How Long Does It Take To Learn Chinese?

The truth about learning Chinese—and some tips on reaching your goals without going crazy.

| Jacob Knotek

The short answer: If your native language is English (or a similar language): it will take 2,000–5,000 hours of study, if you want to reach fluency in Chinese.

Now of course, the amount of time required depends on your goals, and what you consider “fluency” to be.

But trust me, no single timeline or estimate is going to work for everyone.

And for those of you who have a high enough pain tolerance to read this entire article, I’ll explain…

Let’s do this. 😎

Why Most Sources Are Misleading

Here’s the deal: most articles you’ll read online quote the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which proposed “88 weeks” or “2,200 class hours” as the time it takes to reach fluency. But this is misleading.

The bad news:

On the FSI website itself, it says a typical week not only includes 23 class hours, but also “17 hours of self-study.”

That comes out to a full-time 40 hours per week.1

Crunch those numbers real quick.

For Chinese, it actually comes out to 3,520 total hours of engagement with the language– NOT 2,200 hours!

That’s a lot, huh?

(Keep reading, it gets worse…)

The worse news:

What the FSI is suggesting as proficiency roughly corresponds to CEFR level B2 or possibly C1.2

For those of you who don’t know much about the CEFR scale, B2 is good…

…But it’s not great. It’s like “beginner” fluency.

So even after 1-2 years of full time study (40 hours per week), you’d just be scratching the surface of fluency.

Yikes!

Why You Shouldn’t Panic

So what’s the takeaway here? Give up 2 years of your life to full-time study?

…Or maybe just give up altogether?

Of course not!

Here’s the good news:

You don’t need to spend 2,000 hours sitting in a classroom– there are way more enjoyable ways to learn.

Plus, the estimates above are just that– estimates. They’re not a prison sentence.

There are many ways to learn faster, and many reasons you might have an advantage (which we’ll cover below).

Besides, most people will be able to use the language effectively for their goals long before reaching “full” fluency.

And even if you really want to reach “full” fluency, all you need is to get to a point where learning no longer feels like a chore. If you can make the language a part of your life and actually enjoy the process, fluency will come naturally.

So. How exactly do we make it enjoyable?

Relax, relax. I’m getting to that. Let’s first cover the basics.

Is Chinese Hard?

Honestly? Yes.

I’m not going to lie– it’s harder to learn than most other languages.

Both Mandarin and Cantonese are ranked as some of the hardest languages for English-native speakers to learn. They’re categorized as “Category IV” or “super hard” languages by the FSI.1

If you already speak an East Asian language that shares word forms with Chinese, you’ll get a bit of a break. (I’ll discuss that below.)

If you already speak a language that uses tones, such as Thai or Vietnamese, you’ll get a bit of a break.

If your native language is Japanese, you’ll get a huge break, since you already know a huge portion of the hanzi.

But for the rest of us, Chinese can be pretty darn hard, for many reasons…

Factors That Make Chinese Hard

Oh, you’re still reading? You might wanna buckle up if you’re not demotivated yet.

(But it gets better, I promise. Kinda.)

Now, there are a lot of reasons Chinese is hard to learn. But we can sum up the most popular reasons in just a few sections.

Tones

Mandarin is a tonal language, which means words can have different meanings depending on the pitch used. The same syllable can mean completely different things depending on the tone.

For example, the syllable “ma” can mean “mother” when used with a high tone (mā)…

…Or it can mean “horse” when used with a dipping tone (mǎ).

The last time I mixed those two up, I got in pretty big trouble.

Speakers of non-tonal languages such as English usually have a hard time even recognizing the tones, let alone mastering them.

Chinese Characters (Hanzi)

As I’m sure you know by now, the Chinese writing system is pretty complex.

Chinese doesn’t use an alphabetic writing system like English, where letters represent sounds.

Instead, it uses a “logographic” system, where the symbols (called “hanzi”) represent entire concepts, words, and sounds.

By some estimates, there are over 100,000 of these symbols!

