How long would it take a beginner to learn Arabic?
When I say "beginner" I really mean zero background in the language. Say you can spend up to 10 hours a week studying. Also, the goal is the pass the ACTFL at the "Intermediate Low" level.
6 Answers
For someone with limited language learning experience 3 months to even Intermediate Low is relatively generous if not absurdly ridiculous. The ACTFL is generally the same testing standard that we had in Special Operations in the Army. The training for Arabic was at least 4 months long at one point and 6 months long during another period. Even with 8 hours of study each day the vast majority of guys in the course failed to reach the Intermediate Low standard. Unfortunately, the primary reason that so many guys failed was the methodology and curriculum used. However, It is possible to learn it relatively quickly; it shouldn't requires 4 years in university. I don't say this to discourage you, I'm simply trying to be realistic and prepare you for what to expect. I can tell you from ample personal experience, the most debilitating aspect of learning a language is so-called experts telling you that you should learn a language in 10 days or 3 months. I would always be counting the days until I would turn on the TV or watch a movie and 'understand' what people are saying in Arabic. Well, 3 months past and I still couldn't make out anything in the movie. Now, after having spent considerable time learning how to learn a language and learning French, Spanish, Hebrew and German, I can honestly say that I could get to Intermediate Low level in Arabic in a 3 months period with 10 hrs per week. In other words, the method and curriculum that you are going to use are the biggest determining factors in how long it will take.
In other words, the first question that needs to be answered when learning another language is the following: how will I learn this language? If you can get a solid method, schedule and books, then any language will immediately decrease in difficulty. Think of it like working out at a gym. Anyone can go to a gym and mess around with various pieces of equipment in a haphazard manner. In a sense, they are simply throwing money away each month with a gym membership. They could do the same thing for years without any results. However, if they hired a personal trainer who would direct them every single step of the way and give them a training routine, then they would surely see dramatic results. Language learning is exactly the same thing. So answer the question first of how you are going to do it and then the time line will be much clearer. The better the method and curriculum, the faster you will learn the language and, then, you will take the test and blow it out of the water.
In other words, the first question that needs to be answered when learning another language is the following: how will I learn this language? If you can get a solid method, schedule and books, then any language will immediately decrease in difficulty. Think of it like working out at a gym. Anyone can go to a gym and mess around with various pieces of equipment in a haphazard manner. In a sense, they are simply throwing money away each month with a gym membership. They could do the same thing for years without any results. However, if they hired a personal trainer who would direct them every single step of the way and give them a training routine, then they would surely see dramatic results. Language learning is exactly the same thing. So answer the question first of how you are going to do it and then the time line will be much clearer. The better the method and curriculum, the faster you will learn the language and, then, you will take the test and blow it out of the water.
Arabic is one of toughest five languages in the world. According to Language Difficulty Ranking, it's classified as an exceptional different from English due to many reasons (Grammar, more letters and pronunciation, gender distinguish, sentence structure...etc). I had a good opportunity to see basic Arabic learning classes where American students are taking it for different life purposes. Though there were some promising learners, I have to be honest and say it's very primitive knowledge about the language and they will surely need a huge time to reach acceptable level.
Answering your question, with zero background, you will need a teacher who keeps his eye and mind with you for a long time (i.e. No self-learning now at all). For 10 hours/week, my estimation to have an intermediate level will be from 1.5~2 years of hard working and practicing. Maybe with high levels of motivation, interest and hard working, you lower down the scheduled time and pass the exam earlier.
One point may motivate you, I met an American person who is very good in speaking Arabic. I can say he mastered the high level easily. He was very interested in knowing Arabic language. I hope you do it like him one day, best wishes
Answering your question, with zero background, you will need a teacher who keeps his eye and mind with you for a long time (i.e. No self-learning now at all). For 10 hours/week, my estimation to have an intermediate level will be from 1.5~2 years of hard working and practicing. Maybe with high levels of motivation, interest and hard working, you lower down the scheduled time and pass the exam earlier.
One point may motivate you, I met an American person who is very good in speaking Arabic. I can say he mastered the high level easily. He was very interested in knowing Arabic language. I hope you do it like him one day, best wishes
Learner, know thyself. If you are already a bilingual/ polyglot, you probably could do it if you work hard and use good methods, but monolinguals aren't likely to reach intermediate status that quickly. Anyway Arabic in particular is a problematic language to master because the standard Arabic isn't really standard. Each country's variety of Arabic varies widely and they aren't always mutually intelligible even for native speakers. Also all languages vary in the spoken and written forms, so you're essentially going to be learning two languages. Arabic uses lots of endings and so grammatical accuracy is harder to achieve than it probably would be for a Western language. Also learning a different script is a major hurdle and you'd have to do that before you could progress much at all with grammar and vocabulary.
Please pay no attention to those saying that it will take 3 months or so. That may be true for some other languages, but Arabic is a tough language, one of the hardest in the world to learn. I went into it having already learned French as a foreign language, so I have some basis of comparison. For me, it took two years at that level of studying (approximately 10 hours per week) to get to the level you describe (low intermediate). I was immersed in an Arabic-speaking environment, which helped a ton. I would have learned faster, I think, if I'd been enrolled in a program designed for non-native speakers instead of a private tutor, but all in all, I think my experience is fairly normative. Most people I know who have learned Arabic have taken around two years of constant study to become functionally fluent in the language (including reading and writing, as well as speaking).
Ballpark: 3 months. It depends on some factors that are impossible to know from your question. Most importantly, how good are you at learning foreign languages? But assuming you're average, and that you have, as you say, no background in the language, you should be able to reach "Intermediate Low" (which is pretty much like foreign tourist Arabic) after 3 months of 10 hours of study a week. After you have mastered the script, spend every spare moment in listening comprehension and speaking practice.
I think it's questionable what this sort of credential is going to get you, because nowhere in the world does anyone speak modern standard Arabic at an "intermediate low" level. What they speak is one of the many individual dialects of Arabic. But if you need to get this in order to get some job, then perhaps it's worth pursuing. If you're going to be working or traveling in the Arab world, it would be far better to study and learn the dialect of the place where you're going.
I think it's questionable what this sort of credential is going to get you, because nowhere in the world does anyone speak modern standard Arabic at an "intermediate low" level. What they speak is one of the many individual dialects of Arabic. But if you need to get this in order to get some job, then perhaps it's worth pursuing. If you're going to be working or traveling in the Arab world, it would be far better to study and learn the dialect of the place where you're going.
