How long it really takes to learn each language — FSI hours, verbatim.
Hours to Learn a Language
FSI hours · difficulty tiers · study plans

How long does it really take to learn a language?

The US State Dept FSI estimates the class hours to reach professional proficiency in 75 languages — from ~600 hours to ~2,200. Look up yours, compare difficulty tiers, and plan your study. Real State Department numbers, used verbatim.

Calculate your study hours Compare difficulty tiers

Look up a language

Pick a language to see roughly how many class hours and weeks the FSI estimates it takes to reach professional proficiency. Open the study-hours calculator →

Afrikaans~600-750 hrsAlbanian~1100 hrsAmharic~1100 hrsArabic~2200 hrsArmenian~1100 hrsAzerbaijani~1100 hrsBengali~1100 hrsBosnian~1100 hrsBulgarian~1100 hrsBurmese~1100 hrsCantonese~2200 hrsCatalan~600-750 hrsCroatian~1100 hrsCzech~1100 hrsDanish~600-750 hrsDutch~600-750 hrsEstonian~1100 hrsFinnish~1100 hrs

Browse by difficulty tier

Category I~600-750 hrsCategory II~900 hrsCategory III~1100 hrsCategory IV~2200 hrs

Plan & compare

See every difficulty tier side by side, build a study plan by tier, or read the 75-language data study. All figures trace to the US State Dept FSI list.

12-week language study planner

Turn the FSI hours for your language into a realistic 12-week study schedule. Free.

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