Learn Spanish in Spain | Study Spanish in Spain with EF (2023)

FAQs

What's the quickest you can fluently learn Spanish? ›

If you start out as a beginner and spend an average of 1 hour per day working on your Spanish, you should able to reach conversational fluency within 8 – 12 months. That translates to roughly 250 – 350 hours of time spent.

The test is graded using the CEFR structure, meaning that no conversion is necessary. In general, a B2 score is required for acceptance to Spanish universities. Since Spain is famous for its language education, one option is to attend a summer intensive language program prior to beginning your studies.

How Many Hours Does it Take to Be Fluent in Spanish? If you start out as a beginner and manage to spend an average of 1 hour per day working on your Spanish, you should be able to reach conversational fluency within 8 – 12 months. That translates to about 250 – 350 hours spent.

It is possible to learn Spanish in 3 months, but it is true that to fully master the language to a native level, you will need more time. An intensive Spanish course covering all levels (from A1 to C2) consists of 62 weeks (about 15 months in total).

Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world and can be studied quickly with just 30 minutes of focused practice each day.

It is possible to learn to speak Spanish in three months. It's not going to be easy, and you won't be perfect at the end. But if you approach this challenge with the right mindset, dedicate plenty of time and keep your goals in sight, you can be speaking and understanding Spanish within twelve weeks.

Starting from the A2 level, you'll need approximately 150-180 study hours to reach B1. If you're following an intensive path, this amount of hours can easily be done in three months. At a normal pace (one hour of Spanish every day), six months should be enough.

Breakthrough > 90-100 hours:

It takes between 90 and 100 hours to reach a basic level of Spanish that allows you to use and understand common everyday expressions and basic phrases. At this point, you can introduce yourself and talk about some personal details about where you live, your friends and family, etc.

American students may be able to study in Spain on a grant through the Fulbright US Student program. You can find information on scholarships to study in Spain on the Spanish Ministry of Education website as well as by looking at the scholarships and funding section on individual university websites.

How long do you have to live in Spain to learn Spanish? ›

Beginner Spanish courses are much more satisfying if you can stay in Spain at least 2 months. Four to six months will be even more gratifying because you will return home confident in your Spanish and able to speak quite fluently about a wide range of topics.

To conclude, the average cost of studying Spanish in Spain is typically around €600 ($724) per week. This cost usually includes accommodations, school supplies, and meals. However, the actual cost can vary based on factors such as the duration of the course and the number of hours of instruction per week.

According to an FSI study, i.e. the Foreign Service Institute, it should take a new learner approximately 600 classroom hours to achieve conversational fluency in Spanish. They also suggest an approximate 1:1 ratio between the time spent independently studying Spanish and the time spent in a classroom.

In our research, we looked at 15 million questions over a period of six months, and we found that a user typically learns a word after 51 seconds of study, or about 9 question attempts. At this rate, a person will learn 1,000 new words in just under 15 hours of study.

Linguists do not agree on what it means to be fluent. If you think about native-level fluency, you'll need to master between 20,000 and 40,000 words, and as you can see the margin is quite large. If you want to have a basic conversation, experts say that you'll just need around 3,000 words.

No matter how old you are, you're never too old to learn a new language. However, because your brain's ability to adapt and change decreases over time, you'll probably have to practice more.

How Many Hours Does it Take to Be Fluent in Spanish? The US Department of State says that it takes an English learner 575–600 class hours. That's quite a long time! In case you are doing the math at home that means you would need to work for a little over 10 hours a week for an entire year to achieve Spanish Fluency!

-Level B2: 500-600 hours, which are 25 or 30 weeks, depending on the different factors mentioned above. -Level C1: 700-800 hours, equivalent to 35 or 40 weeks. -Level C2: 1000-1200 hours, equivalent to 50 -54 weeks.

According to the research, the ideal amount of daily study time for rapid language learning is around 1 to 2 hours per day. This may seem like a small amount of time, but it's important to remember that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to language learning.

Is Duolingo actually good for Spanish? ›

Verdict: Should You Use Duolingo To Learn Spanish? All in all, there's a lot to like about Duolingo. This Spanish learning app is free, there's a decent variety of drills and exercises, and the digital platform is top-notch. However, there are certainly some disadvantages with Duolingo Spanish as well.

If you want to learn Spanish in one of Spain's best cities, then we recommend studying Spanish in Barcelona, Málaga, Valencia or Madrid. These cities are quite international and you'll find yourself surrounded with other expats who're learning Spanish.

Speaking regularly is one of the fastest ways to learn Spanish without putting in too much effort. If you're not in Spain or Latin America, it can be difficult to find someone to practice speaking and comprehension with, but it's possible.

Are you ever too old to learn a new language? Well, the good news is that experts say you are never too old. Studies show that anyone at any age can learn a new language. In fact, it is even easier to start speaking in a foreign language now with all the advanced technology available on the market.

