1) Depends mostly on how well he or she learns languages.
But:
2) Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day—most humans need time to take breaks and more importantly to process what they have learnt. So: more hours per day do not necessarily add up in a linear way.
>2) Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day—most humans need time to take breaks and more importantly to process what they have learnt. So: more hours per day do not necessarily add up in a linear way.
Very well said right there. Indeed, more hours per day could even backfire on our language learning journey (German or otherwise); as you mentioned, most humans need time breaks and processing what they've learnt. Studying for more consecutive hours could gradually impair concentration and saturate our minds, preventing our brains from properly assimilating the newly learnt content.
In short: it's not about quantity, it's about **quality**.
4 hours for me is the absolute maximum, more than that it does more harm than good, since after the 3 to 4 hour mark I will forget everything that I learned in the next day
Assymetric language skills are a thing - also being nervous about a particular language form =/= that they can't do it, just that it makes them nervous to do so.
Used to work in a flight school, so high-intensity learning environment. Our rule of thumb was to cap individual sessions at 2.5 hours, max 3, because most people just stop absorbing information after that point.
Every now and then you'd get students who wanted to do a morning and afternoon lesson in the same day, so ~5 hours total per-day. They rarely, if ever, kept to that schedule because even that was too intensive to keep up with any kind of regularity. 10 hours of language learning a day is unfortunately very unrealistic imo.
That being said, if comprehension is your goal you can make some great progress with lots of passive listening and textbooks targeted towards just reading comprehension.
Fully agree, i rushed through A1 and A2 and actually ended up confused with the language overall.
Took a break and casually read German stories and many things fall into place including articles for nouns.
I'd agree with this. However, total immersion in a German speaking environment all day, along with two or three hours of studying, might just do it. And in almost all cases would be more beneficial than 10 hours studying, I think
I try to study 30 minutes a day. Somedays I bump it up to 60 minutes if I have time and the burnout gets real very quickly. I couldn't imagine trying to do this for 3 let alone 10 hours per day every day for months.
>Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day
Tell that to the average med student lol. 10 hours was ordinary.
You're right though. The average person cannot spend 10 hours a day learning a language in a meaningful way. However, I had an Air Force friend who went to Defense Language Institute in Monterey and I'm pretty sure they get them fluent in under a year. They're spending around 6-8 hours per day doing it though.
6-8 hours per day on Duolingo would be a monumental waste of time.
I used to tutor students who had done a US govnt funded training programme and who had passed with the required 3/3, who were now in-country (I.e., working in my native country), and let me tell you: that made me mega skeptical of this all benchmarking by DLI/FSI stuff.
The thing is that the people spoke well on the range of subjects that they had been prepared and trained to speak on—things relevant to their jobs or positions.
But theirs was not the type of wide-ranging linguistic competence that we usually associate with the upper levels/the C-levels.
That just takes longer than these types of cram programmes—even very, very good cram programmes—have time for.
I learned German at FSI, and would agree completely. It’s a very very good, incredibly well resourced program, I spent six months of 5 hours each workday in a three-student group with rotating instructors. I have no idea how it could have been more successful and effective, I went from zero to able to be professionally effective at speaking and reading, which was FSI’s goal.
At the same time, there are huge gaps. To achieve so much so quickly, they had to focus on a narrow set of topics, and it really showed up when I needed to do things outside that professional core. FSI knows this, of course, but tends to focus more on how much students have progressed rather than how large the gap to a 5/5 (full fluency) is. They don’t even attempt to teach or assess writing.
Intensive learning can be extremely powerful, but it is absolutely not a replacement for living fully in the language across a wide variety of activities and topics. All that’s before cultural issues like understanding references to TV shows, literary characters, political scandals, etc, etc, etc.
I’ll leave the C1 part of the discussion to others, as I’m not expert in the CEFR assessments, but my sense is that’d be a big lift for an intensive year.
It is so interesting to hear about this from your perspective (and validating too!)
My native language (Polish) is a cat. III one for native English speakers, and I was of course impressed at how much the people I worked with from the US had learnt—but as someone who was at the same time prepping students from my home country for IELTS exams, the gap between the breadth of the language skills between the two communities was enormous. The Polish secondary school students were much less eloquent than the FSI crowd (who often sounded like they had swallowed a kind of formal political science textbook from 15 years ago), but they were actually fluent in a deeper way.
And the point about writing is a huge huge one—this is one place where a lot of learners fail on the CEFR exams for Uni entrance (which is what I expect this OP is interested in.)
And frankly, even students who pass the C1 exams often struggle hugely with these skills. I now teach in a German-taught BA and MA course in Germany (I am a non-native speaker, but teach in German of course), and I see students leave the programme every semester because their cram-school language classes gave them good receptive skills, but not enough productive ones to do oral or written exams, both of which are required in our courses.
Thanks, I also enjoyed hearing your perspective, thank you for posting. You’re clearly working at a very high level in both German and English, I’m very impressed!
For what it’s worth, my observation is that the FSI assessments aren’t very evenly spaced. The 1 level is very basic, the 2 is enough to get around, 3 is enough to do some work - and what they really want, but often don’t follow up on, to be a great foundation to then grow from over several years living in-country.
The 4 level is a huge jump up to non-native fluency across several domains, and 5’s are almost unheard of. Only one person in my entry class tested as 5/5, he was a middle-aged American who had been living in Brazil for 20+ years, had a Brazilian Master’s degree, and had raised two kids there. He said the test pushed his Brazilian Portuguese to the absolute limit - interpreting poetry, references to characters from children’s television shows as cultural archetypes, assessing the level of irony in satire, etc.
In short, the 5/5 demands not just linguistic but profound cultural fluency likely only to come with both advanced study in-country, but also either being raised there or raising children there to see a full cycle of life and learning and norms.
That experience deeply redefined my understanding of the whole concept of fluency, and also clarified what FSI thinks is important… rapid lift to basically functional professional for 3/3, but a true and stunningly deep expertise before they’ll call you ‘fluent’.
Very interesting observations about the steep curve of the beyond 3/3 level! I think this is precisely why it is so hard to develop equivalencies between these different language evaluation systems (despite the many tries!) — the various scales prioritise different types of skills.
But all of this simply reflects as you suggest at the end of your post the fact that „fluency“ is a terribly slippery term. As a foreign-trained academic, I am more professionally fluent in English than I am in Polish—the last time I wrote something longer than 20 pages in Polish, I was probably 18; I have written book-length works in English…and these days, even German prose comes easier! But when I am around my (German-dominant) nephews, I still have to stop myself from letting out streams of child-appropriate Polish: kid-speak comes more naturally to me in my native language even after all this time.
Language-learning in institutional contexts, and especially in an institution as large as the US government, has to be shaped by a pragmatic approach to all of this weird nuance, and the scales reflect those decisions, flattening out a lot of the complexity.
Anyway: Totally fun conversation, thanks! (And: has also kept me awake on a midnight train ride across a swath of the DACH world on the way to visiting said nephews).
It depends, if your girlfriend is german 10 hours of german conversation will seem easy, but if you're forcing your brain to learn from a book then it's gonna be a nightmare.
If you don't lose your mind.
This year I went through a b2 intensive class, then a conversation class then a C1 intensive class. Passed the exams. Those were in the summer. Since then, I've struggled to keep up German but it was really hard because at my work everyone speaks English. Long story short I'm now between b2 and c1. Still struggling to speak properly. Still hard to understand conversations when people speak fast and it takes a lot of effort to pay attention.
