How long will it take to learn Spanish?

 

It is important to clarify beforehand that the time necessary to learn a language is determined by a variety of factors, such as: age, education level, previous experience with learning another language, personal motivation, the amount of time dedicated to studying and the student's commitment to practicing the spoken language. An additional consideration is that maintaining and improving a language is a continuous process.

The following table of study levels provides an idea of the approximate time it takes to learn Spanish at CPI. Please note that with CPI's Spanish courses you are not required to sign up for any minimum amount of time. We welcome students who would like to spend just one week with us learning Spanish, in fact you can come for as long (or as short) as you want!

CPI offers four base levels of Spanish: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Superior. Within this framework there are three sub-levels within each base level below Superior, making a total of 10 available levels at CPI; these parameters concur with the ACTFL guidelines.

The CPI program is designed to help students achieve a new sub-level every two to three weeks, always taking into account the ability and linguistic experience of the individual student. If you are fast learner, you may be promoted to a new sub-level in less time.

  
Duration
Levels achieved
Description of the level
1-2 weeks Basic Beginner
If you are a complete beginner, within two weeks at CPI you should be able to communicate with simple structures in present, past and future tenses, manage basic vocabulary about everyday life and be able to ask simple questions. At this point students are considered to have reached the level of: Basic Beginner .
3-4 weeks Intermediate Beginner
In another two weeks it is possible to reach the next level: Intermediate Beginner. This designation translates to better communication through the use of increased vocabulary, more detailed descriptions and the ability to give and recognize orders, instructions and addresses. The Intermediate Beginner increases the depth of their Spanish abilities by learning other tenses and new grammatical structures.
5-6 weeks Advanced Beginner
With two additional weeks of class, the student may progress to the level of Advanced Beginner. At this point students are able to express themselves much more spontaneously, are capable of telling simple stories in the past tense, learn about additional tenses and expand vocabulary.
7-8 weeks Beginner Intermediate
The next two weeks of study enable you to reach the level of Beginner Intermediate . A mid beginner student is able to ask more complicated questions with greater confidence, expand the Spanish verb base, and can communicate in present and past tenses more precisely, as well as read and comment on newspaper articles.
9-10 weeks Intermediate
With another two weeks of study students use prepositions and other grammar points more exactly; are capable of expanded self-expression when writing ideas; better comprehend the previously studied verbal tenses; read and comment on magazine and newspaper articles in more depth; speak about current world events (not just personal experience); and are able to do short presentations. This is classified as the Intermediate level.
11-12 weeks Advanced Intermediate
During the next two weeks, students reach the level of: Advanced Intermediate. Students have the ability to discuss concrete themes with increased confidence and use different verbal tenses in more complex structures. At the same time, students may begin to interpret advertisements and films and understand songs. Students should see an improvement in written work due to their newly expanded vocabulary, coupled with an increase in auditory comprehension.
13-14 weeks Beginner Advanced
A further two weeks of study translates to the level of Beginner Advanced, at which point students have more security and confidence to maintain longer conversations without interruptions. Students have an increased capacity to read and understand literature, and are able to comprehend messages in Spanish from native speakers with a wide variety of accents and dialects.
15-16 weeks Intermediate Advanced
In the next weeks students progress to the Intermediate Advanced level by demonstrating an ability to maintain conversations with an ample range of subjects and react clearly in unexpected or complicated situations, using an extensive vocabulary without confusions or misunderstandings and with less influence from their native language. In conversation, the student's ideas are clearly communicated and understood by native speakers.
17-18 weeks Advanced
With two weeks more of study at CPI students move to the next level: Advanced. Students are able to speak confidently, with more precision and fluency, about ideas and current issues around the world, using all of the verbal tenses to near perfection. With better intonation and a larger vocabulary, students are capable of reading complex literature with less use of a dictionary and begin to better understand television, radio, films, word games and most importantly, native humor.
18+ weeks Superior
To achieve and maintain the next level – Superior – is a timeless goal! A Superior student knows the subtleties of the language and can express him or herself like a native-speaker with very sporadic errors that could remain unnoticed by native-speakers. Reading comprehension, as well as understanding films, television programs and song lyrics in Spanish, becomes less and less difficult; and students have the ability to elaborate on complex written work based on abstract or concrete subjects, whether previously known or completely new to the student.

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