When Will I Be Fluent In French?

When adults are looking for a French tutor, one question I'm aware they're thinking about even if they don't ask it out loud is: "How long before I'm fluent?" It is of course a question which isn't always asked because the student is almost always aware that there is no straightforward answer to this question, and a lot depends on their own time and commitment. However, it's an entirely legitimate question: the trouble is the answer is not what everyone would like to hear!

Setting aside the obvious "how long is a piece of string?" type answer, the real answer is: absolutely ages. I started learning French at school when I was 11. In the time between then and 18, I estimate I had 500 hours of lessons, two or three times a week. I then lived in France for three years, while studying for a B.A. and living with a French woman. In other words, I have had literally thousands of hours of practice. When did I become fluent? Probably after my first year in Paris. Ten years after I started learning!

Think about it another way: when did you become fluent in English? Aged 5? 11? 18? Or do you, like me, feel that, while there are very few challenges left with everyday English speaking, you still feel you are learning something new about your language after 30, 40, even 70 years? And so it is with any foreign language. It's a huge river you are always navigating. At the start it rushes along and you are swept up in the current. Then it steadies and you are allowed to drift along admiring the scenery. You're fluent - but you're still keeping an eye on what unexpected challenges the language might throw at you.

So what can you expect? Well, let me illustrate what can happen with a real life example. Five years ago, I took on a student who was in her early 20s and who had just moved in with her French boyfriend. She had not studied since school, though she had done A-level German, but wanted to improve so she could communicate with his parents. We worked steadily and consistently, 90 minutes a week, building her French. Two years ago, she took an exam which is the international equivalent to AS-level French and passed convincingly. Today she is married to the man and feels comfortable talking to his parents and friends in French, though still struggles with group chatter, finding it hard to follow the conversation.

So after perhaps 300 hours of French learning, at a total cost of more than £8000, she has gone from virtually no knowledge to approximately A-level standard, and confidently enjoys talking in French, but is not yet fluent by most definitions. And she has had a chance to practice outside of lessons too. So it's a long road. Could it be done quicker and cheaper? Quicker, yes, but cheaper, probably not. Six months spent in France, with a daily lesson, and you'd probably be at about the same level, as long as you didn't spend all your time with English people! Total cost of doing that? You tell me!

So when you start learning a language as an adult, make sure you have a positive answer to all these questions:

. Are my motivations and goals clear? . Will I put in the time outside of lessons? . Will I be patient and learn to walk before I can run?

Then pack your suitcase for a long journey to the exciting world of talking to someone in their own language. Et n'oubliez pas votre brosse à dents !