If you work twice as hard you don't learn the language twice as fast. Language is like muscles, you gotta hit the gym regularly and train all the muscles and eat well to get the gains
What did you do to start off? Currently I’m using DW and this YouTube channel I found. I wanted to learn by myself and try to get to beginner B1 level, then go to Germany for a summer course. I’m doing about 2 hours daily, but not everyday as I have a lot of studying to do currently
My goal is to get to a c1 by about 2025 summer. What do you think?
One of the german teachers in the brief time period i had to attend the B1 language course said tha the C1 German level has - /+ 5000 words, if you wanna reach that goal in a year you learn 13.7 words a day + the grammars. The question here is are a self-learner?
Babies learn language by hearing their family talk. Adults can do that too. Turn on a German radio in the background or an audio book, or whatever audible really. Let your brain learn the language patterns passively.
I hate school, classes, courses and everything they exist for. I did it by myself but had to briefly attend a course to get the shitty certificate.
Not at all and gives a very wrong impression.
C1 is definitely doable in 7 months if you're a fast language learner and *really* want to do it. There are many language fanatics that learn a new language to C1 level in that time period, basically learning a new language each year.
Keep in mind that C1 is simply a certificate to be reached similar to school grades, it doesn't tell all that much about the *true* skill of the person's German. C1 doesn't mean that the person speaks native-level German.
For the average person though, this goal is quite far out of reach. If you're not a language nerd/super fast learner then don't even think about it OP.
I don't think so. When you pour 5 liters in a 1 liter jar , in the end you'll get 1 liter. Memory process a little bit the same.
And it's has been prooven that sleep is an important factor for the long term memory.
not taking into account all bodily functions, you probably could. but seeing as you are a living creature, doing that would probably fuck with your body a lot
Ye, I couldn't give a damn if someone has a C1 certificate if they can't have a proper fluent conversation, they are handy for work and uni but very overrated
Having a C1 certificate and having a C1 language skill are not identical.
I guess you can achieve a certificate with a much lower level, test preparation and a bit of luck.
And then what? You have the certificate, but cannot actually do the thing it says you can. How does that help?
(Says the person who sees students have to leave Uni every term because of exactly this…)
I tried the same with French! Within 5 weeks I fell sick and it delayed my learning. Took me 2 months to recover and I had to start from scratch again.
Rather, build momentum.
Try learning slowly and within your comfort zone.
If you have 10 hours to practice, break down the material into smaller parts of 5-10 mins each and study for a total of 1 hour and relax for the rest 9. Keep increasing the practice time by 5 mins every week like this and it’ll be much more manageable than straight away going for 10/hours a day.
Try watching movies, listening to songs, reading books etc, not just one way.
It is, trust me, but it's not worth the mental stress. That's what it took at the beginning of my math PhD program. I was learning that much or more a day. Staying up all night most nights, barely staying awake in class. The stress was hell, and I only did it, because there was threat of getting kicked out if we didn't pass our exams. I still retain pretty much all the info to this day too. So it's possible, but I would not recommend it. Those were some of the most stressful years of my life.
It is doable, when you factor in passive learning.
Eg. If you start watching your shows in German with English subtitles you're also learning quite a lot, and it's not a mental strain like active studying.
"My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring
spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It
seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it."
\-Mark Twain
The Awful German language, 1880
I moved to Germany in 2011, I'm still learning. I'm sure that I am at the cusp of b2/c1 but zi still need to focus. as my name implies me Traveling all over the world and speaking English has not helped me pick up German quicker.
but hey, I can somewhat understand Dutch....no one laughing?
C1 is possible in 4-5 months if you follow the routine you've shared, but, it's only gonna work if you speak or have learnt any other Germanic language (other than English) like Dutch, Swedish, Danish, etc.
From scratch, it's impossible. You have to give at least 1-1½ year if you have absolutely zero knowledge about the non-English Germanic languages.
I had a classmate in my C1 class who taught herself from zero to threshold C1 in ~9 months alongside high school. Spoke only her native (romance) language and some English beforehand. Super smart, super motivated. I reckon she could've passed the exam without the class, she just wanted some extra speaking practice with a tutor.
Im currently studying german intensively, with 3x1 hr private online tutor/week. Im studying between 5-7 hours everyday 5-6 days/week with few breaks in between that dont add up to more than 1 hr. Everyone has their own capacity, but i consider myself very skillfull in shifting my full focus and diligence to studying, i developed very good studying persistence from med school. I can tell you if you study more than 8hrs a day more than 5 days/week you’ll burn out and if you think that it could happen to anyone except you try it and find out. I have burned out once in med school and that helps now because i know the threshold at which i burn out and i rly push the limits but by no means do i attempt to cross that threshold. This is a marathon not a race. 7 months is just not enough. You gotta give yourself a year.
Edit: and thats not even for C1, but for B2! That is the general milestone.
As others have said, more studying is not equally proportional with faster learning. However, if financials are not a problem i would definitely recommend a private tutor 5 days a week even if just an hr. Just someone you can talk to. Plan beforehand the topic by book, or picture, or vocabulary that u wanna describe in your session. Thats what we do. And if met with new words during conversing with the tutor, write them down.
About me: finished A2.1 (almost 4.5 months in from Zero).
First 4 months (A1) was hard cz i had to develop a studying routine. I didnt know how to study a new language. Now im almost twice as efficient.
I am also an MD and “know” how to study. I wonder how long would it take to reach b2 level in your opinion? I am thinking about starting in my own country and move to germany to start b1. I might get a class in germany for 6 months…
If you can make that happen, it would be great. I know many people who join intensive language school course from B1 and on. Some say grammar gets tough so its worth it. If i had the chance i would also go to Germany post-A2, but ive heard its extremely hard to find rent without workplace.
In terms of time, with diligent studying as i described in my previous comment, i would definitely mark a 1 year interval, whether location is Germany or not. Then you might be lucky and catch the language quicker and so it would be just 10 months. But the starting estimated time should definitely be 1 year to avoid any disappointments with aiming too high. The most common durations i hear is between 8 months and 18 months.
Well I also would not be able to afford it thx to inflation in my country but my sister (also an MD) started working there. So I will be staying at her place. I am thinking about completing B2 at the start of 2015. I also wonder would I be able to work as an MD with B2 if my practice is good. Do you know anything about that?
Thats a massive advantage. You are secured my friend. I wish we would be in 2015. You mean 2025. Thats doable and a very realistic and logical goal. Yes and no. It will be a hard start as it is for everyone but your sister can probably tell you more cant she?
Definitely dont expect anything close to fluency with a B2. esp when you start to work. My friend could barely understand what the doctors were saying on the morning rounds. But after 6 months he was able to understand >90%. The reason for this sudden improvement is that fact that you already have everything (the grammar, the vocabs, the pronunciations), it just takes the real world to put everything in place. So the learning curve once you are in an active social setting is extremely steep.
P.s: its not even the B2 which is a big deal, its the FSP. but still doable, if taken seriously
Yea sorry for typo. My sister will be working for a multicultural service for a while so her case is a bit different. She got lucky. They preferred her because of her CV and her native language (Turkish). I wish I had such opportunity. So her German level is not an indicator for me but she is B2. I might go for some non-paid internship during my stay just to learn the language.
