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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to become fluent in another language in a year?

50 replies

TonySopranosBaggyTrousers · 23/05/2024 19:45

Is it possible?? I’m on Duolingo but it’s not enough, the lessons are very specific to certain situations … can I become fluent in a year without taking paid lessons?

OP posts:
atticstage · 23/05/2024 19:48

Probably not unless you're going to be able to immerse yourself in the language and interact with other speakers.

You can't achieve fluency from Duolingo, you need conversational interaction.

sheoaouhra · 23/05/2024 19:52

Duolingo is a brilliant basis, but you need more, look for books, and online resources, videos, people to chat with, etc

NuffSaidSam · 23/05/2024 19:57

Can you already more than one language?

I think you'd need to find some native speakers to help you along. Or visit the country for a few weeks at a time and immerse yourself.

Clearinguptheclutter · 23/05/2024 19:58

in a year? Only by going to a country where they speak it and totally immersing yourself IMO.

GrannyOgre · 23/05/2024 20:06

There is research by the US government on how long it takes to learn different languages to different levels. They are based on classroom hours rather than self study, which will be a lot harder. UK diplomats spend a year studying full time to learn the most difficult languages to a working level eg Arabic…

It ranges from 480 hours for the easiest languages eg French to 2200 for the hardest eg Chinese or Arabic. That’s not 480 hours of Duolingo though, that’s 480 hours of intensive teaching at a pace similar to university MFL level

Good luck! It’s a great ambition.

https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/blog/fsi-language-difficulty/

FSI language difficulty

FSI language difficulty - want to find a language to learn that's in the easy category? Maybe you want to give yourself a challenge and learn the hardest?! These are the easiest and hardest languages for native English speakers to learn!

https://www.fsi-language-courses.org/blog/fsi-language-difficulty/

TonySopranosBaggyTrousers · 23/05/2024 20:08

Aww and there was me thinking I could just watch Peppa Pig in Italian to assist Duolingo

ok so maybe not truly fluent but I wonder how much I can learn in a year

OP posts:
DonaldJohnTrump · 23/05/2024 20:09

NuffSaidSam · 23/05/2024 19:57

Can you already more than one language?

I think you'd need to find some native speakers to help you along. Or visit the country for a few weeks at a time and immerse yourself.

Dann sure I can 'already more than one language'.
^^Bigly.

VerlynWebbe · 23/05/2024 20:10

If it's a sister language to one that you already speak, you could make very quick progress, because you already know the structure. So say you already speak Spanish, then Italian isn't going to be as hard as something like Finnish. If you speak Polish, then you can probably crack on with Czech quite fast.

atticstage · 23/05/2024 20:11

There is research that shows people can't develop fluency from watching TV. Language acquisition requires interaction.

Octavia64 · 23/05/2024 20:11

I already have pretty good French and I picked up Spanish quite fast.

I then decided I wanted a challenge and am now learning Arabic. I expect that to take much longer than a year!

Namechangeforthis88 · 23/05/2024 20:13

I would add, living in the country isn't even enough, you can get by on very few words and pointing, you need to be in situations that demand you communicate at a fairly complex level.

Many a language student has slacked off in the run up to their year abroad thinking it would all just happen organically once they got there. Not necessarily.

Cornishmumofone · 23/05/2024 20:24

How motivated are you? When I wanted to improve my Japanese, I listened to nothing but Japanese audio books when in my car, and spent at least two hours studying the language every day. Most films I watched were in Japanese with English subtitles. During my lunch breaks, I met up with a Japanese student. She would talk to me in Japanese and I would help her with her assignments.

LoreleiG · 23/05/2024 20:27

Namechangeforthis88 · 23/05/2024 20:13

I would add, living in the country isn't even enough, you can get by on very few words and pointing, you need to be in situations that demand you communicate at a fairly complex level.

Many a language student has slacked off in the run up to their year abroad thinking it would all just happen organically once they got there. Not necessarily.

So true!

