how to become fluent in a language

How You Can Become Fluent in a Language — In Just One Year

A complete plan for language acquisition that works

I teach English and have learned Spanish, French, and Portuguese. I can't tell you how many people say, "Man, I wish I followed through with (insert language here) when I was younger."

And then people usually follow it up with, "But I was never much good with languages anyway."

Well, learning a language is hard. But you can get fluent if you want to.

You don't have to do boring grammar e xercises or pay for expensive classes to do it. And you don't need to move to Spain, France, or Portugal — although I encourage you to if you want to!

You can get fluent without all that stuff.

In this article, I'm going to give you the process several of my students and friends have used to go from being a very beginner in a language to fluent. I'll share with you exactly how they did it.

Why Learn a Language?

But let's start with why you would learn a language in the first place. After all, to do it, you have to invest a lot of time and effort — hundreds of hours. Why would you go through that trouble, especially when translation software is getting better and better?

There are a few good reasons.

It can make you smarter

The benefits of studying a foreign language are well documented. Studying a second language seems to improve brain function, including cognition, memory, concentration, problem-solving, and even the ability to multitask.

There are also some studies that show bilingualism is associated with greater creativity and critical thinking. The benefits are greatest for people who are bi- or multilingual, but anyone studying a second language will likely see improvements.

It also might help your career

It's true that translation software is getting better and better. And it's also true that English is the language of business; if you speak English, you'll probably not need another language to engage in international business.

But still, business is increasingly globalized, and translation software isn't perfect yet. Knowing another language may not be essential for English speakers, but it's increasingly useful. Indeed, some research suggests U.S. college graduates that speak a second language are able to achieve a salary about 2-3% higher than those that don't.

Having taught English to business professionals in both France and Brazil, I know they not only appreciate people that can speak French or Portuguese, but they're more likely to do business with them. And if you're applying for a job and have similar qualifications to someone else but also speak a second language, it'll help your application.

It can help your social life.

Language is fundamental for communicating. Knowing another language can help you connect with others in a deeper way. It's a rewarding experience to be able to understand a person in their own language and genuinely see their personality. It also isn't bad for your dating life.

Learning a language is hard, but it opens doors — both professionally and personally.

When You Say "Fluent," What Do You Mean?

Fluent is different for lots of people. Ask people who've learned English and speak it perfectly: They'll tell you they're still learning. We never really finish learning a language.

So here, by fluent I mean a C1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). A person at a C1 level:

"Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses, and recognize implicit meaning.

Can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.

Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.

Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices."

— via the CEFR

If you follow the schedule below consistently for a year, you can get to a C1 level.

I saw this program work for an English-speaking friend of mine in Canada. He used it to get to a C1 in French. I've also given this to several French- and Portuguese-speakers; they've gotten to a C1 or better in English. And I've done this myself for the nine months I've been in Brazil and am at a C1 in listening and reading, although not yet in speaking or writing.

It can work for you too.

OK Great, I'm In. How Do I Do It?

Learning a language isn't a complex task, but there are some things to know about it. Here's a set of principles that'll help you learn a language effectively and build your language learning program.

Identify your why

Like any challenging task, you'll find it difficult to continue unless you're clear on why you're doing it.

There are lots of reasons that people may want to learn a language, and they will be different from person to person. You need to consider why you want to learn a language.

Maybe you want to be able to have unique travel experiences, or maybe you're living in a country and you want to be able to chat with your neighbor. Or maybe your partner's family doesn't speak English, and you want to make a good impression. Identify why you want to learn a language to help you stay motivated.

Set a goal

There's lots of evidence that setting a goal and regularly returning to it is important for actually accomplishing the goal.

So before you start, make a goal for yourself. Your goals could be skill-based ("I want to be able to have a conversation about politics in French") or based on a test level ("I want to be ranked at a C1 in the CEFR in speaking ability in Mandarin"). Whatever your goal is, make sure you write it down and track it.

Practice each skill

There are four skills you need to master to be fluent in a language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. To get fluent, you should work at each of these skills. However, also consider what your own interests are. For lots of people, the ability to write in a language is less important than the ability to speak. If that's you, focus your practice on speaking, listening, and reading.