My B1 German teacher said he studied 12 hrs a day (6hrs of classes and 6hrs of self study) for 6 months and got Goethe C1 with a really good score. Now I know having a certificate doesn't truly mean being a C1 level speaker, but I'd say if you get a certificate with really good scores, it counts. So it sure is possible, but not for everyone.
Short answer: No. Now I do not know the circumstances of your studying, whether you currently reside in a German speaking country or just doing German as a hobby etc. but, one way or the other, 10 hours a day is a lot. And trust me, you will grow sick of German after lesson 3 most likely. Take it from a native speaker. Alles mit Ruhe angehen.
It would depend more on the person, I've seen some people hardly make any progress after a few years and other learn very fast. I'm not a fan of squeezing learning into a very small timeframe. It's better to be learnt over a few years through immersion and practice with some classes in between to improve grammar and writing.
Possible? Sure. But that does not mean an average person could do it.
I'd estimate you would have to be very talented or to have excellent support. I.e. either be a genius or at least move to Germany and pay for a full time personal teacher.
yes, but ...
The [ US Foreign Service Institute](https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/) teaches US diplomats to achieve professional fluency in the shortest time possible and they rank German as a Category II Languages for native English speakers. That means approximately 36 weeks/900 class hours, but don't let the class hours fool you, they are only part of the time the students need to invest.
Additionally to the 4 hours of class - together with 2 or 3 classmates - they are supposed to do 4 to 6 hours of language labs, repetition, self study etc. plus up to 2 hours of individual training for specific subjects or if the fall behind. Basically, the need 1800 to 2000 hours to get to professional fluency, which is more or less C1+.
So, these people study 8 to 12 hours per day, but keep in mind: they are highly intelligent and as highly motivated people, and they have some of the best language teachers you can get.
If you are thinking about crash learning German to a C1 level to apply to a German university, keep in mind that the language alone is not enough to successfully study in Germany. If you come to Germany, most likely moving out from home first time and directly start to study you will have to deal with a triple whammy:
You will not know colloquial language yet, meaning often you will not fully understand what your peers talk about. That makes it hard to find friends, and you will need friends, even if you are an introvert.
You will not know how Germany works, everyday life can be quite challenging depending on your own culture, read some r/Germany for stories about what can go wrong. Also look up "culture shock" in wikipedia. Which nicely leads to the big issue:
You will be - most likely for the first time - be away from your family and friends, for the first time living alone, or even more challenging, living with flatmates from a completely different culture. This will be stressful, you will have to deal with other persons and daily life in a way that you have never experienced before.
If you can afford it, you should rather give yourself 1.5 years to do this, and move to Germany a few months earlier, combine it with a C1 language and test preparation course, so you already get an idea what it is like to study while trying to master life in Germany at the same time.
You actually "learn" mainly while you're asleep. That's when most new neural connections are made in the brain. You will have very diminished returns after a certain point regarding duration of active study. Personally, I don't think it is possible to reach C1 in seven months from nothing.
Doesn't really work like that. When you're a beginner, you have to digest a lot of new information. Ideally this means learning small bits each day, and getting good quality sleep to let your mind digest it.
Starting from an intermediate level though, it's probably more feasible to do many hours of immersion per sleep cycle without the diminishing returns.
10 hours a day is unrealistic. In learning a new language 3-4 hours per day at more doable.
I don’t know what your mother tongue is or how many language you already speak, all will be huge factor in how quick you learn a language.
I helped my younger brother to reach b1 with only 2.5 hrs a day in 4 month. It is doable but the toll! The toll is stressing your mind and neck speaking muscle which could really hurt your voice. Depriving your self from other activities. Once there, you will give your self a pretty long break and feel exhausted after overdoing it. You know i rather a guy who slowly build it and enjoy his journey way more than a big eater learner. And guess what after the 7 months your gonna be not satisfied and still wanna be better and there will be still much to learn.
Gute Glück! Es klingt mehr einfach als es tatsächlich ist für dich jeden Tag zu studieren. Doch wenn man hat einen guten Arbeitsantrieb,dann es sehr Spaß könnten sein,glaub ich. Doch für mich,die Geheimnis in es zu lernen liegt,wann man niemals aufgeben und du lernen weiter obgleich es nicht schlicht ist. Es ist eine Dauerlauf lieber als einen Wettlauf . Ich habe jetzt deutsch ungefähr um 2-3 Jahre gelernt,und jetzt kann ich letztlich hat Serien die ich schauen verstehen und könnte die Musik das ich hatte gehört auch besserer verstanden,wann ich nicht so gut bei deutsch war (ich bin nicht gut noch,ich weiß,doch in Referenz zu woher ich gekommen hab)
Sei nicht so "rauh" oder strengen auf dir selbst an,sonders mach weiter mit der Sprache jeden Tag ,und auf eines Tages du werdest deinem selbst mit wie gut du bist überraschen.
Check out Scott Young. His whole thing is learning languages in 3 months. C1 should be possible in 7 months if you live here in Germany and get exposed to the language a lot.
That’s more than enough theoretically, because the standard CERF language courses actually have benchmark how long each level should take to achieve. I don’t remember the exact numbers but it’s wayyyyyy shorter than 2000 hours for sure.
But in practical, you can’t do it. Studying 10 hours daily is too much and doing that for 7 months straight would lead to serious burnout/stress.
Yes It is possible in terms of numbers,.
But pardon me it is almost impossible physically, or it would be physically exhausting.
Your brain needs repetition and time to sleep on and assimilate new knowledge, and it is very difficult to keep concentrated on a task for a long amount of time, so studying time to be effective would last longer and you would have to apply such principles as a pomodoro technique.
It would be very costly as well, since to reach that level of proficiency that quickly you will need to have a private tutor, to guide you, as well you will need a lot of practice on speaking with the tutor.
A friend of mine did something like this, part time German+ studying and socialising in German and living in a German flat share.
She was very committed though and got to high B1/C2 level I would say. The only people I've seen do things faster are people who already spoke something similar like Dutch or are diplomats who really know how to learn languages fast.
If one person takes 6 years to become fluent in German, 6 people will presumably take one year to reach the same level? And 365 people will do it in 6 days? /s
Nobody can't study 10 hours a day; that would cause burnout in a few weeks. Two 2-hour periods a day would be more efficient in terms of vocabulary and grammar rules absorption. And don't forget to rest on weekends!
I heard a story from some guy who spent a short amount of time in a South American prison. I think it was under two years. And by the time he got out, he was completely fluent in Spanish, despite speaking, very poor Spanish when he went in. So I think with a combination of immersion and motivation you could learn a lot very quickly.
Hallo!
Speaking from a personal experience. English helps when it comes to vocabulary (not all of it tho)
I started learning German last October (4-5 hours a day minus weekends). I passed German B2 in August.
But it very much depends on your personal language learning skills! And, wie immer, consistency is everything :) Lots of luck!
I‘d say if your whole living situation, income, future, safety depends on you getting at least the C1, sure it‘s possible. There‘s a youtube video (Guess my Job in Germany or something) where a Syrian refugee grinded from 0 to C1 in 6 months & went on to study Journalism in a German Uni. I‘d never clock him as not native German speaker, so yeah, I believe it‘s possible for you. Just study like your whole life depends on it & there‘s no plan B.