Luckily, you won’t need to learn 100,000… But you’ll still need to learn around 3,000 before you can read a newspaper fluently.3

Still a huge pain, but just be grateful it’s only 3% of what it could be.

Low Word Overlap

When learning another language, you typically encounter words that sound like the same word in your native language. These are called “cognates.”

For example, in English, we have the word “vocabulary,” and in Spanish, that same word is “vocabulario.”

The words are so close that you can recognize the Spanish word immediately, even if you’ve never formally learned it before.

English and Spanish have many such examples of words, making the learning process easier.

In nerd terms, there’s a significant amount of “lexical similarity” between the two languages.

The similarity between English and Chinese is a much different story…

As a matter of fact, based on some computations, the English ↔️ Mandarin pair has some of the lowest overlap of all language pairs!4

(In case you weren’t paying attention, that’s a bad thing.)

To put numbers on this, let’s rank language similarity on a score of 0–100.

0 = “no overlap at all” and 100 = “all words are the exact same.” Then here’s how some popular language pairs would stack up:

Language ALanguage BSimilarity Score
MandarinEnglish0.051
MandarinKorean1.605
MandarinJapanese2.259
SpanishEnglish7.907
SpanishFrench11.196

So, looking at this data, the Japanese language is roughly 44 TIMES more similar to Mandarin than English is!

And contrast that with an English speaker learning Spanish… Spanish would be roughly 155X more familiar than Mandarin.

Now keep in mind, these are just numbers based on some clever calculations. It’s not going to take you 155x longer to learn Chinese than Spanish.

(Actually, sometimes I wonder if that might be true for myself…)

But this still paints an interesting picture of language similarity. And it shows much easier it can be to learn a new language similar to your native one.

Cultural Differences

There are some words in Mandarin that simply don’t translate easily; entire concepts that we just don’t think about in Western countries.

For example, 缘分 (yuánfèn) is a Chinese concept meaning the mysterious force or destiny that brings people together. It’s often used in love, friendship, or encounters that feel “meant to be.”

For English speakers, it becomes more difficult to learn a language when you also need to adjust to entirely new concepts such as yuánfèn.

Conversely, speakers of other Asian languages influenced by Buddhism may have a better intuition for such concepts.

These cultural differences add yet another layer of difficulty onto our learning journey.

But honestly, it’s also part of the reason learning a language like Chinese is so exciting and rewarding.

The Takeaway

Here’s the thing– just because Chinese is harder than other languages doesn’t mean it’s “hard” in general.

Climbing Mt. Everest is hard. Learning Chinese doesn’t have to be.

If you have a solid learning routine that gets the language into your head reliably (like Sensoba, for example), it’s literally just a matter of time before you’re fluent.

How much time? Well, that depends on a lot of factors…

Individual Differences in Learning Speed

First of all, the number of hours listed above is an average estimate. It doesn’t apply to everyone.

Here are a bunch of reasons you might have an advantage!

(…Or a disadvantage! 🥲)

Native Language

Speakers of East Asian languages have an advantage when learning Chinese.

Japanese learners especially are expected to learn much faster since they already have a working knowledge of the Chinese writing system.

It’s the same when learning English– speakers who’s native language is closer to English will learn it faster… Sometimes 2-4x faster.5 🤯

Nature

People don’t like talking about this, but I’ve never been a people pleaser.

Some people will, simply by nature, learn much faster than others.

Likewise, some will simply, by nature, learn much slower.

Based on the research available, much of this is thought to be due to individual differences in working memory capacity.6

Yeah, I know, it’s not fair.

But hey, at least…

At least…

…Well, actually yeah it’s just not fair. I can’t think of a silver lining.

Moving on!

Motivation

Motivation also plays a large role. If you don’t have good reasons to learn Chinese, it’s going to take you longer… Especially if you’re like most casual learners who take long breaks then try to pick up where they left off.7

So in other words, you could theoretically out-motivate your peers, even if you’re that big brain who always confuses the words “there” and “their.”

