How long does it take to learn English? Realistic times per level

How long does it take to learn English? The short answer

If you start from zero and want to reach a solid B2, meaning you can follow meetings at work, write emails without a dictionary and understand specialist texts, you should allow around 500 to 600 hours of guided learning. For C1 it is more like 700 to 800 hours. This figure is not based on my gut feeling but on Cambridge English’s guide figures for guided learning hours. Cambridge itself stresses that these are approximate values and that individual learners need more or less time.

The word “guided” matters. It means hours with a teacher or structured material, not Netflix running in the background. In practice, self-study comes on top of this, and it is not a luxury but part of the calculation.

Most readers living in Germany, Austria and Switzerland rarely start from zero, however. If you learned English at school, you often start somewhere between A2 and B1, even if it feels different after years without practice. That is why every sensible plan starts with a placement test, like the one we carry out before the first lesson in our language courses for individuals.

Hours per CEFR level: how long from A1 to C2?

According to Cambridge English’s guide figures, starting from zero you need about 180 to 200 hours of guided learning to reach A2, 350 to 400 for B1, 500 to 600 for B2, 700 to 800 for C1 and 1,000 to 1,200 hours for C2. For A1, many providers allow about 90 to 100 hours. The higher the level, the more each step of progress costs.

The table below summarises Cambridge English’s cumulative guide figures. Cumulative means counted from zero. So the step from B1 to B2 does not take 500 hours, only the difference of roughly 150 to 200 hours.

The Cambridge table gives no separate figure for A1; in practice, many providers allow about 90 to 100 hours. What the levels mean in terms of content is explained in detail in my article CEFR levels A1 to C2 explained. If you prefer to read in Polish, there is a concise introduction to the CEFR (in Polish).

Why the higher levels take longer

The higher the level, the more each step of progress costs. Between A2 and B1 you learn many new, frequent words and structures that you can use straight away. Between B2 and C1 it is all about nuance: register, collocations, irony, softening. These are things you do not “cover” in one lesson; you internalise them through many encounters.

How long does learning English take alongside a job?

Alongside a job, the duration depends mainly on your weekly workload. For the step from B1 to B2, at about 200 hours, you need just over two years with one lesson plus one hour of self-study a week, about 13 to 14 months with two lessons plus two hours, about 9 months with three plus three, and about 5 months in an intensive phase.

Hours are abstract, so let us translate them into weeks. Suppose you are at B1 and want to reach B2. We conservatively assume 200 hours, half of them in lessons and half in self-study.

A lesson lasts 45 minutes, so two lessons make 1.5 hours. The table shows something many people underestimate: a single lesson a week is enough to stop you forgetting, but hardly enough to move up a level in the foreseeable future. If you have a concrete goal, such as a job change within a year, you need at least three to five hours of English a week.

Mini exercise: your personal calculation

1. Estimate your current level (or take a placement test).
2. Work out the difference to your target level using the table above.
3. Divide the hours by your realistic weekly time, not your ideal one.
4. Add a 15 per cent buffer for holidays, illness and busy project phases.

Example: B1 to B2, 200 hours, 4 hours a week: 50 weeks plus buffer gives around 57 weeks, so just over a year.

What determines your pace when learning English

Two people with the same number of hours rarely end up at the same level. In my experience as Head of Studies, five factors above all determine the pace: regularity rather than intensity, plenty of speaking time, feedback that is picked up again in the next lesson, content related to your everyday life, and as much contact with English outside lessons as possible.

1. Regularity beats intensity

Three hours spread over three days achieve more than three hours in one go on a Sunday. Memory research on spaced learning is clear on this; more in our article on learning vocabulary effectively.

2. Speaking time

In many group courses, participants speak for only a few minutes per lesson. In one-to-one lessons, the share is many times higher. We compare which format suits you in one-to-one or group course.

3. Feedback with follow-through

Mistakes that nobody corrects become ingrained. So do mistakes that are corrected but not practised again. Good feedback is targeted, sparing and picked up again in the next lesson.

4. Relevant content

An engineer who needs English for supplier meetings learns faster with supplier meetings than with holiday dialogues. Relevance increases the number of repetitions in daily life and therefore retention.

