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

[TonySopranosBaggyTrousers]

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?

It’s possible to be conversational but depends on the language.

are you only an English speaker? Or any other languages?

it also takes pretty time full time work.

C1 level at French (which is fluent but not native level) takes about 6 months full time study ( based on the US link stayed above) . This is because it’s relatively similar to English. Spanish, Italian, German will be similar.

But English speakers, it will take around 2 years full time study to get to the same level in Mandarin.

Duolingo isn’t great. It’s a good warm up tool but I’ve used it every day for two years and there’s no way I’d be able to hold a conversation in my chosen language.

on the plus side, there’s lots of language exchange sites and online lessons on YouTube which are really helpful. So it would definitely be possible to self study using a textbook supplemented by other online resources.

good luck! It’s a great hobby

Can I also suggest an app called tandem. During Covid, I decided to try and learn German because I love the language. My cousin recommended this app as a way of speaking with native speakers. Basically, I was able to chat to people who were trying to learn English who themselves spoke German. I became quite friendly with a couple of them and in fact one lady said that if I ever went to Germany, I could stay with her whenever I wanted. I never took her up on her offer but it was very kind.

If you are speaking with a native speaking of that language and live in the country then maybe

I love learning languages and pay for duolingo.

You can absolutely become fluent in a year but it'll take a couple of hours a day.

You'll need a good grammar book, a vocab book and then every time you watch TV make sure it's in the language you're learning.

There's a guy on Instagram who is really good at Chinese but also learns other languages really quickly.

@Alsonification i am on Tandem for German too, it's great!

Nooo. I admit I bailed on the sign-up when it gave me a 'count-down' to redeem the offer. What's the scam?

Immerse yourself as much as possible.

Change your search engine to an Italian one.

Read books in Italian, start with childrens books or books you know well.

Watch Italian TV. If you have Netflix can you change the subtitles / dubbing?

Go to your nearest Italian restaurant and speak to the waiters.

I did Italian on Duolingo for 3 or 4 years and it gave me a pretty good grounding in grammar & vocab, to the extent that I could read short novels in Italian, but it wasn’t until I joined a real-life class that I became reasonably confident in speaking & listening.

I'm very fond of subtitled TV for improving my languages.

I also found shagging the natives helps ...

You really need total immersion ie to live in the country, plus have tuition in, or study, grammar so you understand the underlying structure of what you're hearing, if you don't have that already.

Learning by listening isn't enough, although it's a great start. Interaction is essential. You need to string sentences together so that people understand you - and then understand their response. That's the real challenge.

You need to string sentences together so that people understand you - and then understand their response. That's the real challenge.

It’s also the fun bit!

In my experience, the most effective way to do this is to move to the country and find a lover who only speaks to you in that language.

It is also much more fun than Duolingo.

That's does sound very tempting but I'm not sure the liver woukd be interested in me and my baggage and DH might need some convincing. I'm willing to give anything a try though

I'm a language teacher. Aside from the amount of time you dedicate to it, there are other factors such as your aptitude and whether you have experience with learning a language. There are 6 European reference levels, from A1 (basic competency) to C2 (native-like). Typically, it takes students a year or two to reach each level if they study once or twice a week. Those who study every day can learn much faster and reach at least A2 (pre-intermediate) in a year. This means they can communicate well in various tenses and understand basic texts, maybe even read simple novels.

Here's what I'm doing to learn Spanish:

• Four years ago, I practiced every day on Duolingo for two years. Since I understand language structures in depth, I did quite well with it. Even now, I can understand basic texts. However, Duolingo doesn't teach you speaking skills since you never have a real-life interaction, so I wouldn't feel confident speaking to someone after just using it.
• I use a coursebook to make sure I understand all the grammar required at each level. Many books have the solutions at the back, so they're suitable for self-study.
• I started biweekly lessons recently. My teacher is very affordable since the classes are online. This gives me an opportunity to ask questions about grammar topics I didn't understand when studying on my own.
• I have started reading a book (very slowly). A good series to start with is "Short Stories in (insert language)". Several of my students have used this before.

I would also recommend language exchanges. You find a native speaking partner who wants to learn your language and then take turns speaking each other's languages. This would solve the problem with Duolingo, which is that you never get to speak to a real person. It is typically free, so a good alternative if you don't want to get a tutor.

Not a chance for fluency. Intermediacy - certainly. Most english speakers think intermediacy, which is conversational level, is fluency.

