Will it take me years to learn?

There are generally two factors that decide whether a language is easy or harder to learn. These are how much time you have available to devote to learning, and the determination you have to progress. It also makes a difference if the language you want to learn is closely related to your own mother tongue.

You can be looking at a period of around 3 months, if 80% or more words are common with your mother tongue, or 6 months if you don’t have quite so much time to give to studying to become fluent For other languages you may be looking at 2 or 3 years. It is always much easier to learn a new language if you can spend a good amount of time surrounded by people who speak this language, rather than having to learn from a book.

Can anyone learn a new language?

It is possible for almost anyone to learn almost any language if they find the method that best suits their own personal learning capabilities. Whilst there are a few people that are simply lousy at learning langages, it is more likely that the reason they believe that they cannot learn a new language is because that is what was dinned into them at school. Forget that and start anew with a positive attitude!

There is almost always an efficient learning method that will help you to learn a new language, although it may be different for different people. Whether you have a good or a bad memory, or you think you may not be gifted, don’t give up on your plan to learn a new language; there are so many ways to do it.

By far the easiest way to become fluent is if a person moves to a foreign country whilst still young, and are surrounded by the language each and every day. Very few foreign language speakers can speak without an accent unless they have learned this way. It is, however, very possible to become fluent enough to understand and be understood by the natives.

The important thing is to set realistic goals (the first step is to understand and be understood) and then measure yourself against them to know where you stand. The difference between the mediocre and the oustanding language learner is not so much in the time you need rather in where you decide to stop.

You don’t want to be working constantly to pass for a local, life is just too short, but there will always be room for improvement. There may never be a time when you can say ‘that’s it, I’ve learned all I can’.

Instead, just keep it relaxed, whilst still trying to improve your skills with new words or expressions, or simply work on your pronunciation. Aim for the top and with determination, you will get there!