help with the entire learning process, How to Learn Languages has you covered.
If you want to save hours looking for resources, then Resources for Learning Languages are eBooks with links to all the online resources you could need for learning a specific language (at the time of writing, there are eBooks covering Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Catalan, and Russian).
If you’d like support for the whole learning process, then I’d recommend the How to Learn Languages Guides.
These are eBooks in which I guide you through the whole process of learning a specific language - and you also receive all the links to resources covered by the Resources for Learning Languages eBooks, and I even cover a short history of the language you’re learning so that you can deepen your understanding.
Each eBook also comes with a Welcome Video covering how to get the most out of the guide, as well as a Checklist PDF to help you keep track of your progress.
At the time of writing, there are eBooks covering Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Catalan, and Russian.
I’d also recommend checking out the How to Learn Languages Blog, where you can find lots of useful articles about language learning and film suggestions covering a wide range of languages.
There’s also the Get to Know area, where you can learn more about languages less frequently covered online.
For a more detailed overview, I’d recommend watching the Welcome Video on the Home page, where I guide you through all the support and resources available on the website.
🪴 Conclusion
People relax on boats, Tokyo, Japan
(Photo by Yu Kato on Unsplash)
I think categorisations like those of the FSI can be interesting and useful as relative estimates of how long it takes to learn each language, but it's not something worth focusing on.
Language learning is a deeply personal journey.
How long it takes depends on factors like your experience, situation, goals, motivation, and the language’s relation to your first language.
So, take a deep breath, pick a language that excites you, and dive into the process with curiosity and determination. Whether your goal is travel, cultural connection, or personal growth, the rewards of language learning are more than worth the effort.
And as always, if you ever have any questions, please feel free to email me at contact@howtolearnlanguages.info, and I'll get back to you promptly. I'd be more than happy to help.
Enjoy learning languages 🪴
