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Time To Learn A Language Calculator

Work out time to learn a language instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Time To Learn A Language Calculator

The Foreign Service Institute categorises languages by difficulty for English speakers, from 600 hours for Spanish or French to 2200 for Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese and Korean. Reaching 70% of a Category III target needs 630 hours, which at eight hours a week is 78.75 weeks - about eighteen months.

Formulas

Hours required

hours = category baseline x target proficiency

Time required

weeks = hours required / study hours per week

Worked example

With the default values below, Time To Learn A Language Calculator returns Study Hours Required of 630. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Language categoryone of Category I - closely related (600 hours), Category II - related (750 hours), Category III - moderately different (900 hours), Category IV - significantly different (1100 hours), Category V - exceptionally difficult (2200 hours)
Category III - moderately different (900 hours)
Study hours per weekminimum 0.1 h
8 h
Target proficiencyaccepts 10–100 %
70 %

Results

Study Hours Required
630 h
Weeks At Your Study Rate
78.8
Months Required
18.1
Years Required
1.51

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Hours required
  3. 3Time required
  4. 4Study Hours Required= 630 h
  5. 5Weeks At Your Study Rate= 78.8
  6. 6Months Required= 18.1
  7. 7Years Required= 1.51

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the FSI figures assume so much?

They describe intensive full-time classroom study with native instructors. Self-study typically needs considerably more hours for the same result.

Does knowing a related language help?

Substantially. A Spanish speaker learning Portuguese may need a third of the baseline hours because of shared vocabulary and grammar.

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