Persistence

Getting fluent will take regular practice. The good news is you can practice with things you already do every day, like scrolling through Twitter, reading the news, watching YouTube, or listening to podcasts (we'll get to all that).

But set yourself up to be persistent by thinking about how you're going to build language practice into your daily life. Using activities you already do will help you keep at it for a whole year.

Time

You can only learn a language if you invest time into it. How long it takes will depend on how effectively you learn, how often you practice, and on the language you're learning.

Some people claim you can get fluent in as little as three or six months. As a language teacher, I've never seen someone get fluent that quickly. But if you invest at least an hour or two every day, it's reasonable to expect to get fluent in a year

Make mistakes

Honestly, the biggest challenge I see people face in learning a language is they think they shouldn't make mistakes. Get past that idea right at the beginning. Mistakes are a crucial and necessary part of learning a language. You're going to make them. Trying to be perfect will only end up slowing down your learning.

Make mistakes — even make the same mistakes hundreds of times. Imagine yourself as Edison trying to invent the light bulb. You'll make thousands of mistakes. If you persist, you'll eventually end up making fewer and fewer.

The Schedule

I've seen people that started with French and Portuguese learn English in a year using the method I'll give you. I've also seen it work with an English-speaking person learning French. These people weren't particularly talented at learning languages, but they were motivated and put in the work. Each of these people was living in his or her home country — they weren't immersed in their target language. Each of them got to a C1 level in the CEFR.

As I've said, I've also used it myself for Portuguese, but I have the added advantage of actually living in Brazil. It certainly helps to be immersed. But you can do this from an English-speaking country, and it'll work.

If you invest 1-2 hours a day in actively learning a language using the following schedule, you can get to a C1 level in a year.

Week 1: Set yourself up for success

Get started at the beginning to set yourself up for success. Do these things in your first week.

Write down your language goals. I said you need to identify why you want to learn the language and create goals for yourself. This will help you focus and stay motivated. Take a moment to do those things before you do anything else.
Take a test. In my own language learning, I find it really motivating to see my progress. So take a moment to find an online test in your language to get a sense of where you're starting from. You can find a test by Googling "Free (your target language) test online". Keep in mind online tests aren't always super accurate and usually focus only on reading and writing. Consider doing a few different tests and taking the average level. It doesn't need to be perfect — you just want to get a sense of where you're at now so you can see your progress over time.
Make a vocabulary journal. You need to have a way to review words you learn. I do this with a paper notebook for grammar rules and the Anki app for vocabulary, but there are lots of other options. Anki is a free, open-source flashcard app that uses spaced repetition. I like it a lot. You can also build your own vocabulary app quite quickly and easily. It doesn't matter what your method is, but create a system for recording and reviewing vocabulary.

Month 1: Learn the basics

If you're starting at the very beginning, your goal is to learn your first couple hundred words and the basic grammatical structures for the present tense. These usually come together. To do this effectively, I recommend using a form of spaced repetition. Focus on the most common 500 words in the language you're learning (here they are for Spanish, Mandarin, French, and German).

Try to plan your week so you spend at least an hour using your language every day. You don't need to use each of the four skills every day, but make sure that throughout the week, you're using all of the skills at least a few times. Continue to use your vocabulary journal or app to record the words you're learning.

If you're not starting at the very beginning, you might not need to do this step. If you can already think of a word in your target language for most letters of the alphabet, count to 40, introduce yourself, and ask and answer questions about personal details, you can probably move on to the next section and start there.