Not bad, huh! I told you their would be good news. 😃

Good Learning Resources

Students who use more “authentic input material” tend to get better results.7

What does that mean, exactly? It means that drilling grammar exercises and vocabulary lists isn’t good enough.

It’s better to use real material, like TV series and books… As long as you’re understanding it.

The problem is, “authentic material” is usually way too hard for learners, making it almost useless for beginners.

That’s why it’s important to find comprehensible input at your level. Luckily nowadays, we have platforms like Sensoba fit that exact role.

Real-world Exposure

Relatedly, time spent learning outside the classroom is also important. (This is sometimes called “extramural learning.”)

There’s some research to support that it helps with language acquisition…8

But it’s also common sense. The more time you spend interacting with the language, and the more you integrate it into your life, the more opportunities you’ll have to practice what you know and learn new things.

Other Factors

There are, of course, many other factors that affect language acquisition speed. Too many to count, as a matter of fact.

So, instead of overthinking everything and giving up out of desperation, it’s important to focus on what you can control, and just stick with it.

(Or give up. Totally up to you. 🤷)

That said, you might actually reach your goals faster than you think…

Rough Learning Timeline: Beginner → Advanced

As mentioned before, you don’t have to wait until you reach fluency in Chinese to start doing useful things with the language (and having a lot of fun).

Based on our research when building our HSK to CEFR conversion tool, we have a rough timeline for acquiring Chinese:

User LevelTotal HoursAbilities
Advanced

HSK 6+

CEFR C1–C2

3,600–5,400

Can understand and express complex ideas fluently, precisely, and naturally in any situation.

Intermediate

HSK 5–6

CEFR B1–B2

1,800–2,700

Can handle most conversations and express ideas clearly on familiar and some complex topics.

Beginner

HSK 1–4

CEFR A1–A2

450–900

Can communicate in simple, everyday situations using familiar words and phrases.

So, if your goal is to reach basic fluency, you can aim for about 2,000 hours. If you’re ambitious, you can reach that in a year and a half (studying 4 hours per day).

But if you just want to have a stellar vacation in China, meet new friends, and master all the survival phrases, you’re looking at as little as 500 hours, which almost everyone can achieve in a year or less (with less than 2 hours per day of study).

That’s still a lot of hours, but here’s the thing: If you have the right routine in place, the time will breeze by.

And you’ll be learning, applying what you know, and making tons of friends along the way.

(Unless you don’t want to make friends of course. I’m not judging. 👀)

Plus, as mentioned above, these are just rough estimates. If you’re ambitious and you have access to quality learning materials, you can seriously reduce the time spent on learning and reach your goals faster.

Now, some of this is largely out of our control. Some of us are just slower learners than others (as mentioned undiplomatically above).

But the GREAT news is that there are dozens of ways you can learn much faster than the average student.

How to Learn Chinese Faster

First of all, let’s step back for a second.

The time estimates above are for developing a wide range of skills– skills that you might not actually need. Not everyone has the same goals when learning Chinese.

So if you want to learn faster…

Focus On Your Goals

If you’re just planning a trip to Beijing, study the 100 most useful phrases in Chinese and forget about the rest (for now).

You can blast through that in a week!

Or, if learning to read and write isn’t important to you, you can easily shave off hundreds of hours of study just by focusing on listening and speaking.

By some estimates910, students will spend almost 40% of their study time dedicated to learning the Chinese characters (hanzi). So imagine– if you focused just on listening and speaking, you could (theoretically) almost HALVE the time it takes to reach your goals!

You can always learn the most important things first, then go back and study the hanzi later.

(And for those of you who are skeptical of this approach, remember: All of us are fluent in our native languages before going to school to learn our ABCs.)

(…Actually, I take that back. Many of us are fluent in our native languages before going to school to learn our ABCs. 😅)

As another example, if you don’t care much about speaking and just want to watch The Untamed without subtitles, you could again shave off several hundred– if not several thousand– hours of practice, as well.

Use World-Class Study Materials

We all know that the average language class in school doesn’t work very well (if at all).

