Every language, easiest to hardest
Study hours for an English speaker, based on the U.S. Foreign Service Institute's difficulty categories. Click a language for its full timeline calculator.
| Language | FSI category | Hours to B2 | Hours to C1 | B2 at 1 h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazilian Portuguese | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Danish | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Dutch | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| English | I* | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| European Portuguese | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| French | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Italian | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Norwegian | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Romanian | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Spanish | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| Swedish | I | ≈ 500 | ≈ 700 | 16 months |
| German | II | ≈ 640 | ≈ 900 | 21 months |
| Indonesian | II | ≈ 640 | ≈ 900 | 21 months |
| Bulgarian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Croatian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Czech | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Estonian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Finnish | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Greek | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Hebrew | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Hindi | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Hungarian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Polish | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Russian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Serbian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Slovak | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Slovenian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Tagalog | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Thai | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Turkish | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Ukrainian | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Urdu | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Vietnamese | III | ≈ 780 | ≈ 1,100 | 2.1 years |
| Arabic | IV | ≈ 1,550 | ≈ 2,200 | 4.2 years |
| Japanese | IV | ≈ 1,550 | ≈ 2,200 | 4.2 years |
| Korean | IV | ≈ 1,550 | ≈ 2,200 | 4.2 years |
| Mandarin Chinese | IV | ≈ 1,550 | ≈ 2,200 | 4.2 years |
* English has no fixed FSI category — its difficulty depends on your native language. The table shows the Category I majority case; the English calculator adjusts per native language.
Where the numbers come from
The U.S. Foreign Service Institute has taught diplomats for 70+ years and publishes how long its intensive courses take per language — from about 600 class hours for Spanish or Dutch to 2,200 for Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Arabic. We map those four difficulty categories onto cumulative CEFR study hours (A1 through C1), with later levels taking progressively longer.
Your head start counts
FSI hours are defined for English speakers. If your native language is related to your target — a Spanish speaker learning Italian, a Czech speaker learning Slovak — each calculator discounts the estimate accordingly. And your current level matters most of all: starting from B1 roughly halves the road to B2. Every page lets you set both.
First, find out where you stand
The timelines shrink fast if you're past the beginner stage. Take a free CEFR placement test — graded A1 to C1, no signup — then calculate the rest of your journey.
Take a free placement test