# How long did it take to learn Spanish?



## panjabigator

How long did it take some of you guys to get fluent in your second languages?  Did you move there and start from scratch or did you take the language in school and then relocate?


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## KateNicole

Hi Panja,
I suppose everyone's definition of "fluent" varies slightly, but here's my boring story:
I studied Spanish since I was ten-years-old and my mother took me to Mexico for summers and holidays frequently during my childhood.  I moved to Mexico when I was seventeen and basically did not have any contact with English-speakers during the duration of my visit.  I think that by the third week, my speech was quite good, but keep in mind that I had been studying very dilligently for seven years.  Spanish was something I was _obsessed_ with, so I took my mission very seriously when I moved to Mexico.  When I left a year later, I felt that I expressed myself very clearly.  A lot of people didn't innitially realize that I wasn't Mexican (which was like the ultimate form of flattery) and when I told them I was American, they usually asked if my parents were Mexican (again, very flattering and probably made me a little over-confident.)  I returned to the United States thinking my Spanish (reading, writing, speaking--the whole shebang) was excellent . . . but then I got to college and my bubble burst.  I realized that my spelling was good, but not good enough, and that my grammar was passable, but not impressive.  After I had come home from Mexico, I felt like there was nothing left for me to learn here in the US, but boy was I wrong.  After studying Spanish in college, I think I was able to fine-tune my skills, but I'm obviously a work in progress--which is why I spend so much time here 
So to answer your question, I suppose it took me seven years to become fluent, although the one-year stay in Mexico is what really counted.


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## danielfranco

I studied a bit of English in Mexico when I was growing up, but never really practiced actually speaking it. Then I came to the States and had to get fluent in a hurry, because I started going to high-school, and because I was here in this country on my own along with my little sister, taking care of both of us. So we got pretty fluent pretty quickly, pretty much... But that's only as far as basic communication goes. It took me many years to actually speak the language well... I'd say, maybe anywhere from five to ten years! (I'm a slow learner, though). My sister was "fluenter" faster, but I think that's because she was younger than me when we came to the country...


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## Etcetera

Hi Panja, 
I've been studying English since I was 10. As I can remember now, after three or four years of school classes I was able to read in English with a good speed and without any necessity to translate the text into Russian to understand it (I just read, and I understood what I read immediately). Now I read in Ebglish almost as fast as in Russian. 
In 2003 I entered Moscow University, and now I'm studying English at the Faculty of Philology, where a lot of attention is paid to written language. So my written English has improved considerably here. 
But as for spoken English, I really need more practice for it...


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## Honour

it took one year for me to get enough fluent in english. After elementary school, i had had english class 38 hours per week during one year.


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## natasha2000

Turk said:
			
		

> it took one year for me to get enough fluent in english. After elementary school, i had had english class 38 hours per week during one year.


 
I don't get this.... 
Turk, this means you did nothing but English during the whole year! 
And you did this after finishing ELEMENTARY school? 

I became fluent in Spanish more quickly than in English, but there is a reason for it.
I started to learn English at the age of 3-4, and I am still learning .... As I never went to any English speaking country, my English learning was very graduate, like any other kid....After finishing my secondary school, I think I was fluent enough to speak and express myself without any bigger problems... I felt a great and rapid advance in my English when I started to give private English lessons and to translate movies for a TV station in Belgrade. Therefore, I cannot tell you when actually I became fluent in English, because since after finishing my secondary school I AM fluent, but this does not mean I cannot get even better ....

As far as Spanish is concerned, I started to study it after finishing my secondary school... I learnt it during 4 years, then continued to have contact with it 2 years more (until I passed my last exam), I graduated from the University in Spanish, but yet I couldn't say I was fluent. Yes, I could speak, have conversations, but I felt a big lack of everyday's vocabulary (I didn't even know how to say pots and pans!!! , although I could make a good conversation on diferences between Quevedo's and Gongora's poems and their similarities with Lope de Vega or Cervantes... ). Stupid, eh? (I know...)
After I came to Spain, I think it took me some 6 months to become fluent and speak without any fears with all kinds of people - with a big variety of accents from Andalusian, Andorran, or even Catalan accent, to all variety of Hispanoamerican speakers... At first, my big fear was telephone... I prepared myself before calling, and when calling, I tried to note down everything the person whom I spoke with was telling me, since I was uncapable to remember - guess it was just my nerves... 

My example proved me something: It is not impossible to reach a very high level in a language without visiting a country, but if you do have a chace, do it, because the process will be much quicker...


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## Etcetera

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> As far as Spanish is concerned, I started to study it after finishing my secondary school... I learnt it during 4 years, then continued to have contact with it 2 years more (until I passed my last exam), I graduated from the University in Spanish, but yet I couldn't say I was fluent. Yes, I could speak, have conversations, but I felt a big lack of everyday's vocabulary (I didn't even know how to say pots and pans!!! , although I could make a good conversation on diferences between Quevedo's and Gongora's poems and their similarities with Lope de Vega or Cervantes... ). Stupid, eh? (I know...)