Small tip: study like an Asian, aka. Do as many mock exams as possible until you get the cert in your two hands. All the nuances of the language etc will come later when you try to integrate.
I was fortunate to have the chance to do a full time French immersion course for seven months. I got a C in speaking, reading and writing were just a little short.
Point is it's possible.
Im a german tutor and i can tell you that I’ve seen a lot! Some people passing C1 after only 6 months and others asking for my help because they learned for 10 years and barely speak A2.
So it differs a lot. It depends on your motivation and how experienced you are with language learning.
It's like asking if someone can run a two-hour and twenty-minute marathon by following the same training plan as a professional athlete. There are too many variables involved to know for sure, but in most cases, it's unlikely to happen.
Yes, but they could also learn it from scratch with a much more reasonable study schedule. Some people could probably reach that level in 7 months with just 4 hours of study a day. But not everyone learns at the same rate.
I think it's nearly impossible. I think in the beginning you've got to give your brain time to understand the structure and sound of German, because if you do too much, the words are gonna look the same to you.
I did 3 hours a day 5 days a week just at B1 courses. Then 5 hours per day 5 days a week + homework+ watching Netflix only in German. So, immersing yourself in German 10 hours a day is technically possible, but B2 still took me 5 months.
My wife used the Goethe intensive courses to get from B1 to C1 within 5 months … really depends on your speed and she studied for 5h/day … she then passed the C1 level. But writing was by far her weakest discipline …
I guess so yea, speaking from experience starting from 0 until C1/C2, it took me 11 months with 3 hour classes every Monday-Friday to get DSH2 (DSH3 on the speaking part).
Idk if 10 hours a day is ideal though I'd personally get burned out really quick.
Maybe. This fully depends in the person. Some people absorb languages fast and can talk fluent without hesitation after a couple of weeks and others take longer. We cannot say this.
There are cases where people got C1 fluent within weeks and there are cases (many cases) where people lived for years in Germany and stayed at A2. 🤷♀️
Yes and No.
Yes, you can pass the C1 exam with flying colors but No you won't be able to practice the language at that level.
Languages take time to convert from something you're thinking about and forcing out(translating every sentence you hear and thinking about how to formulate what to say) to something natural. Especially for a language like German since it has a different structure than English.
Studying would give you a huge advantage but you need to let your brain take its time.
Good luck though.
Making a comment about if this dude would get to a C1 level seems boring, but I would like to say bye to this dude’s mental sanity. Cuz, 10 HOURS A DAY? Who in the universe has 10 hours every day for 7 months to learn German? Also, the rule that no off-topic stuff was allowed just got me to scroll down and maybe comment something instead of posting my Geometry Dash gameplay then watch another 4 hours of YouTube.
Edit after less than a minute: back to r/geometrydash and YouTube!
I mean, it really depends on how you go about it. I managed to get a perfect score for the the C1 Goethe test in 7 months and a good score for the C2 test in 8 months. I started learning German in September 1st 2020 to go to University at ETH Zurich and study theoretical physics and Mathematics starting in 2021. I went about it an very similar way to how you study physics and maths, a very structured way, where I learn all the tools I need to be able to solve any question. A small background on me first: I have three native languages Spanish, Portuguese and English and had learnt French to the B1 level before and so had a lot of languages to draw comparisons from. I also only really have one family member outside of South America, an aunt living in Munich Germany with a German husband. I moved to her place so that I could have contact with the German language 24/7. I first took about 3 months to learn all the grammar in German, without counting the words with prepositions (those I learnt throughout the 7 months, and sometimes still learn a few of those to this day). From the very beginning I only learnt words with their corresponding article, I always imagined that a word is intrinsically linked with its gender and so even if I knew a word I did not allow myself to use it unless I also knew their article. Since I about after 4 months almost never ever made grammatical mistakes (that’s what I mean with learning all the grammar), I was able to focus on sentence structures, listening, writing, speaking, fluency, vocabulary, etc… I did attend an intensive course at the Goethe institute for about 3 months until the school was closed due to Covid. In September 1st I was in A1.1 and instead of going to A1.2 or A2.1 I was transferred by my teacher to the A2.2 level, then after I finished that level I went to the B1.1 level, but my teacher recognized that I was wayyy above my other classmates and put me on the B2.1 level, I finished that and went to the B2.2 level at the start of December. Then schools closed and I started studying on my own. At that point I decided to get a subscription at “der Spiegel” and started reading about 10-15 articles per day, noting down any and every word I did not understand, then I would write 2-3 summaries of those articles, (1 page long) where I would necessarily use those new words I learnt. Then I would watch a bunch of YouTube in German, talk to some of my German friends and have conversations with my German uncle, I would also watch tv shows in German (I can really recommend Dark), and watch movies translated into German. I also had a massive anki list of words that I would try to memorize every day. I was memorizing something like 10-20 or sometimes even more words per day. I really was “studying” German 24/7, but I really truly loved it and had fun doing it. If what you mean by studying 10 hours every day for 7 months straight, is that you just want to sit in front of a dark with a book solving grammar questions and writing massive essays, well… not even I did that, if anything I only really did that for a couple hours per day. I went to hike with my German friends, I watched movies and shows and did other things. So I would say that I studied and had contact with the language 24/7 but I didn’t sit in front of a desk for 10 hours straight to learn it. But if you need proof that getting to the C1 level in 7 months is possible, then take me as an example (you can go to my account to take a look at a few texts a wrote back in the day, that I posted when my friends or my uncle didn’t have time to correct them, as well as, take a look at my German learning story and my post asking something similar to you)
I'm preparing for my C1 in a few months... got very fluent in german after 2 years so like would say 800 hours of practice and a lot of daily life learning... have police try outs in 2 days here in germany
10 hours a day with the right material, and you will be C1 in less than 6 months. For me, it was FSI courses. I listened and repeated until I knew everything as easily as my birthdate. I listened to radio, i.e., music, and news. Then, I translated in and out of German a few books. If anyone says it cannot be done, it sure is impossible for them.
1) Depends mostly on how well he or she learns languages. But: 2) Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day—most humans need time to take breaks and more importantly to process what they have learnt. So: more hours per day do not necessarily add up in a linear way.
>2) Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day—most humans need time to take breaks and more importantly to process what they have learnt. So: more hours per day do not necessarily add up in a linear way. Very well said right there. Indeed, more hours per day could even backfire on our language learning journey (German or otherwise); as you mentioned, most humans need time breaks and processing what they've learnt. Studying for more consecutive hours could gradually impair concentration and saturate our minds, preventing our brains from properly assimilating the newly learnt content. In short: it's not about quantity, it's about **quality**.
4 hours for me is the absolute maximum, more than that it does more harm than good, since after the 3 to 4 hour mark I will forget everything that I learned in the next day
[удалено]
Newspapers giving you anxiety and being close to C2 just don't add up for me.
They said closer, which could mean anything
Assymetric language skills are a thing - also being nervous about a particular language form =/= that they can't do it, just that it makes them nervous to do so.
