How fast can I learn Spanish?

One of the most common questions we receive at LanguaTalk is this: how fast can I learn Spanish?

We get it…you want a simple answer so that you know how much time you’re going to have to put in. But learning a language is a highly complex process and we’d be lying to you if we were to tell you that it will take you X months or years. There are several factors that will impact how fast you can learn Spanish, including:

  1. Languages you already know  -  if you know similar languages, it will be easier.
  2. Intensity of study  -  if you study frequently, you will likely learn faster. There is also a minimum number of hours that you’ll need to put in to make progress learning Spanish. A common mistake people make is to only study for 1 hour each week. Once you reach an intermediate level, this intensity of study is unlikely to lead to significant progression.
  3. Your motivation  -  this is self-explanatory!
  4. Your level of experience learning other languages  -  whether you’re learning Spanish or a very different language like Swedish, you will have picked up certain skills that will make it easy for you to learn another language. The brain has also been shown to be highly plastic  -  language learners’ brains develop such that their ability to learn languages improves over time.
  5. Your ability to learn and memorise language.
  6. How you’re learning  -  depending on your learning preferences, certain learning methods will be more effective than others. For example, some people learn faster through unstructured conversations, whilst others need structured exercises and lots of repetition to make progress. When you browse through the profiles of Spanish tutors, you should check that the way they teach fits how you learn best. Fortunately, the Spanish tutors on LanguaTalk are able to adapt the way they teach to the individual student.

As we've shown in this post, there is no easy answer to the question: how fast can I learn Spanish? Depending on all of the above factors, it could take anywhere between six months and five years to go from beginner to fluent! If you stay committed to practicing regularly, you’ll generally make fast progress. The good news is that according to the Foreign Service Institute, if you already speak English, Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn. This is largely due to the similarities between the languages.

Related pages:

https://languatalk.com/blog/what-do-you-need-to-be-a-spanish-teacher

https://languatalk.com/blog/how-to-become-a-spanish-teacher