How long does it take to learn Spanish?

Learning Spanish is not an easy task. It takes time and effort to learn a new language. The amount of time it takes to learn a language depends on the person, their skills, and the type of learning they are doing.

The most common way to learn a new language is through lessons or classes. This can be done in an active or passive way. Active learning means that you are actively speaking the language while passive means that you are listening to someone else speak it. Others simply never take any classes, but just surround themselves with the language and learn to adapt it as they go. However you came to this blog, because you would like to have a more tangible answer. Let’s see what is officially stated as to how many hours of studying it takes to get from one Spanish level to the other:

Amount of hours it takes to learn Spanish:

LevelFrom level to levelApproximate amount of hoursTotal amount of hours to get to this level
A1: Beginners levelFrom start to level A170 hours70 hours
A2: Elementary levelFrom level A1 to A2150 hours220 hours
B1: Intermediate levelFrom level A2 to B1300 hours520 hours
B2: Upper intermediate levelFrom level B1 to B2200 hours720 hours
C1: AdvancedFrom level B2 to C1200 hours920 hours
C2: ProficiencyFrom level C1 to C2200 hours1120 hours

In short;

  • Obtaining a A1 level in Spanish should be accomplished by 70 hours of studying.
  • After 520 hours of studying Spanish you should be able to have a proper conversation.
  • After 1120 hours of studying Spanish you should be fluent at a high level.

Obviously there are a lot of factors that weigh in, like how you emerge yourself in the language, how easy it is for you to learn a foreign language, even your way of life has an influence. However, this overview is a nice ballpark to understand how long it could possibly take for you to learn the vocabulary, conjugations and rules of the Spanish language.