How long does it take to learn Spanish or French or any langauge. I would argue that it takes a lifetme to really get to grips with a language. However I would also argue that in a mater of a few months with some hard work you can reach a very good level of fluency. This will be in stark comparison to really trying to reach an expert level which I would also argue could take you 10 years and reach a point of diminishing returns so much effort but for so little in return
Before you invest or waste hundreds of thousands of hours on a language, you should deconstruct it.
So far I have deconstructed Spanish and French. I am far from perfect in these languages, and im terrible at some, but I can converse in quite a few with no problems whatsoever- just ask some students who cae up to me the other day and spoke in multiple languages. How is it possible to be conversationally fluent in one of these languages in 2-12 months. It starts with deconstructing them, choosing wisely and all but abandoning but a few of them. consider a language like a new sport. these are certain physical requisites that determine if you can become proficient at all and if so how long will it take.
Languages are no different. What are your tools and how do they fit with the rules of your target? If you are a native JApanase speaker respectively handicapped with a little more than 20 phnemenes in your language there are some languages thatwill feel almost impossible. Picking a compatible language with similar sounds and word construction (like Spanish) instead of one with a buffet of new sounds you cannot distinguish like Chiese could mean the difference between having meaniful conversations in 3 months instead of 3 years.
Lets look at a few of the methods i recently used to deconstruct French to determine if i could reach fluency within a 3 month period.
Lets look at some of the methods I used to see if I could reach the level of fluency I wanted to get to. Both were done in less than an hour with native speakers sitting next to me to help me out.
1. Are there grammatical structures that will halt my race to fluency?
2. Are there new sounds that will double or quadruple my time to fluency (especially verbs)?
3. How similar is it to languages I know already? What will help and what will interfere? Can I borrow structures without fatal interference like Portuguese after Spanish
4. All of which answer how difficult it will be and how long it will take to be functionnally fluent?
That is a start of where to go. Ifyou have any comments about this or have alternative ways of getting to a level of fluency faster, please feel free to leave a comment here.
Before you invest or waste hundreds of thousands of hours on a language, you should deconstruct it.
So far I have deconstructed Spanish and French. I am far from perfect in these languages, and im terrible at some, but I can converse in quite a few with no problems whatsoever- just ask some students who cae up to me the other day and spoke in multiple languages. How is it possible to be conversationally fluent in one of these languages in 2-12 months. It starts with deconstructing them, choosing wisely and all but abandoning but a few of them. consider a language like a new sport. these are certain physical requisites that determine if you can become proficient at all and if so how long will it take.
Languages are no different. What are your tools and how do they fit with the rules of your target? If you are a native JApanase speaker respectively handicapped with a little more than 20 phnemenes in your language there are some languages thatwill feel almost impossible. Picking a compatible language with similar sounds and word construction (like Spanish) instead of one with a buffet of new sounds you cannot distinguish like Chiese could mean the difference between having meaniful conversations in 3 months instead of 3 years.
Lets look at a few of the methods i recently used to deconstruct French to determine if i could reach fluency within a 3 month period.
Lets look at some of the methods I used to see if I could reach the level of fluency I wanted to get to. Both were done in less than an hour with native speakers sitting next to me to help me out.
1. Are there grammatical structures that will halt my race to fluency?
2. Are there new sounds that will double or quadruple my time to fluency (especially verbs)?
3. How similar is it to languages I know already? What will help and what will interfere? Can I borrow structures without fatal interference like Portuguese after Spanish
4. All of which answer how difficult it will be and how long it will take to be functionnally fluent?
That is a start of where to go. Ifyou have any comments about this or have alternative ways of getting to a level of fluency faster, please feel free to leave a comment here.
