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language exactly as you would in your native tongue and are effectively as good as a native in all
ways, though you may still have an accent.
In my mind, fluency starts at level B2 and includes all levels above it (C1 and C2). More
specifically, a person who reaches the B2 level on the CEFRL scale, relevant to the conversational
aspect, is defined as someone who
can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with
native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.
This means that, for a solid fluency goal, you should aim to participate in regular conversations
without strain for either you or the people you are speaking with. That s regular conversations, not
debates on sixteenth-century French politics.
For me, B2 fluency at least in a conversational, social context implies that I can live my life in
this language exactly as I would in English. I can go to any social event that I would typically go to in
English and chat with natives without having them slow down for my benefit. I can discuss anything I
would in English at a casual event, and natives can generally talk to me as they would with another
native speaker.
What it doesn t imply is also very important to consider. Hesitations are okay, and accents are
fine. (In fact, you can earn a C2 diploma with an accent, as long as it doesn t hinder communication.)
Also fine at the B2 level is the inability to discuss some very complex topics.
Realizing your limitations is essential, because aiming for perfection is a fool s errand. You need
to be realistic, but you can also aim for the milestone on your path of maybe someday mastering a
language. There is never an end point at which you can say your work in learning the language is done.
Even in my native language of English I still encounter new words and aspects of other dialects I
didn t know before. Learning a language can be a lifelong adventure, but the point is that you can
reach certain stages within finite times when you have those stages well defined.
Even if you don t agree with my specific definition of fluency, make sure your definition is as
clear as possible and includes specifics of what it is not.
How Much Time Do You Need to Reach Fluency?
Now, as you read previously, you can have a particular milestone in mind to aim for advanced
beginner (A2), conversational (B1), fluent (B2), mastery (C2), or others but here comes the big
question: How long does it take to get there?
This book, of course, suggests that you can become fluent in three months, but fluency won t be
achieved if you don t do the work! You have to live up to your side of the bargain you have to put in
the time and stick to the plan. Also, the process requires a lot of strategic mental and emotional
adjustments. It s very hard, for example, to realistically become fluent in three months if this is your
first-ever language learning project.
Generally, I would recommend you aim for conversational (level B1 on the CEFRL scale) or
advanced beginner (level A2) in three months. In the process, you ll discover tweaks you ll need to
make to your learning approach in order for it to work best for you. If you succeed in learning one
language to fluency over a longer period, then your approach may be ready for you to use in a shorter
say, three-month period of time on your next language.
An intensive language learning project demands your absolute focus. But if you re serious about
learning a particular language, you will always make the time and give it several hours a day, even if
you work full-time.
Ultimately, languages are learned in hours, not months or years. It s not about the amount of time
that passes from the moment you begin the project, but the amount of time you put into it. Whether or
not your process adds up to a huge number of hours, the only thing worth counting is the time when
you are 100 percent focused on learning, living, and using the language. To realistically expect to
make good progress in a language in a short amount of time, you have to put at least two hours a day
into it, and ideally more. As mentioned in the previous chapter, you can always make the time, even if
it s a few minutes a day, to advance. But you have to set aside much more than scattered study
sessions if you want to advance quickly. Do what it takes to create this time, avoid other side projects,
and fill your language learning slot every day. If you put just a few hours a week into it, fluency in
three months is indeed impossible.
There s no magic fluency number either. You can t multiply eight hours (the number of hours a
day you would theoretically have available if you could work on the language full-time) by ninety
days to figure out how long it will take you to learn a new language. You simply have to put in as
much work as you can, as intensively as you can, with as much emphasis on solving immediate
language problems as you possibly can in order to progress. If you do, you will quickly see how much
time is necessary for you to advance to a higher level.
So why am I so crazy about three months? The answer is incredibly simple: that s all the time I ve
had during many of my projects. When I would go to a new country to learn the language, the visa
limit for tourists was about three months. Fortunately for me, that s the amount of time I usually liked
to spend in a foreign country before moving on to a new one. So I had only three months to reach my
deadline. It s as simple as that.
Even though I no longer go to a country to learn a language, and I now prefer to learn in advance
of traveling abroad, I have found that three months is as good a time line as any. It s long enough to
realistically aim for a high fluency goal but short enough that the goal is always within sight, that
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