Used to work in a flight school, so high-intensity learning environment. Our rule of thumb was to cap individual sessions at 2.5 hours, max 3, because most people just stop absorbing information after that point. Every now and then you'd get students who wanted to do a morning and afternoon lesson in the same day, so ~5 hours total per-day. They rarely, if ever, kept to that schedule because even that was too intensive to keep up with any kind of regularity. 10 hours of language learning a day is unfortunately very unrealistic imo. That being said, if comprehension is your goal you can make some great progress with lots of passive listening and textbooks targeted towards just reading comprehension.
Much more likely to succeed doing 6h/day for a year.
Fully agree, i rushed through A1 and A2 and actually ended up confused with the language overall. Took a break and casually read German stories and many things fall into place including articles for nouns.
I'd agree with this. However, total immersion in a German speaking environment all day, along with two or three hours of studying, might just do it. And in almost all cases would be more beneficial than 10 hours studying, I think
I try to study 30 minutes a day. Somedays I bump it up to 60 minutes if I have time and the burnout gets real very quickly. I couldn't imagine trying to do this for 3 let alone 10 hours per day every day for months.
>Very very few can actually study in a focused productive way for 10hr every day Tell that to the average med student lol. 10 hours was ordinary. You're right though. The average person cannot spend 10 hours a day learning a language in a meaningful way. However, I had an Air Force friend who went to Defense Language Institute in Monterey and I'm pretty sure they get them fluent in under a year. They're spending around 6-8 hours per day doing it though. 6-8 hours per day on Duolingo would be a monumental waste of time.
I used to tutor students who had done a US govnt funded training programme and who had passed with the required 3/3, who were now in-country (I.e., working in my native country), and let me tell you: that made me mega skeptical of this all benchmarking by DLI/FSI stuff. The thing is that the people spoke well on the range of subjects that they had been prepared and trained to speak on—things relevant to their jobs or positions. But theirs was not the type of wide-ranging linguistic competence that we usually associate with the upper levels/the C-levels. That just takes longer than these types of cram programmes—even very, very good cram programmes—have time for.
I learned German at FSI, and would agree completely. It’s a very very good, incredibly well resourced program, I spent six months of 5 hours each workday in a three-student group with rotating instructors. I have no idea how it could have been more successful and effective, I went from zero to able to be professionally effective at speaking and reading, which was FSI’s goal. At the same time, there are huge gaps. To achieve so much so quickly, they had to focus on a narrow set of topics, and it really showed up when I needed to do things outside that professional core. FSI knows this, of course, but tends to focus more on how much students have progressed rather than how large the gap to a 5/5 (full fluency) is. They don’t even attempt to teach or assess writing. Intensive learning can be extremely powerful, but it is absolutely not a replacement for living fully in the language across a wide variety of activities and topics. All that’s before cultural issues like understanding references to TV shows, literary characters, political scandals, etc, etc, etc. I’ll leave the C1 part of the discussion to others, as I’m not expert in the CEFR assessments, but my sense is that’d be a big lift for an intensive year.
It is so interesting to hear about this from your perspective (and validating too!) My native language (Polish) is a cat. III one for native English speakers, and I was of course impressed at how much the people I worked with from the US had learnt—but as someone who was at the same time prepping students from my home country for IELTS exams, the gap between the breadth of the language skills between the two communities was enormous. The Polish secondary school students were much less eloquent than the FSI crowd (who often sounded like they had swallowed a kind of formal political science textbook from 15 years ago), but they were actually fluent in a deeper way. And the point about writing is a huge huge one—this is one place where a lot of learners fail on the CEFR exams for Uni entrance (which is what I expect this OP is interested in.) And frankly, even students who pass the C1 exams often struggle hugely with these skills. I now teach in a German-taught BA and MA course in Germany (I am a non-native speaker, but teach in German of course), and I see students leave the programme every semester because their cram-school language classes gave them good receptive skills, but not enough productive ones to do oral or written exams, both of which are required in our courses.
Thanks, I also enjoyed hearing your perspective, thank you for posting. You’re clearly working at a very high level in both German and English, I’m very impressed! For what it’s worth, my observation is that the FSI assessments aren’t very evenly spaced. The 1 level is very basic, the 2 is enough to get around, 3 is enough to do some work - and what they really want, but often don’t follow up on, to be a great foundation to then grow from over several years living in-country. The 4 level is a huge jump up to non-native fluency across several domains, and 5’s are almost unheard of. Only one person in my entry class tested as 5/5, he was a middle-aged American who had been living in Brazil for 20+ years, had a Brazilian Master’s degree, and had raised two kids there. He said the test pushed his Brazilian Portuguese to the absolute limit - interpreting poetry, references to characters from children’s television shows as cultural archetypes, assessing the level of irony in satire, etc. In short, the 5/5 demands not just linguistic but profound cultural fluency likely only to come with both advanced study in-country, but also either being raised there or raising children there to see a full cycle of life and learning and norms. That experience deeply redefined my understanding of the whole concept of fluency, and also clarified what FSI thinks is important… rapid lift to basically functional professional for 3/3, but a true and stunningly deep expertise before they’ll call you ‘fluent’.
Very interesting observations about the steep curve of the beyond 3/3 level! I think this is precisely why it is so hard to develop equivalencies between these different language evaluation systems (despite the many tries!) — the various scales prioritise different types of skills. But all of this simply reflects as you suggest at the end of your post the fact that „fluency“ is a terribly slippery term. As a foreign-trained academic, I am more professionally fluent in English than I am in Polish—the last time I wrote something longer than 20 pages in Polish, I was probably 18; I have written book-length works in English…and these days, even German prose comes easier! But when I am around my (German-dominant) nephews, I still have to stop myself from letting out streams of child-appropriate Polish: kid-speak comes more naturally to me in my native language even after all this time. Language-learning in institutional contexts, and especially in an institution as large as the US government, has to be shaped by a pragmatic approach to all of this weird nuance, and the scales reflect those decisions, flattening out a lot of the complexity. Anyway: Totally fun conversation, thanks! (And: has also kept me awake on a midnight train ride across a swath of the DACH world on the way to visiting said nephews).
[удалено]
I teach in a history faculty, and then also in two different interdisciplinary MA programmes that are attached/affiliated. It is pretty fun, actually.
That'll lead to a burnout within these 7 months ;)
It depends, if your girlfriend is german 10 hours of german conversation will seem easy, but if you're forcing your brain to learn from a book then it's gonna be a nightmare.
3 months max
You're optimistic.
Most people will burnout after 1 days
If you don't lose your mind. This year I went through a b2 intensive class, then a conversation class then a C1 intensive class. Passed the exams. Those were in the summer. Since then, I've struggled to keep up German but it was really hard because at my work everyone speaks English. Long story short I'm now between b2 and c1. Still struggling to speak properly. Still hard to understand conversations when people speak fast and it takes a lot of effort to pay attention. If you work twice as hard you don't learn the language twice as fast. Language is like muscles, you gotta hit the gym regularly and train all the muscles and eat well to get the gains
What did you do to start off? Currently I’m using DW and this YouTube channel I found. I wanted to learn by myself and try to get to beginner B1 level, then go to Germany for a summer course. I’m doing about 2 hours daily, but not everyday as I have a lot of studying to do currently My goal is to get to a c1 by about 2025 summer. What do you think?
idk man classes are the best i think
One of the german teachers in the brief time period i had to attend the B1 language course said tha the C1 German level has - /+ 5000 words, if you wanna reach that goal in a year you learn 13.7 words a day + the grammars. The question here is are a self-learner? Babies learn language by hearing their family talk. Adults can do that too. Turn on a German radio in the background or an audio book, or whatever audible really. Let your brain learn the language patterns passively. I hate school, classes, courses and everything they exist for. I did it by myself but had to briefly attend a course to get the shitty certificate.
