How long does it take to learn Spanish?

When many students start studying Spanish at our language academy in Barcelona one of the first questions they ask us is: How long will it take me to learn Spanish?

This question is inevitably one of the main concerns of any language student who wants to become fluent in a foreign language. We all want to learn Spanish quickly!

The answer to this question is not easy, as there are many factors that can impinge on a person’s ability to learn Spanish (or any other language):

What is your native language?
What goals do you have?
How motivated are you?
How much time per day can you devote to studying Spanish?
Have you studied Spanish before starting the course?
What level of fluency would you like to acquire?

Even if you are very motivated, you have to bear in mind that some people have a special talent for languages, and others do not. Just as can happen with mathematics, running or any other discipline or skill.

Another important point to consider when you want to learn Spanish quickly is your own mother tongue. If your native language is a Romance one, such as Italian, French or Portuguese, you will probably be able to progress more quickly since Spanish is quite similar to those languages.

Surprisingly, English-speaking students still generally find Spanish easy to learn because it is a phonetically simple language, in which all words are pronounced as they are written and there is quite a bit of vocabulary that is similar to English.

In addition, it is said in the field of language science that experience in a given field always reduces the cognitive load required to acquire a new related field: ie, the more languages we already know, the less time it takes to learn one more!

Don’t worry though; in any good language academy, with the right amount of motivation and dedication, anyone can acquire knowledge of Spanish quickly.
How many hours of study do I need to master Spanish?
As we said at the beginning of this article, it is absolutely impossible to quantify how long it will take you to learn Spanish, because it is not the same for everyone and differs from one person to another. Imagine how difficult it is to predict how many hours of classes you need to reach a certain level of Spanish.

Sin embargo, te podemos informar que según un informe del Foreing Service Institute de Estados Unidos, especialista en enseñanza de idiomas para diplomáticos y militares en los Estados Unidos, el español sería uno de los idiomas más fáciles de entender del mundo.

However, we can tell you that according to a report by the United States Foreign Service Institute (a specialist centre in language teaching for diplomats and military personnel in the United States) Spanish is one of the easiest languages to understand in the world.

This North American organization conducted a study to estimate how long it took English speakers to learn a foreign language, that is, until they reached a level of advanced professional skills or level 4 of language learning on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale (the United States federal government’s standard evaluation scale for assessing language skills).

Group 1: Weeks of learning – Between 24 and 30: French, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish
Group 2: Weeks of learning – Between 36: German, Indonesian, Malay
Grupo 3: Weeks of learning – Between 44: Armenian, Burmese, Czech, Farsi, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, Serbo-Croatian
Grupo 4: Weeks of learning – Between 88: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean

Therefore, according to the Institute’s research, it is necessary to take classes in Spanish as a foreign language (FLE) for 480 hours to acquire a basic level corresponding to the beginner level (A1 and A2), that is, to have sufficient oral comprehension necessary for the basic needs of daily life.

Another scale that we can use to estimate the hours of study of Spanish that we need to reach a certain level of mastery of the language is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) which categorizes all levels from A1 (beginner) to C2 (mastery).

According to the European Framework, we need to reach:

-Level A1: 180-200 hours, 9 or 10 weeks.

-Level A2:180-200 hours, 9 or 10 weeks.

-Level B1: 350 – 400 hours, between 17 and 20 weeks.

-Level B2: 500-600 hours, between 25 and 30 weeks.

-Level C1: 700-800 hours, between 30 and 50 weeks.

-Level C2: 1000-1200 hours, equivalent to 50 to 54 weeks.

Learning Spanish requires more than just hours

You can use either scale as a guide to find out how much time and how many hours a student who wants to learn Spanish and “get by” in any situation (level A2 or B1) may need, but in the end, your attitude, aptitude and motivation will be the key factors determining how long it will take you to learn Spanish.

Spanish is a language that can be learned quite quickly at an elementary level, since it lacks the complicated declensions that can make learning other languages such as German, Russian or Greek so tricky.

However, learning Spanish at a literary or journalistic level is much more complicated, since it is a language that is very rich in synonyms, which can lead to finding yourself confronted by an article or a book in which you understand almost nothing.

As we have seen, as with almost any language, learning Spanish for foreigners depends a lot on the time you dedicate to it and on your perseverance, as well as other factors such as prior knowledge, language skills, motivation, etc., but there are also other factors that can make your learning easier or more difficult.

The study method

In addition to having a teacher who is able to motivate his students and adapt to their needs, the teaching method is key not only to keeping you motivated and eager to learn, but also for helping you to quickly advance in your knowledge and ability to understand what people say to you.

Spanish speakers have a reputation for “speaking very quickly” amongst themselves, at a rate of at least between 8-9 syllables per minute; in fact only the Japanese surpass us according to a study published in Scientific Advances magazine in 2019.

We can say that this fact is confirmed by the students who enrol each year in our Spanish courses for foreigners in Barcelona/a>. “Speed” is an inconvenience for some when learning Spanish, and that is precisely why at Callan School Barcelona we always teach our students how to speak Spanish at that native speed from the very first class, thanks to our Callan Method.

This learning method is direct and oral, and the course is always structured grammatically, so that our students learn to speak Spanish without thinking and without needing to first mentally translate what they are saying into their native language. Furthermore, our students are able to speak it in just a quarter of the time that it would have taken had they used a traditional language-learning method. This is because our classes are 100% oral, and we also put a lot of importance on listening so that the student gets used to hearing and understanding Spanish spoken at high speed and with different accents.

Daily use of the language

It is essential to practise the language daily; language immersion will always enable you to speak Spanish more quickly. If a person dedicates no time, or only a little, to studying and practising Spanish, and if they do not regularly use what they read, see and hear, they will tend to forget it: this is because the relevant synapses and neural connections are no longer being stimulated.

The English expression ‘use it or lose it’ is very applicable to language learning. A neuropsychological study carried out by Harry P. Bahrick concluded that without practising it, those who studied Spanish would forget around 60% of their vocabulary in the 3 years after learning it.

How can you boost your Spanish learning outside the classroom?

In addition to your Spanish classes, as we have seen above, it is very important to listen, speak, and read Spanish every day in order to reinforce everything you are learning.

Whenever you can, take part in immersive experiences such as excursions, chat clubs or other similar initiatives where you have no choice but to practise the language as much as possible. This will improve your pronunciation and fluency when speaking. It will also help you learn colloquial expressions and other popular turns of phrase.

It is also useful to watch films, series and other television programmes. You will have fun while expanding your knowledge of the language in an enjoyable way, away from the often rigid structure of language classes. Listening to songs and reading books will help you too, although you should always make sure that they are suited to your current level.

Finally, following Spanish-speaking influencers on social media such as videos on YouTube or posts on Instagram or TikTok will motivate you to continue learning in order to be able to understand their content better.

Sign up for an experienced Spanish academy

As you can see, learning Spanish is not an easy task and requires time and effort. At our language academy in Barcelona we have helped dozens of people who, like you, needed to start speaking Spanish quickly and in a natural way.

We use one of the most natural language teaching methods that exists: the Callan Method. As the method is based on conversation, it enables you to enjoy 100% interactive classes in which you will not only learn vocabulary, but also practise how to use it continuously, so that speaking Spanish will soon become a habit that is natural for you.

Find out more on 934 155 452 and take your free level test – no strings attached!

^{Traduction by Joe Crowley}

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Learning Spanish requires more than just hours

The study method

Daily use of the language

How can you boost your Spanish learning outside the classroom?

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