How Long It Really Takes to Speak English Fluently

How long do you think it takes to speak English fluently? One month, six months, one year, 12 years. That is a question I'm going to answer in today's Slow English Podcast. My name is Matti and welcome to this lesson. So a couple of days ago, I was scrolling Instagram and I came across this ad which said, Hey, use our AI application and speak English fluently in two weeks. And I laughed because I know it's impossible. Do you think it's possible to speak a language fluently in two weeks? I'm not talking about English. Think about any language, Italian, French, German, Arabic. Is it possible to speak that language fluently in two weeks? I'm sure the answer is no, right? But here's my next question. So how long do you think it takes for you to speak a language fluently? Let's talk about English. How long should you study English so that you become fluent? I'm sure you do not have the answer to this question. You may say six months or two years or 14 years, but what's the basis? So let's figure that out together. Fluency talks only about one skill and that is speaking. When we say you want to become fluent, that means you want to speak fluently, right? We're not talking about your listening skill, your reading skill, your writing skill. We're not talking about the main systems, which are vocabulary and grammar. We're putting everything aside and we are focusing on one skill, speaking. But you need to know that in English and in any other languages, skills are not separate from each other. They are interconnected. So speaking fluently, a good speaking skill requires good listening, good writing, probably even good reading. They are interconnected and definitely good grammar and good vocabulary. So when you say fluent, do not only talk about speaking. Talk about all skills together. First, let's talk about the levels of English. We have CEFR levels, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. And when I say I got to C2, I climbed up this ladder from A1 to A2, from A2 to B1, B1 to B2, so on and so forth. But how long does it take to go from A1 to C2? For me, it was 14 years. But do we have a fixed formula? Yes, there is an estimate by Cambridge University. Cambridge says in order to go from one level of CEFR to another level, to a higher level, you need approximately 200 hours of guided learning, 200 hours of guided learning, think about this, 200 hours of guided learning, not any kind of learning. So let's talk about this. What is guided learning? If I study at home alone with a book, I have a book, it's a grammar book, it's a vocabulary book, and I spend two or three hours studying the book. Is that guided learning? Who's guiding you? That is not considered guided learning by Cambridge. If you watch YouTube videos like this video, is this guided learning? Does this count towards the 200 hours that it takes to go from one level to another? No, it is not guided learning. If you watch a movie or if you listen to a podcast, are those guided learning activities? No. So what is guided learning? Cambridge defines guided learning as learning under the supervision of a teacher, 200 hours of learning under the supervision of a teacher. That means you need a real teacher who tells you what to do and what not to do. That is guided learning, 200 hours of guided learning under the supervision of a teacher, together with doing all the homework activities, all the other relevant activities, which are like watching a video on YouTube, listening to a podcast or pursuing your hobbies in English, as I have advised several times. All those activities together with 200 hours under the supervision of a teacher. Now think about that. If you want to spend 200 hours learning English with a teacher, realistically, that would be two sessions of guided learning per week. Each session would be about 90 minutes. So it's like three hours per week. So 200 hours divided by three, that is roughly 66 weeks. So you need 66 weeks, more or less, to go from one CEFR level to another. And you add all of them up and it's about eight years of consistent practice, consistent guided learning together with other activities for you to go from A1 to C2, eight years. So that means you need eight years to speak English fluently. No, that's not right. What is fluency? Some people, unfortunately, think that fluency is how fast you speak. So if you speak fast, you are fluent. If you speak slowly, you're not fluent. So fluency is all about speed. No, fluency does not mean speaking fast. Some people think fluency means making no mistakes as you speak. That's not true. You can speak perfect English, but not be fluent, or you can be fluent and make a lot of mistakes. So fluency does not mean making no mistakes. Some people say fluency is never saying, uh, I'm never pausing, never hesitating when you are talking. You can sound fluent and pause and think. And then you may still be very fluent. So it's not about pausing. It's not about speaking fast. And, um, it is not about making mistakes. I'm talking to you right now, very slowly. I'm pausing. And I may make mistakes, but I still sound fluent. So what is fluency? Here's the definition of fluency by Cambridge. Fluency is the ability to speak smoothly and with flow. So when you are speaking, it's smooth and it has a good flow. In this definition, there is no, uh, mention of speed, no mention of accuracy, no mention of, um, um, and ah, it's only about smoothness and flow. And to speak smoothly with good flow, you do not need a C2 level of English. You can speak smoothly with a decent flow of speech, starting at A2 level. Because at A2, you know, some grammar, you know, some vocabulary, you are familiar with some of the structures. You can make basic sentences. If you make those basic sentences smoothly enough, then you are fluent at A2. You see, you can be fluent at A2, at B1, at B2, at C1, and at C2. But in each level, fluency represents something different. Fluency at A2 level means you are able to use and create basic sentence structures with some mistakes, but smoothly, but at C2, it means you are able to fluently produce complex structures with no mistakes, with a hundred percent accuracy, so you can be fluent at all of these levels, not A1 because you need a basis to build on, but from A2 until C1, you can be fluent at each level. So with this definition, you can be fluent once you reach A2. That would be anywhere between three to six months. So you can expect to start speaking fluently, smoothly, and with decent flow in as little as three to six months. But that means fluent at A2 level. Not fluent at C2 level. And the higher you go on this ladder from A2 to C2, the higher you go, the fewer mistakes you have, the more sophisticated sentence structures you have, the better knowledge of vocabulary, better command of grammar you have. But in all of those levels, you can be fluent. So realistically, you can expect to be fluent in as little as three to six months. Now, think about yourself. Are you fluent now? How long have you been studying English? If you've been studying English for more than six months and you are not yet producing sentences with some mistakes, of course, at A2 level effortlessly, then you are not fluent and you've been doing something wrong. I have been an English teacher for more than a decade, and I know why a lot of students cannot find the correct path to fluency. They've been studying for years and they are not even fluent at A2 level. And to help you solve this, I have created a free mini course. In this mini course, over 10 days, we will send you five lessons that will guide you in the right direction, depending on your level. If you are a beginner, we will send you five beginner lessons. If you are intermediate, we will send you five intermediate lessons. If you are advanced, we will send you five advanced lessons. And in each of these courses, depending on your level, we will guide you towards fluency. Remember, to be fluent, you do not need to get to the C2 level first. You can start being fluent now. If you want to register in the mini course, which is for free, you can simply scan this QR code or click on the link above this video. Okay. Let's sum everything up. What does fluency mean? It means the ability to speak smoothly and with good flow. It does not mean making no mistakes. It does not mean speaking fast. And it does not mean never saying, uh, um, and never thinking and hesitating. Fluency means you can produce sentences smoothly enough. Can you be fluent at A1? No, because you need to build the foundation first. You need the basis. Can you be fluent at A2? Yes. You can speak fluently at A2 level with your A2 knowledge, with limited sentence structure command and limited grammar command, limited vocabulary command, and a few mistakes, but you can speak fluently because you can produce smooth sentences. Can you speak fluently at C2 level with mistakes? No. At C2 level, you need to speak fluently, create complex structures, and have a hundred percent accuracy. So you see, it's all a ladder. And how long does it take to go one step up in this ladder? 200 hours of guided learning. And guided learning is not the same as you watching a video on YouTube. Guided learning is learning under the supervision of a teacher. So go ahead, join our mini course, qr code again, join the mini course, and I will see you there. Good luck. See ya.