How Long Does It Take To Learn Arabic

I'll effort to answer an age quondam question that I get asked all the time. How long does information technology have to learn Arabic?

Instead of relying on guesswork, I'll base my reply on research and studies carried out in gild to make up one's mind this.

Starting time of all, when nosotros say learn Arabic what do nosotros hateful? Considering, the answer to our question greatly depends on the level of Arabic nosotros are looking to attain.

The FSI Rating Scale

The FSI Absolute Language Proficiency rating is a pretty useful tool to determine the levels of linguistic communication mastery. The person to be rated is interviewed by one or more trained testers, who are always native speakers. They antipodal with him for ten to 20 minutes, testing in mastery in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. They then pool their judgements and assign him a rating between 1 and v.

Elementary proficiency: The person is able to satisfy basic travel needs and minimum courtesy requirements.
Express working proficiency: The person is able to satisfy routine social demands and express work requirements.
Minimum professional proficiency: The person tin speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and profession topics.
Total professional proficiency: The person uses the language fluently and accurately on all levels commonly pertinent to professional needs.
Native or bilingual proficiency: The person has speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker

Study time for each level

Here are the estimates that the FSI gives for hard languages (which includes Arabic). Go on in mind that they classify Arabic equally a hard linguistic communication with respect to native English speakers. If you speak urdu for example which is much closer to Arabic, you will be able to reach these goals much quicker.

Source: How to larn a foreign language by Dr Paul Pimsleur

Then to put things into perspective, say if you lot spend 2 hours a day for Arabic (this is the total time you spend for the language and can include activities like reviewing grammar, practicing with a native speaker / tutor, listening to the language, reviewing vocabulary etc) you lot tin can reach level 2-two+ in just half dozen months. With respect to learning classical Arabic, I would say that this level would mean existence able to read the Quran and classical works, and starting to understanding a good bargain of it, with the occational help of a lexicon.

2 hours might seem to be a lot, simply this can include listening to Arabic content in your car while you commute or have luncheon. This tin can include spending time with a person who speaks the language (listening and talking to him).

Also, if you are non in a hurry, or have very express free fourth dimension, you tin can work towards the aforementioned goal at a much more relaxed pace. Just remember to have your goals in conspicuously written out, and to make a system, and stick to it.