How Long Does It Take To Learn Spanish?

The amount of time it takes to learn Spanish varies from student to student depending on a variety of factors such as aptitude, previous language experience (specifically experience with other romance languages). Conventional wisdom holds that it takes between 250-350 hours of core study for the average student to learn to speak Spanish at a functionally-fluent level. Functionally-fluent is not the same thing as “near-native fluency,” instead, it means being able to express abstract ideas and communicate with educated adults without sounding like a child.

The Foreign Service Institute itself allocates about 6 months to the task of teaching a new diplomat Spanish. You might prefer to work at a slower pace than a professional diplomat, but I think the 250-hour number still applies. Note this applies only to core Spanish studies and not outside practice such as reading, watching Spanish TV, and practicing conversation with native speakers.