How You Can Become Fluent in A Language - in Just One Year - by Ramsay Lewis - Better Humans

9/20/2021 How You Can Become Fluent in a Language — In Just One Year | by Ramsay Lewis | Better Humans
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How You Can Become Fluent in a Language — In

Just One Year
A complete plan for language acquisition that works
Ramsay Lewis May 12, 2020 · 19 min read
https://betterhumans.pub/how-you-can-become-fluent-in-a-language-in-just-one-year-71ab80c5307c 1/18
Photo by Hannah Wright on Unsplash

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 exercises 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.
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