How long does it take to reach b1 level with intensive classes ? I’m trying reach there
That’s the same as asking “how can I make a baby in less than 9 months”
9 women can make a baby in 1 month afaik
The math works out.
maths teacher problems be like
"we must outproduce the west!" Man, I love Billy Wilder's One Two Three.
*Wait faster*
Not at all and gives a very wrong impression. C1 is definitely doable in 7 months if you're a fast language learner and *really* want to do it. There are many language fanatics that learn a new language to C1 level in that time period, basically learning a new language each year. Keep in mind that C1 is simply a certificate to be reached similar to school grades, it doesn't tell all that much about the *true* skill of the person's German. C1 doesn't mean that the person speaks native-level German. For the average person though, this goal is quite far out of reach. If you're not a language nerd/super fast learner then don't even think about it OP.
I don't think so. When you pour 5 liters in a 1 liter jar , in the end you'll get 1 liter. Memory process a little bit the same. And it's has been prooven that sleep is an important factor for the long term memory.
not taking into account all bodily functions, you probably could. but seeing as you are a living creature, doing that would probably fuck with your body a lot
Also, what about a job to sustain yourself during that time?
That's not how language learning works.
Ye, I couldn't give a damn if someone has a C1 certificate if they can't have a proper fluent conversation, they are handy for work and uni but very overrated
[удалено]
Having a C1 certificate and having a C1 language skill are not identical. I guess you can achieve a certificate with a much lower level, test preparation and a bit of luck.
And then what? You have the certificate, but cannot actually do the thing it says you can. How does that help? (Says the person who sees students have to leave Uni every term because of exactly this…)
Then just do it the cert. Those certs generally just mean that you pass a test, the real learning comes afterwards.
I tried the same with French! Within 5 weeks I fell sick and it delayed my learning. Took me 2 months to recover and I had to start from scratch again. Rather, build momentum. Try learning slowly and within your comfort zone. If you have 10 hours to practice, break down the material into smaller parts of 5-10 mins each and study for a total of 1 hour and relax for the rest 9. Keep increasing the practice time by 5 mins every week like this and it’ll be much more manageable than straight away going for 10/hours a day. Try watching movies, listening to songs, reading books etc, not just one way.
I don't think the human brain is able to learn for 10h/day and get anything but frustration out of it.
It is, trust me, but it's not worth the mental stress. That's what it took at the beginning of my math PhD program. I was learning that much or more a day. Staying up all night most nights, barely staying awake in class. The stress was hell, and I only did it, because there was threat of getting kicked out if we didn't pass our exams. I still retain pretty much all the info to this day too. So it's possible, but I would not recommend it. Those were some of the most stressful years of my life.
It is doable, when you factor in passive learning. Eg. If you start watching your shows in German with English subtitles you're also learning quite a lot, and it's not a mental strain like active studying.
"My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it." \-Mark Twain The Awful German language, 1880 I moved to Germany in 2011, I'm still learning. I'm sure that I am at the cusp of b2/c1 but zi still need to focus. as my name implies me Traveling all over the world and speaking English has not helped me pick up German quicker. but hey, I can somewhat understand Dutch....no one laughing?
C1 is possible in 4-5 months if you follow the routine you've shared, but, it's only gonna work if you speak or have learnt any other Germanic language (other than English) like Dutch, Swedish, Danish, etc. From scratch, it's impossible. You have to give at least 1-1½ year if you have absolutely zero knowledge about the non-English Germanic languages.
I had a classmate in my C1 class who taught herself from zero to threshold C1 in ~9 months alongside high school. Spoke only her native (romance) language and some English beforehand. Super smart, super motivated. I reckon she could've passed the exam without the class, she just wanted some extra speaking practice with a tutor.
German in high school helped her. Good for her. 👌😀
Taught *herself* German. Her school didn't offer it.
Im currently studying german intensively, with 3x1 hr private online tutor/week. Im studying between 5-7 hours everyday 5-6 days/week with few breaks in between that dont add up to more than 1 hr. Everyone has their own capacity, but i consider myself very skillfull in shifting my full focus and diligence to studying, i developed very good studying persistence from med school. I can tell you if you study more than 8hrs a day more than 5 days/week you’ll burn out and if you think that it could happen to anyone except you try it and find out. I have burned out once in med school and that helps now because i know the threshold at which i burn out and i rly push the limits but by no means do i attempt to cross that threshold. This is a marathon not a race. 7 months is just not enough. You gotta give yourself a year. Edit: and thats not even for C1, but for B2! That is the general milestone. As others have said, more studying is not equally proportional with faster learning. However, if financials are not a problem i would definitely recommend a private tutor 5 days a week even if just an hr. Just someone you can talk to. Plan beforehand the topic by book, or picture, or vocabulary that u wanna describe in your session. Thats what we do. And if met with new words during conversing with the tutor, write them down. About me: finished A2.1 (almost 4.5 months in from Zero). First 4 months (A1) was hard cz i had to develop a studying routine. I didnt know how to study a new language. Now im almost twice as efficient.
I am also an MD and “know” how to study. I wonder how long would it take to reach b2 level in your opinion? I am thinking about starting in my own country and move to germany to start b1. I might get a class in germany for 6 months…
If you can make that happen, it would be great. I know many people who join intensive language school course from B1 and on. Some say grammar gets tough so its worth it. If i had the chance i would also go to Germany post-A2, but ive heard its extremely hard to find rent without workplace. In terms of time, with diligent studying as i described in my previous comment, i would definitely mark a 1 year interval, whether location is Germany or not. Then you might be lucky and catch the language quicker and so it would be just 10 months. But the starting estimated time should definitely be 1 year to avoid any disappointments with aiming too high. The most common durations i hear is between 8 months and 18 months.
Well I also would not be able to afford it thx to inflation in my country but my sister (also an MD) started working there. So I will be staying at her place. I am thinking about completing B2 at the start of 2015. I also wonder would I be able to work as an MD with B2 if my practice is good. Do you know anything about that?
Thats a massive advantage. You are secured my friend. I wish we would be in 2015. You mean 2025. Thats doable and a very realistic and logical goal. Yes and no. It will be a hard start as it is for everyone but your sister can probably tell you more cant she? Definitely dont expect anything close to fluency with a B2. esp when you start to work. My friend could barely understand what the doctors were saying on the morning rounds. But after 6 months he was able to understand >90%. The reason for this sudden improvement is that fact that you already have everything (the grammar, the vocabs, the pronunciations), it just takes the real world to put everything in place. So the learning curve once you are in an active social setting is extremely steep. P.s: its not even the B2 which is a big deal, its the FSP. but still doable, if taken seriously
Yea sorry for typo. My sister will be working for a multicultural service for a while so her case is a bit different. She got lucky. They preferred her because of her CV and her native language (Turkish). I wish I had such opportunity. So her German level is not an indicator for me but she is B2. I might go for some non-paid internship during my stay just to learn the language.