Strategies for this level

Use a language app. I love Duolingo, and it's free. I've never used Babbel, but it's another big one (you have to pay for it). Busuu and Chatterbug are some others. You can also make your own. Find one you like, and use it daily.
Use spaced repetition to remember new words. Anki is great for this. Tiny Cards is another option. You can also do this with paper flashcards.
Take a beginner course. There are several online for free, such as Open Culture, edX, Online Courses, Class Central, Effective Language Learning, and Loecsen. There are also a bunch you could pay for, including probably some brick-and-mortar schools in your city. I don't necessarily recommend learning a language in a classroom or in online courses for the whole year, but it can be helpful at the beginning to learn the very basics. (Yes, it's ironic that a language teacher doesn't recommend taking a language class. But that's my real advice — lots of language classes aren't great.)
Find a speaking buddy. Try to start using the language as soon as you can. If you're a native English speaker, it's easy to find a speaking buddy: There are a ton of people that want to speak to native English speakers and will trade you. Free and paid options to find a speaking buddy or tutor are My Language Exchange, Conversation Exchange, Speaky, Tandem, HiNative, Polyglot Club, and iTalki, among many others. At this level, you want to practice the very basics: Learn how to greet people; how to say goodbye; and how to ask about the weather, the time, someone's age, and about someone's family. If you master that stuff, you can then move into ordering food at restaurants, asking for directions, etc.

If you do these things for at least an hour every day for the whole month, you should get to an A1 level.

You'll be able to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases and introduce yourself as well as ask and answer questions about personal details. You should also be able to interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and helps you.

Months 2-3: Expand on the basics

You've got the basics, so now you need to really start using the language. I encourage my students not to think of the language as an academic subject to learn about, like psychology or philosophy. Think of it as a tool to use. The purpose of language is to communicate with others. So to get good at a language, you need to practice using it to communicate.

Strategies for this level

Speaking. You need to speak, even if it's uncomfortable. You already have your language partner from last month. Continue speaking with them. Try to get in a speaking practice session at least twice a week.
Listening. You'll want to start listening, too. At an A1 level, find a podcast you like in your target language. You'll probably want to find one that's designed for language learners because they speak slower and it'll be easier to understand. Look around until you find one you like listening to. You can also find easy videos on YouTube or elsewhere.
Reading. Find reading exercises online. These can be simple articles with key vocabulary. You can also do this with social media: Follow native speakers of your target language on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and read what they post. Also, change your phone to be in your target language.
Writing. Start practicing writing basic sentences. You can start by writing simple comments on social media. You can also keep a journal where you write basic phrases about your day or about how you're feeling. If you have a friend who speaks the language, send them text messages in your target language. Here's how to add languages to your keyboard for Android and iOS so you're not frustrated by autocorrecting to English.

If you follow this program diligently for two months, you should be able to understand the main points of clear input on familiar matters like work, school, and leisure; deal with most situations likely to arise while traveling, like asking for food or making a reservation; produce simple language on topics that are familiar or of personal interest; and describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes, and ambitions. If you feel comfortable doing those things, you're at a B1 level; you're an intermediate user.

At this point, I encourage you to retake a test to see how much you've progressed.

Months 4-6: Get comfortable using the language

Now that you're at an intermediate level, your goal is to get more comfortable using the language and to continue expanding your vocabulary. You still want to practice all the skills, but you can use more advanced texts.

I don't suggest primarily learning a language by studying grammar, but at this level, it's worth taking at least a bit of time to learn how to talk about events in the past and in the future. You almost certainly will have come across the past and future tense by now, but it's worth learning how to use them properly at this level. Make that your focus when doing these activities.

Speaking. You've already been speaking with someone. Continue that. Consider also going to a Meetup in your city for learning the language, or start a conversation club of your own with friends and colleagues. Another option if you want more speaking practice is to do shadowing.
Listening. At a B1 level, you can start listening to podcasts or radio shows that aren't necessarily about the language itself. "Leonardo English" is a great example of this for people learning English because the content is engaging, and the host has transcripts and key vocabulary available to follow along. "Inner French" is a great one for learning French because, like "Leonardo English," the content is interesting and the host speaks slowly and explains some of the words he's using. Slow news in your target language is another option. Try to find something by native speakers that's slow enough that you can understand at least 50% of it and that's interesting enough you'll want to keep listening.
Reading. You're at a level where you can read things you like. Choose a book you love, and find it in your target language. For example, I'm reading "Harry Potter" in Portuguese. I really recommend you only try to read things you really like at this level. This is because it'll be difficult, and it could be frustrating to read more challenging texts in another language. If you're reading something you've already read and that you like, you'll be more likely to persist even when it's hard. The trick here isn't to understand everything — it's just to keep going and give yourself lots of language input. If you're especially motivated, look up new words as you read (but you don't have to do this to benefit from it). Another option at this level: Find Wikipedia articles in your language about something you're interested in. Children's books are also good.
Writing. I suggest journaling because it's easy and is a useful practice. Another great option is to write emails. There are also lots of places you can find online pen pals. Social media comments are, again, a good opportunity here. Another strategy is to Google WhatsApp groups in your language and join one. Then participate by sending messages.

