How Long Does It Take To Learn Spanish?

If you are thinking of traveling or working in Spain or just in a country where Spanish is commonly spoken, you might be thinking about learning the language before you go.

You might also be thinking about how long it takes to learn Spanish?

According to a study from the Foreign Service Institute of the United States Department of State, it should take you 23-24 weeks, or 575-600 hours in the classroom to learn Spanish.

Spanish is a language that originated in Europe’s Iberian Peninsula. Currently, the most common Ibero-Romance languages that are still spoken are: Spanish, Portugues, Catalan, Valencian-Balear, and Galician.

Ibero-Romance languages are called so because they originated from Iberia and evolved from Latin, which was commonly spoken there because they were part of the Roman Empire.

The most common of these Ibero-Romance languages is Spanish.

How to Learn Spanish?

According to the FSI, one of the biggest factors that affect how long it takes someone to learn another language is whether or not the language to be learned has similarities to languages that the learner already knows.

The FSI considers Spanish as one of the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, while Japanese is one of the hardest.  How long does it take to learn Japanese if you’re an English speaker? Well the FSI places it at 88 weeks, or 2,200 classroom hours.

As Spanish is considered a Romantic language, with much of its vocabulary and grammar based on Latin, you also have a significant advantage if you already know another Romantic language.

The most commonly spoken Romantic languages, aside from Spanish, are Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian. If you speak any of these already, the chances are high that you'll learn Spanish more quickly.

4 Ways to Learn Spanish Quickly

If you want to learn Spanish, you should consider these four tips.

1. Be engaged with the language

The best way to learn the language is to “spend time with it” or to use it. This can include reading and listening to the language as well as interacting with other people in the language.

Being “forced” to use or think in Spanish is how you'll learn it in a way that goes beyond memorizing words and figuring out the proper tense or gender.

There is still no substitute for interaction, so having a native Spanish tutor who can ensure that you practice the language for several hours a week is a good idea.

It can also help for you to consume media in the Spanish language.

So find some good Spanish movies on Netflix or follow a telenovela and try to watch without subtitles.

Reading Spanish language publications can also help.

Listening to Spanish music – or better yet podcasts – in the background will also help you immerse yourself in the language.

2. Immerse yourself in Spanish culture

Generally speaking, the more you want to learn a language, the quicker you can pick it up.

Motivation and determination can make it easier to really stick to your language lessons and focus on what your tutor is trying to tell you.

Don’t think about learning Spanish as purely an intellectual exercise; look at it as a means to access the vibrant and interesting Spanish culture. 

If you want to learn about both the Spanish language and culture, a good step to take it to find if there is an Instituto Cervantes in your area.

The Instituto Cervantes is an organization created by the Spanish government that seeks to promote the study of Spanish language and culture in the world.

There are about 86 Instituto Cervantes centers in the world in 45 different countries.

They offer Spanish language learning courses.

They also hold events that promote the culture of Spain, including lectures, concerts, art exhibitions, and film festivals.

Many of them have libraries and collections of Spanish language books, records, and films. 

3. Take a Spanish immersion course

Immersion experiences are great for building up morale and providing the correct motivation to continue with language learning.  

In-country immersion is particularly effective in building language proficiency and helping learners become more familiar and confident in holding conversations in a language.

You have no excuse!

Everyone around you is speaking the language so you too must use what you know to make yourself understood.

If you can take the time to go a Spanish speaking country, being “forced” to think and speak in Spanish will have you sounding and understanding native speakers in no time.

4. Learn Spanish online

The most popular online language learning resources, are Rosetta Stone and Duolingo.

Duolingo claims to be able to teach you a language through a series of lessons that will only take you about five minutes a day.

Of course, many users take more than one lesson a day and there are “extra” learning opportunities that you can pay or subscribe to.

So how long does it take to learn Spanish with Duolingo? If you look at the forums of Duolingo, there will be people who claim that it took then about three months to 2 years to finish Duolingo’s Spanish course. 

If you ask how long does it take to learn Spanish, Rosetta Stone doesn’t have a specific answer, but it does have a general answer to how long it takes to learn a language using their systems.

Rosetta Stone’s official stance is that the average time it will take to learn a language with them is 120-150 hours for Level 1-3, while it will take you 200 hours to complete up to Level 5. 

A 2012 study, comparing the effectiveness of Spanish Language modules of Duolingo and Rosetta Stone found that people learned faster using Duolingo. The study found that taking 34 hours worth of Duolingo lessons was equivalent to studying Spanish lessons for one college semester. For Rosetta Stone, it was 55 hours. 

Justlearn is a language learning platform where you get to learn languages from native speakers. This way of learning has proven to be effective and fast, because you get to immerse yourself in the language and its culture at once.

Book your lesson with a Spanish tutor and get closer to fluency

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Conclusion

The quickest way to learn Spanish or any other language for that matter is to just plunge right in.

Hire a good Spanish language tutor and spend several hours a week having conversations with someone who doesn’t just understand the language but also loves the culture. 

Supplement this by learning about Spanish history and culture by reading the literature, watching the cinema, and even listening to the music.

You will surely be inspired to become one of the world’s many Spanish speakers.