The net is filled with bold articles, offering tips on how you can become fluent in a new language in a matter of months. Here, at Lingoo, we’re proud to provide the opportunities that passionate, motivated language learners need to flourish. Although we don’t make the same claims that anyone can become fluent in another language in the space of three months, we deliver the immersive support required to unlock more successful language learning, in both the long and short term.
In this blog post, we shine the spotlight on whether becoming fluent in a new language in three months is actually possible and whether these get-fluent quick schemes are really your best choice for learning a language.
Is three months long enough?
There are a number of factors that dictate the speed at which an individual can learn a new language. Motivation levels, support, prior linguistic knowledge, the learning environment and teaching methods used, age, and even your personality all effect how well a new language can be absorbed.
The difficulty of the language you wish to study can also influence the timescale in which you achieve fluency, with some languages more difficult to grasp than others.
According to the latest Foreign Service Institute (FSI) research, achieving basic conversational fluency varies from target language to target language:
“If we are able to put in 10 hours a day, then basic fluency in the easy languages should take 48 days, and for difficult languages, 72 days. Accounting for days off, this equates to two months or three months’ time. If you only put in 5 hours a day, it will take twice as long.”
So perhaps achieving basic fluency in three months isn’t so unachievable, you just need to dedicate half your day, every day, to language learning to achieve it!
How can I achieve fluency faster?
We understand that not everyone has the time to study their new language for 10 or more hours a day. That being said, there are numerous steps you can take to learn your new language at a faster rate, trimming down the time it takes to achieve fluency.
Opting for more frequent but shorter language study sessions at home is a great place to begin. There are a variety of resources available online, such as apps, software and forums, that make it simpler to bring language learning into the home.
Achieving accuracy in your new language is just as important, so make sure the resources you choose are reliable ones. You can also attend more formal language lessons to keep language learning techniques as effective as possible. Repetition helps too, a fact that leads many to integrate their language learning goals into their daily lives and habits.
Known as immersion learning, language immersion methods have been proven to help individuals of all ages learn a new language quickly and efficiently.
Taking your studies outside of your home and even beyond your home country courtesy of a homestay or language exchange holiday is also highly recommended. The ultimate form of language immersion, a homestay or exchange holiday provides support and lessons from native speakers as well as an opportunity to practice and live your new language in the country of its origin.