Natasha, I can say the same about my English! It's so easy for me to talk about linguistic issues and Victorian literature, but when it comes to everyday life, I feel clueless rather often. For some reason, still unknown to me, teachers and authors of textbooks are sure that a person who speaks English doesn't need to know the words to describe their own kitchen. 
BTW, what was the faculty you studied at? Just curious.


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## natasha2000

Etcetera said:
			
		

> Natasha, I can say the same about my English! It's so easy for me to talk about linguistic issues and Victorian literature, but when it comes to everyday life, I feel clueless rather often. For some reason, still unknown to me, teachers and authors of textbooks are sure that a person who speaks English doesn't need to know the words to describe their own kitchen.
> BTW, what was the faculty you studied at? Just curious.


 
Faculty of Phylology at Belgrade University.

If you can, go abroad. Talk to people, laugh with people, discuss, cry, even quarrel with people... And if possible, reduce yourself only to people who speak English and no other language. I spent first year in Spain without pronouncing one single word in Serbian.... I gave some English classes but that was all of English I had. Only Spanish. 
BTW, I think one reached the top of fluency when is able to quarrel and swear in foreign language ... I'm afraid I still do it in Serbian when I get mad around here... Well, at least nobody understands me, and I don't get in further coflict than the original one...


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## Etcetera

We're colleagues, then. I'm a philologist too. 
I think talking with people over the Internet can also be very useful. Blogs, forums, even chats... The tricky thing with blogs (such as LiveJournal) is to find a journal the owner of which speaks good English and tries to make as little misprints as possible. 
I also know some learners of Russian (they come mostly from the UK and America) who read Russian-written blogs in order to improve their Russian. Not bad solution at all.


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## natasha2000

Etcetera said:
			
		

> We're colleagues, then. I'm a philologist too.
> I think talking with people over the Internet can also be very useful. Blogs, forums, even chats... The tricky thing with blogs (such as LiveJournal) is to find a journal the owner of which speaks good English and tries to make as little misprints as possible.
> I also know some learners of Russian (they come mostly from the UK and America) who read Russian-written blogs in order to improve their Russian. Not bad solution at all.


 
Well... Partialy, yes.. But what counts is oral fluency... I know many people who don't have problem expressing themselves in writing, but when it comes to speaking....  They just block...


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## emma42

Etcetera - I know exactly what you mean about "needing the words to describe your own kitchen".  After studying French at university for two years, I realised I did not even know the word for "toothpaste", although I could read Balzac.

What I do now is imagine myself talking in French about everyday things and then look up all the words I might need.  In this way I have learnt the words for toothpaste, hair conditioner, washing machine, all sorts of everyday words that you don't see in Balzac!


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## emma42

Well, I can now go to the shop and ask for "Du shampooing, de la pâte à dents et une machine à laver s'il vous plait", but nobody understands me because they only speak English!


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## emma1968

> KateNicole said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Panja,
> . Spanish was something I was _obsessed_ with,
> 
> 
> 
> Let me say my guess......
> For me too, English is something I'm obsessed with. I studied it at school for about 8 years in the way one can study it at the italian school, after that I tried to improve it by reading, watching movies, and listening to the English radio. I perfectly aware that I didn't become fluent yet, that's why  I'm still wondering if it dipends on my brain or on the lack of the one-year stay in an English speaking country.
Click to expand...


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## emma42

Hey emma1968 (lovely name!).  I would bet that it is because you have not lived in an English-speaking country.  I think that "total immersion" is perhaps the only way to become fluent.  I am sure it is not your brain, which appears to be very large - well it would with a name like Emma!


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## french4beth

I would agree that some kind of immersion is essential.

I started studying French when I was 8, but it was only 1 hour per week. I continued thru high school, and then studied French at university.  I could read and write ok, but like the other posters mentioned, I had a lot of trouble carrying on an extended conversation.

I moved to Quebec & lived there for 6 years in a francophone community; I was eager to learn, being forced to use my French in all areas of life (grocery store, doctor, etc.) helped me a lot.  They also offered free classes in "French as a Second Language", so I took that full-time for 1 year; that really helped me a lot!

So it took me several years - I've heard that when you start dreaming in another language, you know you're doing well. Also, at some point, you stop translating everything and are able to _think_ in the language - that's fluency!  I found that humor was the hardest - there are many cultural nuances and _'double entendres'_ so you really have to be good to completely understand humor.


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## panjabigator

So would you say that you're as fluent in French now as you are in English?  Can you express yourself as thoroughly in French as in English?