If you've followed this schedule diligently, you'll have been practicing for six months. You should be at a B2 level. You'll be able to understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics; interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers possible without much strain; produce clear, detailed language on a wide range of subjects; and explain your views on a topical issue.

Take another test here to check your progress.

Months 6-12

Now you're trying to get from an intermediate level to being proficient. Here's where I'm at with my Portuguese. At this point, the focus should be on trying to use the language to do the things you'd normally do (watch movies, read the news, participate in Twitter threads).

You can look up new words or grammatical structures when you're unsure about something, but in general, just focus on engaging with texts about things that interest you.

In my experience, individuals that focus on trying to memorize grammar rules get frustrated and don't progress. Instead, focus on using the language to connect with people, the culture, or ideas that interest you.

Speaking. You should already have a way to speak with someone — either in person or online. It's worth trying to find a variety of different people at this level, perhaps with different accents. Also, rather than simply talking about anything that comes up, make a concerted effort to talk about unfamiliar topics. Guide yourself into uncharted language territory. You can use the news or current affairs to help you. Think about telling stories about the past, talking about what you want to do in the future, or talking about what you'd do if something happened, and so on.
Listening. At a B2 level and up, listen to native speakers speaking at a normal pace. You can find news shows in your target language or listen to the radio. Tune In is a great option for finding radio in your target language. I, personally, love podcasts and find they're excellent for helping you learn a language; I listen to podcasts in Portuguese about digital marketing and science because that's what interests me. You can also watch TV and movies, but I really do not recommend watching them with English subtitles. You'll end up just reading the subtitles and not listening. Try subtitles in your target language — or even none at all. You might not understand everything, but you'll learn way faster.
Reading. Keep reading. Start to read the things you'd be reading anyway but in your target language. If you love Medium articles, check those out in your target language (I do that by searching for interesting tags in the target language. For me, these are "português," "saúde," "ciência," and so on). Or read the news in your target language. Or read new books in your target language. Choose texts that are challenging but not frustrating.
Writing. Most of my students typically don't want to write really well English — they just want to speak it. If you're the same, keep doing what you're already doing: Write basic emails, letters, and journal entries. Just aim to practice the new language forms you're learning. But if you are serious about improving your writing, try also doing translations. Take an article you like, and try to translate it into your target language. Better yet, write an article yourself. Get a native-speaker friend to edit it, and then revise.

At this point, if you've spent an hour or more every day for a year and followed the above progression, you should be at a C1 level and be proficient in the language. You should be able to understand a wide range of demanding, longer clauses, and recognize implicit meanings. You'll be able to express ideas fluently and spontaneously without searching much for expressions and be able to produce clear, well-structured, detailed texts on complex subjects.

What's Next?

Language gets rusty if we don't use it. If you want to continue to maintain your language, make an effort to continue to use it regularly. This can mean continuing to have regular conversations with native speakers, continuing to listen to podcasts or watch movies in the language, and continuing to read in the language. If you do these things at least semiregularly, you should be able to maintain your language at a C1 level.

Want to keep going to get that C2 level? Continue engaging with texts from a native speaker. Search for increasingly challenging texts and subjects you're not familiar with — maybe getting into academic subjects that interest you. Maybe even read scientific articles. Including regular reading and listening will help you develop your vocabulary.

My activity stack

I've used this program to get to a B2/C1 level in Portuguese over the past nine months. My activities have changed over time, and I have the advantage of living in a Portuguese-speaking country. Still, I've seen improvement in my language without having taken formal language classes or paying for language resources.

