4 min read

How long does it take to actually learn a language?

So much of global culture right now has a quick mentality of time: "get rich quick," "become fluent in 30 days," "grow millions of followers in one week," "take your side hustle to full time in six months," and so on.

Real life doesn't work like this. What does the global framework of quick transformations mean for the language learner?

When it comes to language learning for a baby's first language, the stats and research tell us a completely different story:

36 hours of authentic input per week.

12-18 months to form full sentences.

That's about 1872 - 2808 hours of input and engaging with the "target language" to get you to "toddler-level fluency."

Not even to mention "brain plasticity" -- how quickly, efficiently, freely, and deeply you can learn something (lit. how adaptable your brain can be when constructing and strengthening neural pathways).

When we're born, our brains have the most flexibility and openness to learning new systems. For some, that flexibility and "learning strength" only goes down due to factors like stress. For others, they remain capable of encoding multiple languages through forced navigation of stressful, real-world situations.

A few reflection questions:

How does the unrealistic conception of how long it takes to see “results’ impact your learners?

What does this mean for language learners and teachers?

Naturally, we might also find ourselves asking questions like the following:

1. What would it look like to rethink traditional language education?

Well, traditional classrooms with 3 hours of "input"/exposure per week won't create "fluent speakers." If it takes 36 hours per week for a baby, 3 hours per week for a full time student or learner with real-world responsibilities won't do much.

2. Do factors like brain plasticity matter?

Yes, and we can optimize it! Language learning is more effective when we reduce the stress in the environment because it "frees up your brain" to make new connections and "learn." Adopting strategies based in #TESOLfoundations like the Affective Filter hypothesis encourage genuine rapport between learners and teachers and can mitigate the brain plasticity question many adult learners encounter.

3. Should language learning and training work include using the linguistic skills and topics the learners have at their disposal and engage with on a daily basis (transfer of learning, anyone?)?

Yes! While we may have lost our baby-level brain plasticity, there are so many other ways our brains can authentically acquire a new code/language, starting with optimizing curiosity and working with what is relevant to our learners.

Learning languages can be complicated and does take time, therefore teaching a language works best when simplified. How do you simplify the most complex parts of language learning for yourself or your students?

Wrapping it all up with a bow: timing, brain plasticity, and relevant input and how we can simplify language learning 💡

🔑Set realistic expectations with how long it will take to make progress based on the learners’ goals and implement the most fitting teaching approach. Realistic timing expectations and the goals are two major defenses for task-based language teaching (TBLT).

🔦Unless immersive environments are accessible, the way to build long-term successful communication skills is through facilitating real-world communication contexts (“tasks”) in class. These opportunities to practice navigating authentic L2 communication in a supported environment will prepare them for live interactions as they progress.

Some informative TBLT voices that I frequently refer to include Leo Gomez, Andrew Woodbury, and Michael H. Landry on their podcast #TeacherTalkingTimePodcast. Check out their episode on Task Based Language Teaching.

🔑Are we just racing against the clock to learn what we can until we no longer have any brain power” left to make new pathways and connections? No! If you’ve wanted to incorporate a second language into your skill set, you absolutely can. Even though we don’t learn as quickly or as deeply as we do when learning our first language, the adult brain has the capacity to learn much more “widely” because of life experience and overlap between your first and new language (more on this, do a quick search on “transfer of learning”).

🔦Essentially, what you know already informs what you experience and learn in the future and vice versa. Emphasizing the similarities and differences between your first and second language allows you to apply and reformulate the language you already know and use on a daily basis.

🔑Feeling overwhelmed? Focus your language learning efforts by coasting on curiosity, using your daily routines to concentrate the new language you learn each week, and engage with it as much as possible in ways you already use your first language.

🔦 Journaling, writing in a planner, marking your personal calendar events, swapping your phone to your target language (TL), visiting TL cultural restaurant and shops in your area, reading TL children's books, listening to TL music and podcasts are just a few ways to work in daily language use in a manageable way.

Cheers!