How long does it take to learn a language?
The US Foreign Service Institute estimates 552–690 class hours for Spanish or French, 828 for German, and 2,200 for Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean.
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. Category I languages like Spanish and French require 552 to 690 hours, while Category IV languages like Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean require about 2,200 hours.
If your goal is basic travel or casual conversation rather than working proficiency, you need far less time—usually 100 to 200 hours for survival basics (CEFR A1) and 350 to 400 hours for everyday conversation (B1) in languages close to English.
What is the FSI language chart?
The FSI language chart groups languages into four categories by how long native English speakers usually take to reach professional fluency. Its students are US government employees who study full time in intensive courses.
These timelines measure the time needed to reach 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, a speaker can take part in most formal and informal conversations about everyday, social and work topics.
How long does each language take?
Languages close to English take 24 to 30 weeks of class time, while languages with major differences take 36 to 88 weeks.
| 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 groups languages by how much they differ from English:
- Category I languages are "close to English," such as Norwegian, Spanish, French and Dutch.
- Category II languages take about 36 weeks and include German, Indonesian and Swahili.
- Category III covers about 50 "hard languages" with significant linguistic or cultural differences from English, including Russian, Hindi, Greek and Thai. While FSI only lists spoken diplomatic languages, university benchmarks place sign language (ASL and BSL) in this same 1,150-to-1,200-hour tier for professional proficiency.
- Category IV covers "super-hard languages" that are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean.
Do the FSI hours include self-study?
No. The numbers count classroom instruction time only. FSI does not publish estimates for homework or outside study.
When you study on your own with textbooks, audio courses, or tutors, measure your overall practice time against these class-hour figures, since every hour of vocabulary drills, listening, and speaking practice counts toward your progress.
Will it take you longer than an FSI student?
Yes, for most independent learners. FSI students study full time in small groups with native-speaking instructors. If you study on your own with an app and a textbook, you'll likely need more hours than the table shows.
You may not need level 3, which is the standard for doing your job in the language. For travel or casual talk with friends, you need far less. Set an initial goal you can reach in a few months, such as 100 hours, and check how well you speak when you get there.
How you practice also matters as much as total hours. Focused practice with active speaking and immediate feedback produces much faster progress than passive app tapping.
How do you track your language study hours?
To track your language study without guessing your progress, log your sessions in timespent. Counting every kind of practice—classes, tutoring, app lessons, reading, and conversation—ensures you keep an accurate running total of your real study time.
In timespent, you can create a Timed Activity for your language, like "Norwegian" or "Spanish". Add it to a Habit Arc to build a daily study streak (or an Unscripted Arc if you prefer tracking without streaks). The app tallies your hours automatically each week and over time, so you can easily compare your accumulated hours against official FSI milestone targets.
Common questions
How long will it take at 30 minutes to 3 hours a day?
At 1 hour a day, an easier language like Spanish or Norwegian takes about 1.5 to 2 years, German takes about 2.3 years, Russian about 2.8 years, and a Category IV language like Japanese takes about 6 years.
To calculate your own timeline, divide total study hours by the hours you study each day. For Norwegian at 1 hour a day, 552 hours ÷ 1 hour a day = 552 days, or about 1.5 years.
| Languages | Hours | 30 minutes a day | 1 hour a day | 2 hours a day | 3 hours a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian, Spanish, French, Italian and others (I) | 552–690 | 3–3.8 years | 1.5–1.9 years | 9–11.5 months | 6–7.5 months |
| German, Indonesian, Swahili and others (II) | 828 | 4.5 years | 2.3 years | 14 months | 9 months |
| Thai, Russian, Hindi, Polish and others (III) | 1,012 | 5.5 years | 2.8 years | 17 months | 11 months |
| Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean (IV) | 2,200 | 12 years | 6 years | 3 years | 2 years |
The 10,000 hours calculator turns your own schedule into dates for 100 and 1,000 hours. 1,000 hours is close to the 1,012 hours for Category III languages like Thai or Russian.
What is the easiest language for English speakers to learn?
Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian and Swedish are the fastest for native English speakers to learn. FSI estimates 24 weeks (552 class hours) for each. French and Spanish take slightly longer at 30 weeks (690 class hours).
What is the hardest language for English speakers to learn?
Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean are the hardest. FSI estimates 88 weeks (about 2,200 class hours) for each because of complex writing systems and major grammatical differences from English.
Can you learn a language in 3 months?
No, not well enough to use at work. At 3 hours a day, 3 months gives you about 273 hours (3 hours a day × 91 days). That's under half of the 552 hours FSI budgets for the easiest languages. You can learn basic travel phrases in 3 months, but conversational fluency takes longer.
How many hours a day should you study a language?
1 to 2 hours a day is a realistic pace for most people with a job or school. At 2 hours a day, reaching the 552 to 690 hours for a Category I language like Spanish takes 9 to 12 months.