Is fluency in 3 months possible?

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One confusion people have when they arrive on my site is this non-existent “claim” that I'm here to prove that fluency in 3 months is possible, which I've never made. Proving this is not the point of the site.

But I find the question itself (asked generally) quite silly: of course it's possible. When a savant can learn enough Icelandic to be interviewed on television in it after just a week, then of course he would be fluent by anyone's definition after 3 months (or actually much less).

When a 16 year old can speak 23 languages to various extents (including fluency in several), then there's no doubt that he'd be speaking C1/C2 of whatever you throw at him if he gave it his full-time attention for 90 days.

And in my own personal experience, I have met dozens of people who have genuinely reached high level fluency in a language in 3 months or less, thanks to a combination of passion for the language, full time immersion, sometimes having the advantage of knowing a similar language, and a general good knack for learning it. You simply can't argue with me that “fluency in 3 months is not possible” because I've seen it happen.

So what's with the name of the site?

With the above said, I'm still not saying that my purpose with this site is to “prove” any “claim”.

The name of this site (as I've said it many times before until I'm blue in the face) is based on my objective to reach a useful level of a language in as short a time as possible. I'm not a savant, and I'm not someone who has a knack or enjoyment for learning languages – I actually dislike learning languages, but I'm trying anyway.

But I have found that aiming high and timeboxing it into a tight deadline, and having both being as specific as possible creates much better results than “try your best” does.

The core message of my site isn't the fluency level or the three month timeline, it's the specificity in goals. Way too many people start a New Year's Resolution to just “learn Spanish” and fail miserably. Their “fluent in 3 months” could be “get by as a confident tourist in 2 weeks” or “have basic conversations in 2 months” or “be able to read a novel by the end of the year”.

THAT's what this site is all about.

“Fluent in 3 months” is an example of a specific deadline, and a specific timeline, and is an important part of my learning philosophy, and so an appropriate name for the site. If you don't like it, and would prefer if I had a less ambitious blog name, tough luck 🙂 “Specifictargetspecificdeadline.com” is a boring name for a site – I picked a name that reflects the kind of projects that I genuinely attempt myself publicly.

The website name is about an AIM, not a claim 😉

Do you actually even NEED to?

But getting back to the question of “is fluency in 3 months possible?” – I know when it's highly unlikely to ever be possible: when you don't need it.

Really think about that: “Do I need to speak a language fluently in 3 months?” That's “need” as in, your basic quality of life actually depends on it. Most people would be very quick to say that they want to speak a language as quickly as possible, as well as possible. But actually needing it, is a whole different world.

I get so much grief from people online, who really need to use their Internet time more efficiently than for complaining and nitpicking (I'd recommend 10 hours of the nyan cat as a comparatively more productive use of your time), that I'm misleading the Youth of Tomorrow with my snake-oil promises of fluency in 3 months. That's not the point of the site, and if you bother to read past the URL, you'll see that I never once in 3 years blogging made such a vague one-size-fits-all promise.

A few people have asked me why I am getting all this grief and trolling that I mentioned in earlier posts. I see it as boiling down to 3 things: 1. I'm a confident guy and a bold writer, and language learners “should be humble” 2. I earn a living online (apparently, earning from your work or writing a book means you “deserve” aggro from people who will never even buy it) and the most important one: 3. Their goals are different to mine.

Let me say this clearly so there's no confusion: Not everyone needs to speak a language fluently in 3 months, and if you don't need to, then that goal is a terrible one for you.

Perhaps there is this presumption that I'm telling the entire world “You all need to learn your language in exactly 3 lunar cycles, or you're a sucker!” – but nothing could be further from the truth. Most people DO NOT NEED to learn a language to a high level in a few months.

For people who enjoy the language learning process, and have taken their time to investigate ancient literature, understanding advanced topics that they may not even be able to follow in their native language, learning advanced vocabulary and the like, then the idea of reaching a useful level in just a few months sounds nothing short of absurd or arrogant. And that's fine.

If you learn a language for passion, then there's no hurry and you should take your time. If you'd like to visit the country “some day”, but have other priorities right now, then there's nothing wrong with taking your time. Enjoy it!