5. Contact outside lessons

Every minute of listening, reading or speaking outside the lesson counts. Series, podcasts and specialist articles are no substitute for lessons, but they are a powerful accelerator. You will find ideas in learning English with series and podcasts.

And your first language?

Your first language plays a part too. If it is closely related to English, as German or Dutch are, you will recognise many words such as house, water or finger straight away, and the basic structure of many sentences feels familiar. This advantage has a downside: false friends and word order from your first language creep in stubbornly. German speakers, for example, confuse become with bekommen (to get) or eventually with eventuell (possibly). Knowing these traps saves rounds of correction. An overview for German speakers is in our article on false friends and typical mistakes made by German speakers (in German).

Where do learners in the DACH region stand with English?

Learners in the German-speaking region generally understand English much better than they speak it. In our courses we often see that reading and listening are the most developed skills, writing somewhat weaker and speaking the weakest. Other typical issues are uncertainty with tenses such as the present perfect and past simple, gaps in specialist vocabulary and inhibitions about speaking spontaneously.

For your planning, this means that someone at B1 in reading may well still be at A2 in speaking. A course that addresses this gap saves time, because it does not re-explain what you already understand.

Typical findings among returning learners

• Good passive understanding of texts and slow speech
• Uncertainty with tenses, for example the present perfect and past simple
• Everyday vocabulary in place, gaps in specialist vocabulary
• Inhibitions about speaking spontaneously

Learning English faster: what really saves time

“Faster” does not mean making hours disappear; it means not wasting any. You save time by defining your goal as a concrete situation, learning in chunks rather than single words, practising aloud, for example with shadowing, keeping a list of your ten most common mistakes, and using AI for feedback on texts and vocabulary lists, not as a substitute for real conversation. These methods have worked well for our learners:

• Define your goal as a situation: not “better English” but “giving a 30-minute project update without notes”.
• Learn in chunks rather than single words: to raise a concern rather than just concern.
• Practise aloud: shadowing, repeating audio at the same time as the speaker, trains pronunciation and speaking speed.
• Keep a mistakes list: your ten most common mistakes belong on a card that you read before every lesson.
• Use AI in a targeted way: for feedback on texts and vocabulary lists, not as a substitute for real conversation. More in learning English with AI.

Example sentences for defining your goal

Common planning mistakes: why many English courses take too long

When learners take longer than planned, it is rarely down to a lack of talent but usually to planning mistakes: no measured starting level, too much time between lessons, no interim goals, lots of grammar without practice and no progress checks. Set stages of eight to twelve weeks and check your progress after a few months with a follow-up test. The mistakes in detail:

1. No measured starting level: if you underestimate yourself, you repeat what you already know; if you overestimate yourself, you struggle with material that is too difficult.
2. Too much time between lessons: a two-week gap between lessons often means the first quarter of an hour is spent catching up.
3. No interim goal: a goal 18 months away is hardly motivating. Set stages of eight to twelve weeks.
4. Only grammar, little practice: knowing rules and using them in conversation are two different skills.
5. No progress checks: without a follow-up test after a few months, you do not know whether the course is working.

A methodically designed course addresses these points from the start. At choices®, every course begins with a needs analysis, from which the methodology team I lead derives goals and stages. For individuals, our courses start from €49.99 incl. VAT per 45-minute lesson. If you are also aiming for a certificate, take a look at our exam preparation.

Learning plan: 12 weeks of English with a steady rhythm

The 12-week plan suits returning learners between A2 and B1 with about four hours a week: weeks 1 to 2 placement and goal, weeks 3 to 5 tenses and questions, weeks 6 to 8 vocabulary for your situation, weeks 9 to 11 speaking under time pressure, week 12 an interim review with a follow-up test. It does not replace a course, but it shows what a sensible rhythm looks like.

If you would like to follow this rhythm with professional support, you will find suitable formats in our English courses for individuals. For pure English courses with a grammar focus, see also our English courses online page. Do you have questions about planning? Write to us via our contact page.

Sources

1. support.cambridgeenglish.org: 202838506 Guided learning hours
2. ef.de: germany

Frequently asked questions

Łukasz Pakuła

Head of Studies at choices®. Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, lecturer at HM Business School Munich and Kempten University of Applied Sciences. Doctoral studies in applied linguistics, publications with Springer and Equinox, among others. More about us