Wondering how you can learn Spanish on your own? You can can do it with a lot of determination and yes, some hard work. If you're ready to commit to self-guided learning you can absolutely become fluent in Spanish. We'll tell you about the fastest ways to become fluent in Spanish if you're looking to learn quickly.

B2: VANTAGE OR UPPER INTERMEDIATE

Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.

The 80/20 rule in language learning means that most of your success is the result of only about 20% of the effort you make. It also means that only about 20% of the things you learn contributes to most (around 80%) of your improvement.

It states that in most areas in life, roughly 20% of the input is responsible for 80% of the output. The same rule can be applied to language learning and teaching.

Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.

Tuition fees in Spain vs the US

The cost of education in Spain is significantly cheaper than the cost of education in the US. US Tuition fees average between $5,000 and $50,000 per year in comparison to Spanish average annual tuition fees of between $880 and $2,450.

Is college free in Spain for U.S. citizens? ›

Spain. In Spain, Spanish and European students attend public universities for free. International students pay tuition at Spain's 50 public universities. However, the government covers 80% of international tuition, making college very affordable.

Spain is a party to the Schengen Agreement. This means that U.S. citizens may enter Spain for up to 90 days for tourism or business without a visa. Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the period of stay. You must have sufficient funds and a return airline ticket.

Can I live in Spain without speaking Spanish? Sure. If you're living in a major city, studying a course taught in English, interning or working at a company that requires English, or are living in expat areas such as Costa del Sol or Malaga, you can get by with just English in Spain.

Anyone can move to Spain; however, the moving process is easier for certain groups of people: EU/EEA and Switzerland citizens can pack their bags and move to Spain without obtaining a Spanish visa. They can live and work in Spain for three months.

If you have lived in the country for 5 uninterrupted years, you can apply for permanent residency in Spain. This kind of permit grants non-Eu citizens the possibility to stay in Spain over the long run.

The more time you dedicate to studying and practicing Spanish each day, the faster you will get through those learning hours. If you're wondering how much time I think you should spend learning Spanish, I suggest you set aside at least 60-90 minutes each day for dedicated Spanish learning.

One of the biggest pronunciation differences between the two languages are in z and c before an i or e. This sounds like s in Mexico, but “th”in Spain, for example, Barcelona. Additionally, Spanish from Spain tends to be more guttural, due to its Arabic influences, whereas Mexican Spanish is softer.

Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French.

And, let me be clear here, studying Spanish for 60 hours in one month is not something that you would enjoy. According to the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), if you spend an average of one hour per day studying Spanish, you could achieve fluency after 480 hours of work. That's just over a year.

What Spanish words should I learn first? ›

Intermediate Level (B1-B2) – Spanish B1 takes 80 hours and B2 takes 100 hours to complete the intensive course. Advanced Level (C1-C2) – Spanish C1 and C2 levels takes duration of (180-200) hours each to complete the course and become pro at speaking Spanish.

Mandarin Chinese – 1,107 million speakers

Mandarin Chinese is the language with the most native speakers.

Spanish is in second place with around 8-9 syllables spoken per second, whereas, English is in eight place with around 6-7 syllables spoken per second. In other words, Spanish native speakers speak 25% more quickly than English native speakers.

These 800 -1000 words you should know will give you the understanding of 75% of the language as it is spoken in normal day-to-day life.

If you're starting from scratch, you could reach this level of fluency in 1 year by studying for 2 – 3 hours per day. If you're already at an intermediate level, you could get there in about 6 months. If this sounds intense, don't worry – this doesn't mean hours of “school-like” studying from grammar books.

How Much Time And Energy Are You Willing To Spend Learning Spanish? The Foreign Service Institute—the people who train U.S. diplomats and foreign affairs officials—estimate that it will take 600-750 class hours for most native English speakers to learn Spanish.

Spanish in 4 Months: Conclusion. By the end of four months, I had reached my goal. I was able to hold a comfortable conversation with a native speaker on a variety of subjects with little aid and I was able to consume news in Spanish without having to refer to a dictionary.

As long as the reason you want to learn Spanish is compelling enough, you can do it at any age!

If you think about native-level fluency, you'll need to master between 20,000 and 40,000 words, and as you can see the margin is quite large. If you want to have a basic conversation, experts say that you'll just need around 3,000 words.

How long does it take to get to B2 Spanish? ›

The CEFR uses “guided learning hours” to calculate how many classroom hours you need to reach B2 (high intermediate) level. They estimate you need about 400 classroom hours, combined with 800 hours of independent study time. That's 1200 hours in total (source).

Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.

1. English (1,452 million speakers) According to Ethnologue, English is the most-spoken language in the world including native and non-native speakers. Like Latin or Greek at the time, English has become the world's common language.

Rosetta Stone states that it takes the average learner twenty weeks (or thirty minutes a day for five days a week) to master a level. Latin American Spanish, for example, has five levels. That means the average learner could complete all levels in less than two years. Do I need to download any software?