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## french4beth

panjabigator said:
			
		

> So would you say that you're as fluent in French now as you are in English? Can you express yourself as thoroughly in French as in English?


No - in my little brain, I think of _'fluency'_ as being able to express oneself quite well; I don't consider myself to be _'bilingual',_ however (i.e. able to express myself equally well in both languages).  I know several people that I would consider to be bilingual, but they spoke both of their languages from the cradle on & received formal instruction in both languages.

I can make myself understood in French, I can watch sit-coms and understand what is going on, I can speak fairly well over the phone (but as a previous poster had shared, I usually prepare notes ahead of time if there's specific technical terms involved), and can watch tv and listen to the radio in French (and understand both).  

I have dreamt in French before, and I don't usually translate from one language to another during a conversation.

I have been complimented by native speakers on my accent - my ethnic background is not French, so people are generally quite surprised at my fairly authentic accent!  The school system that I attended were pioneers in that they insisted on exposure to native speakers, so we spent lots of time in the language lab!  I also believe that I have a natural ear for language (native & foreign) as I am also quite good at imitating friends, family and co-workers, etc.  I love language!


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## panjabigator

It is really encouraging to hear all these stories!  Im hoping I'll have a good one soon! (ie...fluent in Spanish!)


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## moirag

Hi
I´ve done a few languages, in different ways and with different results. At school I learnt French, German and Russian by a very traditional method -  translation, basically. As an adult ( aged 35, and 7 months pregnant....but that´s another story) I came to live in Spain with a little - very little - formal knowledge of Spanish - and here I have learnt to get by as much as I need to. I still feel that my German as was - you forget it - was better than my Spanish now, which I´ve learnt on the street.


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## captain_rusty

I came to France 25 years ago, having studied the language for 4 years at university. My wife of 22 years is French; we always speak French together.

I'm STILL nothing like as at ease in meetings, conferences, etc. in French as I am in English, and surely never will be... 

But I know people who are so fluent you can hardly tell which is their native language...


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## moirag

Yes, captain rusty, I agree. It is quite depressing to realise you´ll never feel  totally comfortable with the language you speak most hours of the day. After 14 years  living in Spain I still regularly make some very basic mistakes e.g. genders, ser/estar, subjunctives and sometimes get half-way through a story before realising I don´t know how to continue it. Other foreigners I´ve met agree that it affects your personality, so that people often think you´re a  quiet person till they see you with other native speakers.


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## Etcetera

emma42 said:
			
		

> Etcetera - I know exactly what you mean about "needing the words to describe your own kitchen". After studying French at university for two years, I realised I did not even know the word for "toothpaste", although I could read Balzac.
> 
> What I do now is imagine myself talking in French about everyday things and then look up all the words I might need. In this way I have learnt the words for toothpaste, hair conditioner, washing machine, all sorts of everyday words that you don't see in Balzac!


Emma, thank you very much for your advice! It sounds really helpful. I'll try to do the same in English - as well as in other languages I'm learning.


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## captain_rusty

moirag said:
			
		

> ... Other foreigners I´ve met agree that it affects your personality, so that people often think you´re a  quiet person till they see you with other native speakers.


That's absolutely true - I hadn't really thought about it like that before, but you're right - it gives us a kind of dual personality...


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## Honour

natasha2000 said:
			
		

> I don't get this....
> Turk, this means you did nothing but English during the whole year!
> And you did this after finishing ELEMENTARY school?



Exactly, in Turkey there are different types of high schools. In the one which i had attended years ago, physics, chemistry, biology and maths classes had been given in English. Therefore all students were expected to achieve a certain level of english proficiency after elementary school.


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## natasha2000

Turk said:
			
		

> Exactly, in Turkey there are different types of high schools. In the one which i had attended years ago, physics, chemistry, biology and maths classes had been given in English. Therefore all students were expected to achieve a certain level of english proficiency after elementary school.


 
OK... This is a different thing... It's like foreign school. I understood you had nothing but English classes during the whole year, that your sole subject was English....


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## Gatamariposa

Doesn't it depend on the person and a whole bunch of things? I started learning French aged 5 at school, and then started with Spanish at 13 also at school.  For some reason I just got on with Spanish better, but now I teach both. I would say that my Spanish is better than my French now just because I haven't practised it for longer.  If I go France for a while then it comes back in a matter of hours.
I also did Latin for 11 years which helped with the romance languages.  Now I really confuse the kids I teach cos am a half Indian-half English French and Spanish Teacher!!!  

Purrs Gatita


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## Etcetera

That's really confusing. But it's so nice.
As for Latin, you're right, it definitely helps with the Romance languages. It is due to my Latin classes that I can catch at least the basic meaning of any text written in any Romance language...


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## Bmac008

Hola a todos.

This fall I will begin college and I want to study Anthropology and Spanish. How long did it take you all to learn Spanish as a second language? I want to learn the language badly but sometimes i feel as if I'm in over my head. 