But the truth is that this is NOT the situation for everyone. While some people can get angry at my audacity to urge some people to hurry up a little, I get equally angry with statements like “It takes years to speak this language”. It boils my blood! The reason is that I get to meet thousands of people abroad who have not learned the language at all because of this “take your time” philosophy. These people need a kick up the ass and some serious pressure to improve.

“Take your time” does work – it works if you are a language enthusiast, it works if you dream of moving to Italy when you retire, it works if you only plan to devote a couple of hours a week to the project. But it does NOT work if you are in the country right now, plan to move to it, or have any other sense of urgency in your language learning project.

I don't care how many PhDs he has – if anyone makes a sweeping statement that “it takes years to reach a useful level in a language”, as if it applies to absolutely everyone, then he's an idiot. The logical retort to this is that you would be right to think that I'm the idiot if I were to demand that people without the urgency I described are learning too slowly.

The speed at which you learn the language should depend on the urgency involved. I've traveled to a lot of places, trying to live my life, making friends, interviewing people on camera, possibly facing very dangerous situations and trying to stay safe, all with no tour guide or interpreter to take care of me. So how quickly do you think I shrugged off the incredibly useless “it takes years to learn (insert language here)” discouragement I'd get online, when the fact of the matter is that I only have three months to prepare?

I'm not interested in anyone imposing their limitations on me. I may not be a savant, or have a background that would lead to being a good language learner, but despite just being an engineer, I'm going to try my damnedest to learn any language that I have to use as quickly as possible. My reality distortion field ignores all discouragement, and that's why I can actually get something useful done.

Forget him, forget others, forget ME – this is your story

The real question – and the only one that matters, is the one we should ask ourselves: “Can I reach this objective?” Whether Benny Lewis can do it, or someone you've seen on YouTube can do it is irrelevant. Such stories are nice soundbites for prime time TV, but prove nothing when it comes to your situation.

My “power” is that I'm very pragmatic – despite not liking learning languages, I'll go through hell and spend far more time out of my comfort zone than most learners would because I focus on the short-term gains. My 3 months in Taiwan were a really shitty experience to be honest because of that, but of course the reason I went through it all was due to the pressure of a trip where I absolutely must speak and read good Chinese looming over me while in Taiwan.

So, if you've asked yourself “is fluency in x months possible for me?” then ask yourself the follow up question of do I really need to even learn so quickly? If in 3 months and one week you are going to be trying to have a nice conversation with the Chinese person sitting next to you on the train for 7 hours (which has been my situation this year), then you should probably stop all this needless speculation and get busy, ignoring what's possible or what isn't, because such discussions are wasting your time. If in 3 months and one week you'll still realistically be using English all day long, then why on earth would you need to be fluent in 3 months??

I've ended many days with a headache and incredible frustration that I can't begin to describe. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, and think that it's a terrible “one size fits all” way to learn a language. But if you are in the country now or going there soon, then grow a pair and deal with it – have a shitty time (but do it efficiently; getting out of your comfort zone with a good plan of action) and do it intensively so that you can come out the other end with something useful as quickly as possible.

If you aren't going the country any time soon, or don't have this pressure, then skip over any parts of my blog posts where I tell people to stop being so lazy, because they simply don't apply to you. I don't see enough people lighting a fire under the asses of those who genuinely need to learn a language as soon as possible, so I'm not going to waste time in every post prequelling who needs to pay attention and who doesn't.

But if you are learning slowly, (and good for you, as it's a very effective way to learn and absorb a language when you do have the time to do it over the long term) then don't worry I've got plenty to say that might help you!

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I really feel that more people, especially those who are abroad or going abroad soon, should aim for “Fluency in 3 months”, or something as concrete, even if not quite as ambitious. It's not guaranteed that they'll get it, but the point is that they'll end up with something very useful for having pushed themselves so hard. If I was aiming for the level I have now rather than above it, then I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard, as I'd see it in sight and ease off at some point.

Language learning can be lots of fun when you take your time, but the best way to make progress quickly if you truly need it, is to be out of your comfort zone most of the time – it's unpleasant, but it's very effective.

Thoughts on all this welcome as always!