RobinHood19 · 23/05/2024 20:28

Having moved countries several times, it’s taken me about 18-24 months each time to become “fluent”. Was I already speaking and understanding a lot before then? Yes. Did I still have limited fluency after those 18-24 months? Also yes.

That was with living in the country / with native housemates in one case, and hearing the language every day, interacting in shops, council offices, at work if not on an English-speaking team. I also needed intensive classes (10-12 hours a week) for those languages that weren’t “sisters” of the ones I already spoke.

Would it be possible in a year? By making it your full-time occupation, possibly.

PS I speak 7 languages. So this is not a slow learning timeline, if I may say so myself.

GrannyOgre · 23/05/2024 20:29

TonySopranosBaggyTrousers · 23/05/2024 20:08

Aww and there was me thinking I could just watch Peppa Pig in Italian to assist Duolingo

ok so maybe not truly fluent but I wonder how much I can learn in a year

Actually, we were told to watch Sesame Street and other preschool programmes learning a MFL ab initio at university 😂 The language library kept videos of them.

RobinHood19 · 23/05/2024 20:30

However OP, do not become discouraged from our negative posts 😅 Keep learning it and look for a conversational class or other resources which will speed up the process. In one year you can definitely learn a lot, the key to it is consistency.

DelilahBucket · 23/05/2024 20:34

If you have any budget I would highly recommend Babbel Live classes. I've been doing one a week (it's unlimited classes but I don't have time for more than one) to learn Spanish for the last ten weeks, plus a couple of hours app learning and listening to the podcasts, and I've learned loads. The lessons are far better than a language school, cheaper, and a maximum size of six students so lots of speaking practice.

LoreleiG · 23/05/2024 20:36

GrannyOgre · 23/05/2024 20:29

Actually, we were told to watch Sesame Street and other preschool programmes learning a MFL ab initio at university 😂 The language library kept videos of them.

Great idea. Is it dubbed? I do remember Sesamstrasse in Germany.

I actually learned loads of French watching Heartbreak High, dubbed, on my year abroad. I was too shy to speak to many French people!

ChickyBricky · 23/05/2024 20:38

Thank you for sharing this link - I've been rummaging around for a decent AI language learning program and this looks really good. I appreciate them testing you on your existing level of comprehension, instead of asking you to assess it on a scale of (usually) 1 to 3.

Edited to add: Jeeeeeeezzzzz though, the extras they pile on when you subscribe!! Will I ever reach the end of the special offers?!?!?!??!?

Finnished · 23/05/2024 20:39

Depends on a language how difficult it is to learn it, and how good are you at languages! Some people just pick up languages very easily.

I'm sure Tv shows, with subtitles, can aide for sure as it helps to listen in the spoken language... or maybe it depends what kind of learner you are as well, but they've helped me.

ThreePointOneFourOneFiveNine · 23/05/2024 20:41

Immerse yourself in media in your chosen language. Have it on the radio in the car, watch films and TV (with subtitles). Get yourself used to listening to it all the time. I'd love to be able to be a huge Bollywood fan, and when I my children are old enough to give me time to watch lots of movies I absolutely intend to indulge myself. As it is I've only managed to watch a few movies (and loved them), some more than once, and have the soundtrack on while I'm cleaning sometimes, and I do recognise quite a few words now. Not loads, but I've made no attempt to study the language at all and I've just got used to hearing certain words.

ChickyBricky · 23/05/2024 20:47

ChickyBricky · 23/05/2024 20:38

Thank you for sharing this link - I've been rummaging around for a decent AI language learning program and this looks really good. I appreciate them testing you on your existing level of comprehension, instead of asking you to assess it on a scale of (usually) 1 to 3.

Edited to add: Jeeeeeeezzzzz though, the extras they pile on when you subscribe!! Will I ever reach the end of the special offers?!?!?!??!?

Edited

Just realised they're scammers. Avoid!

Oblomov24 · 23/05/2024 20:47

No one I knew was fluent even after living in a place for a year.

PassingStranger · 23/05/2024 20:50

Quickest way to learn the language, go tothe country and get a partner.

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