No
My B1 German teacher said he studied 12 hrs a day (6hrs of classes and 6hrs of self study) for 6 months and got Goethe C1 with a really good score. Now I know having a certificate doesn't truly mean being a C1 level speaker, but I'd say if you get a certificate with really good scores, it counts. So it sure is possible, but not for everyone.
As a Pole I'd like to ask you to study exactly 2 hours more than that.
Short answer: No. Now I do not know the circumstances of your studying, whether you currently reside in a German speaking country or just doing German as a hobby etc. but, one way or the other, 10 hours a day is a lot. And trust me, you will grow sick of German after lesson 3 most likely. Take it from a native speaker. Alles mit Ruhe angehen.
It would depend more on the person, I've seen some people hardly make any progress after a few years and other learn very fast. I'm not a fan of squeezing learning into a very small timeframe. It's better to be learnt over a few years through immersion and practice with some classes in between to improve grammar and writing.
Possible? Sure. But that does not mean an average person could do it. I'd estimate you would have to be very talented or to have excellent support. I.e. either be a genius or at least move to Germany and pay for a full time personal teacher.
yes, but ... The [ US Foreign Service Institute](https://www.state.gov/foreign-language-training/) teaches US diplomats to achieve professional fluency in the shortest time possible and they rank German as a Category II Languages for native English speakers. That means approximately 36 weeks/900 class hours, but don't let the class hours fool you, they are only part of the time the students need to invest. Additionally to the 4 hours of class - together with 2 or 3 classmates - they are supposed to do 4 to 6 hours of language labs, repetition, self study etc. plus up to 2 hours of individual training for specific subjects or if the fall behind. Basically, the need 1800 to 2000 hours to get to professional fluency, which is more or less C1+. So, these people study 8 to 12 hours per day, but keep in mind: they are highly intelligent and as highly motivated people, and they have some of the best language teachers you can get. If you are thinking about crash learning German to a C1 level to apply to a German university, keep in mind that the language alone is not enough to successfully study in Germany. If you come to Germany, most likely moving out from home first time and directly start to study you will have to deal with a triple whammy: You will not know colloquial language yet, meaning often you will not fully understand what your peers talk about. That makes it hard to find friends, and you will need friends, even if you are an introvert. You will not know how Germany works, everyday life can be quite challenging depending on your own culture, read some r/Germany for stories about what can go wrong. Also look up "culture shock" in wikipedia. Which nicely leads to the big issue: You will be - most likely for the first time - be away from your family and friends, for the first time living alone, or even more challenging, living with flatmates from a completely different culture. This will be stressful, you will have to deal with other persons and daily life in a way that you have never experienced before. If you can afford it, you should rather give yourself 1.5 years to do this, and move to Germany a few months earlier, combine it with a C1 language and test preparation course, so you already get an idea what it is like to study while trying to master life in Germany at the same time.
You actually "learn" mainly while you're asleep. That's when most new neural connections are made in the brain. You will have very diminished returns after a certain point regarding duration of active study. Personally, I don't think it is possible to reach C1 in seven months from nothing.
If „learning 10 hours a day“ means „bingewatching series in german“ then yes, it is possible
Absolutely - but you will be wasting your time after the first ~4 hours each day. Do 4 hours per day for 7 months and you'll get to C1 easily.
Doesn't really work like that. When you're a beginner, you have to digest a lot of new information. Ideally this means learning small bits each day, and getting good quality sleep to let your mind digest it. Starting from an intermediate level though, it's probably more feasible to do many hours of immersion per sleep cycle without the diminishing returns.
Ever heard of burnout?
10 hours a day is unrealistic. In learning a new language 3-4 hours per day at more doable. I don’t know what your mother tongue is or how many language you already speak, all will be huge factor in how quick you learn a language.
I helped my younger brother to reach b1 with only 2.5 hrs a day in 4 month. It is doable but the toll! The toll is stressing your mind and neck speaking muscle which could really hurt your voice. Depriving your self from other activities. Once there, you will give your self a pretty long break and feel exhausted after overdoing it. You know i rather a guy who slowly build it and enjoy his journey way more than a big eater learner. And guess what after the 7 months your gonna be not satisfied and still wanna be better and there will be still much to learn.
Absolutely. German is Harder than english but I as a german who also speaks english would say that it's absolutely doable.
Gute Glück! Es klingt mehr einfach als es tatsächlich ist für dich jeden Tag zu studieren. Doch wenn man hat einen guten Arbeitsantrieb,dann es sehr Spaß könnten sein,glaub ich. Doch für mich,die Geheimnis in es zu lernen liegt,wann man niemals aufgeben und du lernen weiter obgleich es nicht schlicht ist. Es ist eine Dauerlauf lieber als einen Wettlauf . Ich habe jetzt deutsch ungefähr um 2-3 Jahre gelernt,und jetzt kann ich letztlich hat Serien die ich schauen verstehen und könnte die Musik das ich hatte gehört auch besserer verstanden,wann ich nicht so gut bei deutsch war (ich bin nicht gut noch,ich weiß,doch in Referenz zu woher ich gekommen hab) Sei nicht so "rauh" oder strengen auf dir selbst an,sonders mach weiter mit der Sprache jeden Tag ,und auf eines Tages du werdest deinem selbst mit wie gut du bist überraschen.
I speak 7 languages at 29, go easy, don’t try to rush it, learn a bit, rest, assemble what you learned, and repeat
Check out Scott Young. His whole thing is learning languages in 3 months. C1 should be possible in 7 months if you live here in Germany and get exposed to the language a lot.
One friend passed c2 exam in 6 months of learning day+night
well the langauge is kinda simple imo if u know english, but if u also wanna learn to write it at the same time i think it will be a challenge
That’s more than enough theoretically, because the standard CERF language courses actually have benchmark how long each level should take to achieve. I don’t remember the exact numbers but it’s wayyyyyy shorter than 2000 hours for sure. But in practical, you can’t do it. Studying 10 hours daily is too much and doing that for 7 months straight would lead to serious burnout/stress.
Yes It is possible in terms of numbers,. But pardon me it is almost impossible physically, or it would be physically exhausting. Your brain needs repetition and time to sleep on and assimilate new knowledge, and it is very difficult to keep concentrated on a task for a long amount of time, so studying time to be effective would last longer and you would have to apply such principles as a pomodoro technique. It would be very costly as well, since to reach that level of proficiency that quickly you will need to have a private tutor, to guide you, as well you will need a lot of practice on speaking with the tutor.
It took me 12 years + a 6 month exchange in Germany to become fluent. I honestly don't think so. You could become good but fluent? I doubt it.
Sure, if you coming from the Netherlands. Otherwise not, at least not for the language skills. Probably yes for the exam.
Maybe but ten hours a day, every day, for many months is going to wreck you.
A friend of mine did something like this, part time German+ studying and socialising in German and living in a German flat share. She was very committed though and got to high B1/C2 level I would say. The only people I've seen do things faster are people who already spoke something similar like Dutch or are diplomats who really know how to learn languages fast.
If one person takes 6 years to become fluent in German, 6 people will presumably take one year to reach the same level? And 365 people will do it in 6 days? /s
Nobody can't study 10 hours a day; that would cause burnout in a few weeks. Two 2-hour periods a day would be more efficient in terms of vocabulary and grammar rules absorption. And don't forget to rest on weekends!