Here's my current activity stack:

Speaking. I live with my partner, and we speak Portuguese together every day. We speak in English only at dinner. I also speak with my other Brazilian friends and acquaintances exclusively in Portuguese. Because it's built into my day, I don't make an effort to make time for additional speaking activities.
Listening. Again, I practice this a lot simply by speaking with my partner. But I make an effort to listen to a 30-minute Brazilian news podcast every morning while I make breakfast and do my morning routine. I also often listen to one of a few other podcasts I like while I'm making dinner, doing the dishes, or working out. In total, I listen to podcasts in Portuguese for at least one hour every day.
Reading. Again, I have lots of reading built into my day already: I have set my phone to Portuguese and read texts from my Brazilian friends in Portuguese. But I do intentionally make time to read a chapter of "Harry Potter" in Portuguese every day. I used to do this on the treadmill at the gym, but since the pandemic, I've been doing it with my partner before bed. In total, I aim for at least 30 minutes of reading a day.
Writing. I've chosen not to focus on writing, so I don't set aside significant time to engage in writing activities. But I do send text messages in Portuguese at least a few times a day.

Between my reading and listening activities, I engage with Portuguese in an intentional way for at least 1.5 hours a day. But I usually do these activities while I'm doing other things. The speaking, listening, and writing activities are all built into the other things I'd already be doing. The 30 minutes I spend reading is really the only extra time I've added to my day.

I get that many of you might not have the luxury of living with someone you can practice your target language with or be immersed in the language. But you don't need to. Like me, you can build language learning into many of the things you're already doing.

Will I really be fluent?

If you follow this program, you can get to a C1 level, where you feel comfortable enough with the language that you could call yourself fluent.

That doesn't mean you'll be perfect. Language theorists have distinguished between two types of language: language for social contexts and language for academic use. They've suggested that a person can become fluent in language for social contexts in six months to two years. However, it can take 5-7 years to become fluent in academic language. So within one year, it's absolutely possible to get fluent in a language for social uses, although probably not for academic purposes.

Also, don't expect you'll always understand everything — even when you are fluent. Even people who are fluent in a language continue to learn words.

The other day I read an article that used the word anosmia . I didn't know what it meant, and I'm a native English speaker. Similarly, if you sat me down in a presentation of physics research, I'd probably not understand a lot of what was being said. But my lack of understanding isn't because I'm not fluent. Fluency is about speaking easily and accurately; you can be fluent and still not understand everything.

Some languages are harder than others

Here's one last consideration: Some languages are harder for English speakers to learn than others.

The U.S. Foreign Service Institue has classified a number of the most popular world languages into how difficult they are for native English speakers to learn. They've given a guide for how many class hours are needed to reach professional working proficiency for each language. Languages with an asterisk are even more difficult than others in their category.

Category I: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours): Languages closely related to English

Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish

Category II: 30 weeks (750 hours): Languages similar to English

German

Category III: 36 weeks (900 hours): Languages with linguistic and/or cultural differences from English

Indonesian, Malaysian, Swahili

Category IV: 44 weeks (1100 hours): Languages with significant linguistic and/or cultural differences from English

Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Croatian, Czech, *Estonian, *Finnish, *Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, *Hungarian, Icelandic, Khmer, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian,*Mongolian, Nepali, Pashto, Persian (Dari, Farsi, Tajik), Polish, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Tagalog, *Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, *Vietnamese, Xhosa, Zulu

Category V: 88 weeks (2200 hours): Languages which are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers

Arabic, Cantonese (Chinese), Mandarin (Chinese), *Japanese, Korean

So keep that in mind when you're planning your language training. If you want to learn Italian, you won't need nearly as much time to get fluent as you might if you are planning to learn Japanese.

Final Thoughts

Learning a language is an extremely rewarding pursuit. It's difficult and it takes time — but you can do it.

My teaching experience has shown me the easiest way to learn a language is through consistent exposure to the language you're trying to learn over a long time. It's best when you look for input that's a bit challenging for you but not too difficult. And try to build your learning activities into what you already do every day, whether that's watching Netflix, scrolling through Instagram, texting friends, or reading the news.

If you want to learn a language, you now have a template for how to become fluent in a year. Get started.