How Many Hours Do You Need To Put In A Week To Learn A Language?

A reader named Selman recently asked me a question that's never come up on the podcast before: “How many hours a week to learn a language?”

It's a great question, and I want to give you an honest answer based on my own experience.

Now, a related question is how many hours it takes to learn a language overall. The Foreign Service Institute in the US has classified languages and estimated how many hours of study are required.

Those estimates are mostly meaningless because it totally depends what you do. And everybody is in a different situation.

So I'm not going to answer that question of how many hours it takes to learn a language, because I don't think you really can. But what I will talk about is how much time I spend learning languages myself.

If you prefer listening to reading, hit play on the podcast version of this post at the top of the page. Otherwise, here's what you'll discover in this article:

My Ideal Week Of Language Study

Here's what I aim for when thinking about how many hours a week to learn a language fast and effectively.

Every morning, I study for one hour. That's it. One hour of focused, concentrated study.

Throughout the day, depending on what I'm doing, I'll look at flashcards and do some listening as well. If I'm on the train, for example, I'll spend time on flashcards and listening.

That can be anywhere from nothing to 60 minutes, depending on how much dead time I have.

Then I try to have at least three speaking sessions during the week, which can last from 30 to 60 minutes each.

In total, we're looking at about five hours of study and three hours of speaking. On top of that, you'd then add things like watching TV, reading books, going out and meeting people. So it really depends how you define study.

Why One Hour Of Focused Study Works Best

Here's the thing: you can have ten different people studying for an hour each and they will do totally different things.

There's no such thing as “study” as such, because it means different things to different people. Some people study really well. Other people can study for hours and kind of waste their time.

That's why I really like to have one hour of focused study in the morning. It happens when I'm fresh, before I start the day, so I don't get distracted. Whatever the precise activities I'm doing, I make sure I'm really focused for that one hour.

My friend Alex Rawlings once said to me that one hour a day of study is about the maximum useful time. I always found that interesting – it seemed quite low. But I know what he means now, and I kind of agree with that.

If I study for more than one hour, it's like I almost learn too much stuff and I can't process it. So I like to aim for this one hour in the morning.

I do it maybe five days a week and might not do it at the weekends, but those one-hour sessions in the morning are the engine of my learning. That has to happen.

If you don't have that dedicated time, what are you left with? You're left with grabbing bits of time here on the train or on the bus, maybe the odd speaking session. You have to study if you're in the learning phase, and that's why I like to have this dedicated time.

Flexibility Matters More Than Perfection

Now, here's the thing: I don't stick to this schedule all the time.

I've talked about my ideal, but I often have things happen in my life that mean I can't study.

For example, I didn't study yesterday. I didn't do anything because I was coming back from my parents' place out in the countryside, I had a lot of work to do, and I just didn't get to it.

But that's fine. You have to take days off from language learning, and you can't be too hard on yourself, as someone recently reminded me.

Last week, I didn't do any speaking because I was travelling, and that's okay.

But what I find is that whatever happens in my life, however busy I am, the schedule I've described is pretty much what I tend to gravitate back to because I find it's the most effective:

• an hour a day of focused study
• three speaking sessions
• and then as much extra stuff as you can do during the day in your dead time.

Active Learning Versus Maintenance

This is what I do when I'm actively learning a language.

For languages I already speak fairly well, I don't really study them anymore – I just use them. I don't call this learning a language; I call it using, living, maintaining a language, whatever you want to call it.

So the schedule I've described is really what's happening when you are actively learning a language, which I guess for Selman is probably English right now.

Smart Study Beats More Hours

Many people have this attitude – and I've had it before as well – of thinking, “If I could just study for six hours a day, I'd be fluent next week.”

But it doesn't work like that.

Study is the foundation. You have to study. But your success with a language depends so much more on the wider range of activities you do.

So you're studying – great.

• But are you speaking?
• Are you reading books?
• Are you going back and reviewing the things you studied?

One thing I like to do when I have time and when I remember is to add a little review session at the end of the day. I'll sit down for 10 or 15 minutes and just go back and look at the things I studied that morning. That really helps consolidate and helps you remember things.

For me, the question is not so much how many hours you spend studying, but how you're studying. How are you studying in a smart way? That's really what I try to focus all my work on – getting you to study as smart as possible.

How Many Hours A Week To Learn A Language FAQ

Finding Your Own Rhythm

If you're wondering how many hours a week to learn a language, here's what I'd say: for most people, if you aim for an hour a day and you really focus, applying smart study methods, you're going to find that you succeed.

Of course, you may go abroad and find yourself in some kind of immersion environment where you're surrounded by the language all day, every day. That's great if you can do it. But most people can't, so that's not always a realistic benchmark.

When planning your own study routine, don't get hung up on hitting a specific number of hours. Instead, focus on making your study time count.

Build in that core study time – ideally in the morning when you're fresh – add regular speaking practice, and fill your dead time with flashcards and listening.

The exact numbers will vary based on your life, but the principle remains the same: consistency and quality beat sheer volume every time.

What matters most is finding a sustainable rhythm you can return to week after week, even when life gets busy. An hour of focused study five days a week will serve you far better than sporadic four-hour sessions that leave you exhausted.

Trust the process, be kind to yourself on the days you miss, and keep coming back to your routine.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.