Fluency is overhearing a conversation on, say, politics, understanding every word and context and being able to communicate your ideas in pretty perfect grammar and appropriate vocab. Then, do the same with a bunch of teenagers talking about Taylor Swift. Can you read the newspaper, understand every word and then discuss spontaneously any article?

True fluency is a lot harder than you think. Many think my daughter is fluent in her second language. They don't realise that she uses language bypasses to hide what she doesn't understand or when lacking vocab. It's a good and necessary strategy for a teenager. I only know because I regularly ask her words because I am still learning this language and she cheerfully admits she doesn't know them.

She has gone to school in language for 3 years and reguarly gets full marks in native language tests.

If it helps to give you some idea of how long it takes. I teach English to Arabic speakers at an overseas uni. They are given 1 academic year (Jan-Jan) to reach C1 (from A1/A2)... (Elementary to an Upper Intermediate level). This involves 4 hours a day 5 days a week as well as weekly 'quizzes' , homework etc.

If you ever did French GCSE think how long that took. In my day (80s/90s) we started French in the 1st year and continued all the way through to GCSE (5 years).

Useful resources....adult Ed classes/go back to college, Open University does short taster courses that are free, futurelearn as well or if you are really serious find a decent tutor.

You would struggle to become fluent in a year even if you lived in a country that speaks your chosen language unless you were actually studying full time as well.

University language students spend their third year abroad, which is usually what makes them fluent, but they have studied the language for two years full time prior to this and usually several hours a week for years beforehand.

It’s an admirable goal; just not a realistic one.

As a French teacher I can categorically say you cannot learn a language just using Duolingo and there are probably much better ways to spend the time you spend on it. I've been learning French for around 40 years and I still wouldn't describe myself as totally fluent. The most fluent I have been was when I spent time in the country, living with native speakers talking the language all the time.

In terms of learning quickly, I learnt another language from scratch at university and after two years intensive teaching, 7 months living in the country and a further year's teaching I was able to hold a decent conversation but still not completely fluent.

So in short, no. Sorry. Learning languages is hard. Children learn their own native language over a period of years despite being completely immersed and surrounded by the language. You cannot become fluent in a foreign language as an adult in a year. If you really want to learn you need to pay for proper lessons from a teacher. Online resources can help you but they cannot replace teaching and conversation practice.

I have seen it done where a bunch of pretty bright lawyers and actuaries in a blue chip firm HAD to learn a language to a pretty fluent level in six months but they were basically shut in a room from 8am to 6 pm during that time with two highly skilled teachers and the word “intense” didn’t begin to describe what they went through! 😀

I've just thought of something I did which was attempt to keep a diary in Italian. The teacher would correct what I had written.

It was only a couple of lines but you do need someone who knows the language.

Will you become fluent in a language in a year without living there and interacting primarily with people in that language? No. But still, do whatever you can and you’ll get that bit closer. Duolingo helped get me started with speaking Spanish before my year travelling in Central America. I needed to learn a lot more when I got there, and was mostly hanging out with backpackers speaking English so still didn’t progress very much even when using the language in shops and cafes etc. but it helped. Then keep using it. Keep practicing. It was 5 years ago now and I’ve forgotten most of what I’d learnt.

Watch comedy in another language. When you laugh at the right bits you're fluent.

It’s perfectly achievable for a native English speaker to learn to C1 ( fluency) in 6 months of full time study of most western European languages. ( they don’t have the stats for Celtic languages, which may be harder)

that would be 9-5pm ( anything more would be counter productive- good sleep actually helps language acquisition)

as you say it’s incredibly intense. They will also be able to talk confidently about mergers and acquisitions, but not know the word for ‘potato’, so a lot depends on context.

Totally fluent? That's very hard to achieve unless you're living in the country and totally immersed all day every day for years. And in a year and all you've done so far is Duolingo? No chance, sorry 😆

Language acquisition is about consistent repetition, learning, practice and discovering where your limits are as well how to push beyond them!

Aside from the educational approach, I think you also have to take a philosophical approach too. For English native speakers, Hebrew is one of the hardest languages to learn.

Yes, I'm currently learning Hebrew myself and I don't expect to be fluent in 3 years, never mind 1!

You will make mistakes!

You will be frustrated at times!

But you WILL learn something too!

Becoming fluent in a language in a year? Not very realistic perhaps. Even if its not far off your native tongue.

Can you understand the grammatical basis to develop a foundation upon which to eventually become fluent in a year?

Yes, that's possible. Especially if you go to a school where you learn a language intensively for 3 months.

But you still have to exercise your skills consistently enough over time to become fluent.