You want to learn French but you wonder how long it will take for you to cope with it? Or maybe even to master it? Is 6 months doable? How much time per day would that be? This article will answer your question.
What is your goal?
First of all, you need to define what is your end goal.
A1 DISCOVERY LEVEL: I can understand a few words, I can communicate in a simple way.
A2 SURVIVAL LEVEL: I can understand the main points of a conversation, when it is on subjects that are close to me (family, work, hobbies..). Speakly speaking, I can cope in familiar contexts.
B1 TRESHOLD LEVEL: I can follow a conversation without big troubles and understand most of the news, films. I can give my opinion, and cope in unpredicted situations.
B2 ADVANCED LEVEL: I can defend a point of view, present arguments, and negociate. I can understand speeches, the news, and movies in French.
C1 AUTONOMOUS LEVEL: I can understand any kind of speech, news or movies, without much effort. I can speak easily and spontaneously. I have enough vocabulary to express my opinion in a precise way.
C2 EXPERT LEVEL: My have no difficulties understanding French, even in high speed, and I feel at ease with the most common idiomatic expressions. I can express myself in a clear and strucuted way in the appropriate language register, and I am capable of express subtle nuances.
If you are still not sure what level is for you, I would say that a good goal to have (and the case for most of the students) is level B. The A levels are only good if you need to spend a week in France and want to order a baguette, ask your way and stuff like that. But from B levels, you really enter the interesting part of the learning where you can have conversations without much effort! Getting to C levels is a high goal, hard to reach unless you live in France for a while, or have a French-speaking partner. Besides, the C level is usually not needed to work in international organisations (B2 is usually sufficient).
What is your current level?
Now, let’s define your current level. Are you a complete beginner (A0)? Or do you already have some bases of French (A1), from school for example? Depending on that, look at one of the table below to know how many hours of French you need to reach your goal, and see to how many hours per month and per day, that correspond to.
I am a complete beginner:
| My goal | Total hours needed | Time per month (during 6 months) | Time per day (during 6 months) |
| A1 | 60 to 80 hours | 10 to 13 hours | 20 to25 minutes |
| A2 | 160 to 200 hours | 26 to 33 hours | 1 hour |
| B1 | 300 to 350 hours | 50 tp 58 hours | 1,5 to 2 hours |
| B2 | 480 to 550 hours | 80 to 91 hours | 2,5 to 3 hours |
| C1 | 680 to 800 hours | 113 to133 hours | 3,5 to 4,5 hours |
I already have some bases of French (I have the level A1)
| My goal | Total hours needed | Time per month (during 6 months) | Time per day (during 6 months) |
| A2 | 100 to 120 hours | 16,5 to 20 hours | 30-40 minutes |
| B1 | 240 to 270 hours | 40 to 45 hours | 1,3 to 1,5 hours |
| B2 | 420 to 470 hours | 70 to 78 hours | 2,3 to 2,5 hours |
| C1 | 620 to 720 hours | 103 to120 hours | 3,4 to 4 hours |
In short, you can learn French with roughly 2 to 3 hours of French per day for 6 month, or 1 to 1,5 hours per day for a year. Which is feasable!
It can sound bit much on a daily basis, especially if you work full time. But remember you can follow a crash course during your holidays, or even better: spend some time in a French-speaking country and practice every day! Also, out of those 2-3 hours, you can spend 1 hour watching a movie or some news, or a podcast (while noting new words)…Always try to keep it fun! And remember it is not a race, and you can always reorganized your initial planning to a more flexible one!
Good luck!