Ayudame! 

Gracias :]


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## palomnik

Bmac:  In my opinion, it depends on your aptitude, and your appetite, for learning languages, and also what you plan to do with it.

Spanish has a reputation of being "easy" for English speakers, and in general this is true, for a variety of reasons that there's not much point in going into here. Having said that, and having sat through some college-level Spanish classes where the lack of speaking ability demanded in even advanced classes was (to me, anyway) astounding, I would say that if you want to use Spanish extensively in speaking you will have to do at least one of three things: either take an "intensive" course (five hours class time a week or more; not all colleges offer courses like that), or put in a lot of effort beyond what the curriculum will demand, or else plan on spending some time in a Spanish speaking country.

Of course, I don't know your situation; maybe you are only concerned about fulfilling a foreign language requirement as part of your degree program, and you wonder whether Spanish will take up too much of your time. If that is the case, I suspect that Spanish will take up less of your time than practically any other language you could choose to study.

If your plan is to learn a language that you feel will be an asset in anthropology, it is true that there is a good deal written in Spanish regarding Native American cultures, if that's where your interests lie, and a knowledge of Spanish is absolutely necessary if you want to do field work in Latin America.

To get to your basic question, if you take an intensive course you can learn to speak Spanish surprisingly well in a few months. Are you looking at a time frame that you want to meet?


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## Mate

*Moderator note:*

From post #28 on, a new thread has been merged with an older, similar one. 

Enjoy the discussion!


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## zerduja

For me dozens of times learning and relearning,even now after living in argentina 5 years after retirment from USA,stll need work on pronounciation.iN A pinch, I can write it fine.


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## MYSTICA

Well, in my case,I'm native Spanish language, but I started learning English two years ago and I carry on getting my knowledge about it, but I've got a huge problem, when I´m going to start a conversation with a foreigh people, I feel fear, as if the mouse eats my tongue I can't pronounce very well, and the worst thing is that I forget some words , but I'm here fighting with my fear, I'm looking for friends online so that I can improve my writting mainly my English fluency


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## dana Haleana

I took spanish lesson for one month. It was difficult and easy at the same time. I came from the southwest part of the philippines where the dialect is _chavacano _or "_broken spanish_", so vocabulary was quite wide and verbs were very familiar as they were often used. Conjugation of verbs was the most difficult during the one month training. _Chavacano _only uses the 3rd person conjugation and we simply add "_yo_", "_tu",_ "_bo_", "_ustedes_" or "_elle_" depending on the context. On my part, it was diffucult to study spanish because I am very familiar with _chavacano._ When you're in the class, it seems so easy but it took me 3 months or so to understand a native speaker. Spanish is almost completely phonetic, look at almost any Spanish word and you can tell how it is pronounced. Although it is easy to talk in spanish, I am still having difficulty with expressing myself in spanish and I don't know why up to this time I could not comprehend the use of the indirect or direct object pronoun. 
Learning a second language is a continuos process, one should never stop.


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## xqby

Most days I feel like I don't speak English all that well, so I hesitate to say that I've "learned" Spanish. I had taken five years of the stuff in school and could read Borges with a decent degree of understanding when I started working in the employment department of an agricultural company. Quite a wake-up. Apparently knowing how to discuss books isn't at all helpful when someone walks into the office and starts yelling at you for some reason or other. I can yell back now, (though I tend not to) which I think is a fairly decent marker of fluency.


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## Lugubert

The first time I visited the Canary Islands, I had had not one formal hour of Spanish and not many informal minutes above that.Isurvived without not too much using English.

Next time, I had had some 40 hours of university beginner's preparation. I felt half native.

Some years and two Tenerife visits later, in Mexico, I almost never had to resort to English in trying to get what I wanted or finding out where our laundry had disappeared or whatever. OK, I'm a language nut.


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## rainbow84uk

Wow thanks for all the brilliant posts!

I studied Spanish at university, and graduated with a 1st but was almost unable to speak. Now I live in Barcelona but I teach English, so I spend hours and hours each day speaking my native language. I _am_ getting better at Spanish - I understand everything without much effort, can explain myself in almost any situation and my vocabulary is growing - but I still make far too many simple mistakes, especially considering my studies and the fact I live here.

It depends a lot though...some days I feel especially bad at it and get so tongue-tied, and other days I feel like I can say anything. But in general I feel like I'm just crawling forward and making very little progress...it's kind of reassuring to see that I'm not the only one. The weird thing is, at school and university I was seen as a natural with languages - but only because speaking wasn't really valued. Here no one would say I'm a natural, and as someone else said, people think I'm a very quiet, fairly dull person when really I'm not at all (at least, I hope not!)

Anyway, let's hope that with time I'll get better and better, and good luck to everyone learning languages!


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