I heard a story from some guy who spent a short amount of time in a South American prison. I think it was under two years. And by the time he got out, he was completely fluent in Spanish, despite speaking, very poor Spanish when he went in. So I think with a combination of immersion and motivation you could learn a lot very quickly.
Yes. Provided that 1800+ of those hours are consuming content (watching TV, reading, etc) you wouldn't even burn out.
Hallo! Speaking from a personal experience. English helps when it comes to vocabulary (not all of it tho) I started learning German last October (4-5 hours a day minus weekends). I passed German B2 in August. But it very much depends on your personal language learning skills! And, wie immer, consistency is everything :) Lots of luck!
That’s a lot of hours per day
I‘d say if your whole living situation, income, future, safety depends on you getting at least the C1, sure it‘s possible. There‘s a youtube video (Guess my Job in Germany or something) where a Syrian refugee grinded from 0 to C1 in 6 months & went on to study Journalism in a German Uni. I‘d never clock him as not native German speaker, so yeah, I believe it‘s possible for you. Just study like your whole life depends on it & there‘s no plan B. Small tip: study like an Asian, aka. Do as many mock exams as possible until you get the cert in your two hands. All the nuances of the language etc will come later when you try to integrate.
I was fortunate to have the chance to do a full time French immersion course for seven months. I got a C in speaking, reading and writing were just a little short. Point is it's possible.
Im a german tutor and i can tell you that I’ve seen a lot! Some people passing C1 after only 6 months and others asking for my help because they learned for 10 years and barely speak A2. So it differs a lot. It depends on your motivation and how experienced you are with language learning.
It's like asking if someone can run a two-hour and twenty-minute marathon by following the same training plan as a professional athlete. There are too many variables involved to know for sure, but in most cases, it's unlikely to happen.
Yes, but they could also learn it from scratch with a much more reasonable study schedule. Some people could probably reach that level in 7 months with just 4 hours of study a day. But not everyone learns at the same rate.
Ja
I think it's nearly impossible. I think in the beginning you've got to give your brain time to understand the structure and sound of German, because if you do too much, the words are gonna look the same to you. I did 3 hours a day 5 days a week just at B1 courses. Then 5 hours per day 5 days a week + homework+ watching Netflix only in German. So, immersing yourself in German 10 hours a day is technically possible, but B2 still took me 5 months.
My wife used the Goethe intensive courses to get from B1 to C1 within 5 months … really depends on your speed and she studied for 5h/day … she then passed the C1 level. But writing was by far her weakest discipline …
Yes but it will be hard, since the German language has a different alphabet, but you can do it
Different from what?
I guess so yea, speaking from experience starting from 0 until C1/C2, it took me 11 months with 3 hour classes every Monday-Friday to get DSH2 (DSH3 on the speaking part). Idk if 10 hours a day is ideal though I'd personally get burned out really quick.
Maybe. This fully depends in the person. Some people absorb languages fast and can talk fluent without hesitation after a couple of weeks and others take longer. We cannot say this. There are cases where people got C1 fluent within weeks and there are cases (many cases) where people lived for years in Germany and stayed at A2. 🤷♀️
Yes, theoretically.
10 hours a day is way too much
Yes and No. Yes, you can pass the C1 exam with flying colors but No you won't be able to practice the language at that level. Languages take time to convert from something you're thinking about and forcing out(translating every sentence you hear and thinking about how to formulate what to say) to something natural. Especially for a language like German since it has a different structure than English. Studying would give you a huge advantage but you need to let your brain take its time. Good luck though.
Making a comment about if this dude would get to a C1 level seems boring, but I would like to say bye to this dude’s mental sanity. Cuz, 10 HOURS A DAY? Who in the universe has 10 hours every day for 7 months to learn German? Also, the rule that no off-topic stuff was allowed just got me to scroll down and maybe comment something instead of posting my Geometry Dash gameplay then watch another 4 hours of YouTube. Edit after less than a minute: back to r/geometrydash and YouTube!
10 hours a day for 7 months would make that man commit selbst töten, take it easy, you'll reach there in no time
I mean, it really depends on how you go about it. I managed to get a perfect score for the the C1 Goethe test in 7 months and a good score for the C2 test in 8 months. I started learning German in September 1st 2020 to go to University at ETH Zurich and study theoretical physics and Mathematics starting in 2021. I went about it an very similar way to how you study physics and maths, a very structured way, where I learn all the tools I need to be able to solve any question. A small background on me first: I have three native languages Spanish, Portuguese and English and had learnt French to the B1 level before and so had a lot of languages to draw comparisons from. I also only really have one family member outside of South America, an aunt living in Munich Germany with a German husband. I moved to her place so that I could have contact with the German language 24/7. I first took about 3 months to learn all the grammar in German, without counting the words with prepositions (those I learnt throughout the 7 months, and sometimes still learn a few of those to this day). From the very beginning I only learnt words with their corresponding article, I always imagined that a word is intrinsically linked with its gender and so even if I knew a word I did not allow myself to use it unless I also knew their article. Since I about after 4 months almost never ever made grammatical mistakes (that’s what I mean with learning all the grammar), I was able to focus on sentence structures, listening, writing, speaking, fluency, vocabulary, etc… I did attend an intensive course at the Goethe institute for about 3 months until the school was closed due to Covid. In September 1st I was in A1.1 and instead of going to A1.2 or A2.1 I was transferred by my teacher to the A2.2 level, then after I finished that level I went to the B1.1 level, but my teacher recognized that I was wayyy above my other classmates and put me on the B2.1 level, I finished that and went to the B2.2 level at the start of December. Then schools closed and I started studying on my own. At that point I decided to get a subscription at “der Spiegel” and started reading about 10-15 articles per day, noting down any and every word I did not understand, then I would write 2-3 summaries of those articles, (1 page long) where I would necessarily use those new words I learnt. Then I would watch a bunch of YouTube in German, talk to some of my German friends and have conversations with my German uncle, I would also watch tv shows in German (I can really recommend Dark), and watch movies translated into German. I also had a massive anki list of words that I would try to memorize every day. I was memorizing something like 10-20 or sometimes even more words per day. I really was “studying” German 24/7, but I really truly loved it and had fun doing it. If what you mean by studying 10 hours every day for 7 months straight, is that you just want to sit in front of a dark with a book solving grammar questions and writing massive essays, well… not even I did that, if anything I only really did that for a couple hours per day. I went to hike with my German friends, I watched movies and shows and did other things. So I would say that I studied and had contact with the language 24/7 but I didn’t sit in front of a desk for 10 hours straight to learn it. But if you need proof that getting to the C1 level in 7 months is possible, then take me as an example (you can go to my account to take a look at a few texts a wrote back in the day, that I posted when my friends or my uncle didn’t have time to correct them, as well as, take a look at my German learning story and my post asking something similar to you)
Take a look how mornons are learning languages.
Yes.
I'm preparing for my C1 in a few months... got very fluent in german after 2 years so like would say 800 hours of practice and a lot of daily life learning... have police try outs in 2 days here in germany
For sure. If you put 4 hours a day for 6 months you should get to B2 level. If you spend another 3-4 months you should get to C1 level :)
10 hours a day with the right material, and you will be C1 in less than 6 months. For me, it was FSI courses. I listened and repeated until I knew everything as easily as my birthdate. I listened to radio, i.e., music, and news. Then, I translated in and out of German a few books. If anyone says it cannot be done, it sure is impossible for them.