How Long Before You Become Fluent in English?

7019888809_32418d09c6xxx Whenever people say they have studied a foreign language, everyone wants to know whether they’re fluent. “How long does it take to become fluent in English?” is a question often asked by people starting to use a new English language program or enrolling in a new course. Language guides often have references to fluency on the cover, promising that it’s going to be fast and easy to achieve.

Nearly all language students have this “fast and easy” attitude, and it’s probably human nature.

However, asking how long it takes to become fluent is like walking into a Kung Fu school and asking how long it’s going to take to become a master.

Obviously, this isn’t the best attitude; there’s a process involved, and if the process is viewed as an unpleasant task that has to be out of the way as soon as possible, the student probably won’t make it to fluency. In the following video, an avid language learner will explain how he became fluent 11 languages:

Whatever the case may be, people will never stop asking the above questions, so we’ll do the practical thing and discuss the notion of fluency.

What does it mean to be fluent?

Linguists often assert that learning a language is a matter of acquiring its grammar and lexicon; that is, you learn how the words combine and inflect (grammar), and then you learn the words themselves (lexicon) and apply the rules of the grammar to them. You then have the knowledge required to speak the language. Now of course, you’d then have to practice until you could use the language without thinking about it too much.

Not thinking is perhaps the best way to think of fluency. For the most part, fluent people neither have to think too hard nor strain when speaking and listening to the language in question (there are obviously exceptions).

How much “grammar and lexicon” must a person know to be fluent?

This issue has been studied a lot, and various ESL websites list stages of language acquisition based on various criteria, including those above. To give you an idea:

A beginner might only have acquired about 500 English words and remains silent in class.
A person in the second stage knows about 1000 words and says isolated words and phrases.
A third-stage student knows about 3000 words and has begun to use complete sentences.
A fourth-stage student (intermediate fluency) knows about 6,000 words and can have conversations.
Finally, a student in the 5th stage is considered fluent and no longer needs English classes. However, he still might need some help with grammar and writing from time to time.

For a more detailed presentation of this, refer to this link.

Does fluency require perfect grammar and pronunciation?

The answer to this question is “no,” but it of course depends whom you ask. Consider a woman from Korea who moved to the United States when she was 30 and who is now 60. After 30 years of practice, she doesn’t have to think about her English anymore, and she can discuss nearly any topic quite easily. She can also read scholarly books and understand her USA-born children when they use American slang.

However, when she speaks, her pronunciation and grammar don’t sound “native.” At first, nobody could understand her at all, but now she can pronounce English well enough for everyone to understand her.

The point here is that fluency isn’t necessarily about flawless grammar and pronunciation. What’s important is that people understand you. However, if you think your grammar or pronunciation skills need work, make sure you spend some time practicing your critical skills.