The cool thing is, there are decades of research on learning, memorization, and language education. And you can take advantage of it all to speed up the process.

Research shows that engaging with comprehensible input materials can significantly increase the pace of progress.11

Even just a few years ago, there was very little comprehensible input material available in most languages. (Especially Mandarin.) But now we have platforms like Sensoba, which has an entire content library focused on material at your level.

Here are a few resources that are going to help you speed up the pace:

Immerse Yourself

If you haven’t guessed already, immersion and “informal input” have been shown to improve language learning results.12

What exactly is immersion?

It basically means surrounding yourself with the language as much as possible.

The list goes on and on, but you get the point.

The more you surround yourself with the language, the more opportunities you’ll have to learn new things.

Just do your best to find material at your level (comprehensible input), otherwise most things will go over your head.

Speaking of immersion…

Use Passive Listening

Alright, this one will take a second to explain. (I know I know, the others did too. You don’t have to call me out like that, jeez.)

Here’s what I mean by “passive listening”: listening to something in your target language, without the obligation to pay close attention.

Listening to podcasts in the shower is a good example of passive listening.

In other words, it’s the opposite of “active listening,” where you’re focused and trying to pay attention.

Now, why specifically passive vs. active?

Because it’s easier, of course.

Don’t get me wrong, active listening is better. Active listening is more productive. You will learn more and learn faster with active listening.

But passive listening gives you more opportunities to practice.

Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Can’t you listen to a Chinese podcast in the shower actively?”

Yes, you can try. But in situations like that, our minds tend to wander.

That’s what makes this passive. That’s what makes it less strong than active listening.

So it’s not like passive is the goal… It’s more like passive is just the reality.

The thing is, we have so much time during the day where we could be listening to input in Chinese.

And in those situations, we have a choice to make– should I listen to a podcast, let my mind wander, and get “low quality” time with Chinese?

Or… should I just skip it altogether?

Well, think of it this way…

Even if your mind is wandering, which do you think is better for learning?

  1. Letting your mind wander quietly? Or…
  2. Letting your mind wander, while occasionally catching a glimpse of your target language and potentially learning a new word (or reinforcing a word you already know)?

The answer is obvious.

If I told you you could be earning another 5 dollars per month, with absolutely no effort, would you accept it?

Most people probably would.

For most people, $5 doesn’t go a very long way… But it’s still better than nothing, right? It still has a tangible benefit, like paying for one extra coffee or snack. And you have nothing to lose.

It’s the same with passive listening.

Another thing– Your brain is so good at recognizing patterns that it can learn things without you even realizing it.

There’s research to show your brain picks up patterns whether or not you’re consciously aware of it.1314

So even if it doesn’t feel like you’re learning by playing that podcast while showering, you are.

(Students using comprehensible input know how this goes. You feel like nothing is sticking, but a few months down the line, you realize you’ve picked up tons of words, and don’t know where any of them came from.)

Now here comes the cool part. If you add up all those opportunities for passive listening, you get a lot of time.

Think about how much time you spend eating, washing dishes, using the bathroom, commuting to work, etc.

For most people, that could easily net you an extra 1-2 hours per day of practice with Chinese. That’s almost 700 hours per year, without even really trying!

(And that’s not counting all the time we probably spend watching TikTok videos daily, which could easily be replaced with the Chinese equivalent, RedNote!)

Remember: every moment you spend listening to podcasts or audiobooks in Chinese is another opportunity to learn. That’s true whether you’re paying close attention or not.

You weren’t going to use that time for anything better, so you have nothing to lose.

So take as many little moments throughout the day to get as much input as possible!

How To Learn The Chinese Characters Faster

If you know anything about Chinese, you know the reading/writing system is hard.

You’ll need to learn roughly 3,000 characters (called “hanzi”) if you want to be able to read most things.

That’s a daunting task; even native Chinese speakers spend over 6 years learning the most common 3,000 characters.

Luckily, you definitely don’t have to spend that much time learning them. Here’s how to kick your learning into high gear:

Learn the Radicals

Radicals are the components that make up the individual characters. For example, the radical “几” (jǐ) means “table.” There are at least 20 hanzi that use that radical, so by learning just that one radical, you’ll have a shortcut to learning 20 more!

And yes, there’s formal research to back this up too.15

Learn Them in the Ideal Order

It’s easier to learn characters with simpler strokes first. So get a good foundation first before moving onto the harder ones, and do them in order of most usefulness.1617

Do Writing Exercises

Yeah, I know, we all hate writing exercises. They take a long time, they can be boring, and they’re hard.

And some of us– totally not referring to me– don’t even own a pencil and paper nowadays.

All of that may be true… But hear me out.

Writing exercises have been shown to help improve memory for the hanzi– not just for for writing them, but for remembering the meaning of them, and also improving your reading skills.1819 A win-win-win in my book.

You’ll spend more time up front, sure, but you’ll save time later because the hanzi will “stick” in your head better.

Speaking of which…

Use Mnemonics

A mnemonic is a trick that helps you remember something more easily. Sometimes these are visualizations or stories you make up.

For example, the hanzi for the word peace/harmony is 和 (hé), which itself has two components:

So you can give yourself a mnemonic for learning 和 by imagining a story like this:

Soldiers are all fighting on a battlefield, until finally one soldier takes a few grains of rice, puts them in his mouth, gulps them down, and suddenly calms down. (He was hungry…)

Then he taps his fellow soldier, give him a handful of rice, and tells him to eat it. His fellow soldier eats the rice, and becomes relaxed too. The cycle continues, soldier by soldier, until the entire battle has stopped, and there is peace.

Grain + Mouth = Peace

Now, assuming you know the characters for grain and mouth, every time you see the character for “peace,” you’ll recognize it easily because of that story you told yourself.

See how that works?

Research suggests that mnemonics do help students learn the hanzi faster.20

Make It Fun

No matter what shortcuts you take and how motivated you are, learning the hanzi is going to take a lot of time and effort.

So make it fun! Change it up every now and then. Play games, quiz yourself, try reading stories (graded readers are awesome for this).

You’re not going to survive unless you enjoy the process. So accept that it’s going to take some time, and appreciate the small wins day by day, instead of trying to rush.

Is Learning Chinese Worth It?

Obviously, yes! Learning Chinese is absolutely worth it.

Imagine how much your life could change for the better if you just knew a little Chinese.

How cool would it be if you could read the native menu at your local Chinese restaurant? You could even impress the owners with your conversation skills.

You could make more friends, watch new TV series, learn about places in China you’ve never even heard about before, or get a job in China.

You could expand your business into a market with billions more people.

You could have an incredible vacation or study abroad experience in one of the most beautiful countries on Earth.

You could learn about a culture that has influenced the world for thousands of years.

…The list goes on and on.

And even if you don’t care about any of that, learning a language is one of the most rewarding and stimulating things you can do for yourself and your brain.

Plus, let’s not forget– it’s a pretty big flex to be able to honestly say, “I speak Mandarin.”

The cool part is that you can do half of the things mentioned above with just basic skills!

It doesn’t have to take 2,000 hours of sitting in a classroom to get started on a new adventure.

Over a billion people natively speak Chinese. So if you learn it too, you’ll have unlocked the door to one of the most widely spoken and useful languages in the world.

So what are you waiting for?

Get started on your new adventure today!

FAQs

How long does it really take to learn Chinese?

It depends on your goals. Reaching conversational fluency might take around 2,000 hours, while “full” fluency could take 3,600–5,400 hours. But you’ll be able to use the language effectively long before hitting those numbers.

Is Chinese harder than other languages?

Yes, it’s considered one of the hardest for English speakers due to tones, characters, and low lexical similarity (overlap) with English. But with the right approach, it’s a challenge you can absolutely overcome.

Do I need to learn Chinese characters (hanzi) to be fluent?

Not necessarily. If your focus is speaking and listening, you can save hundreds of hours by delaying or skipping character study. You can always add them later once you’re comfortable.

Can I learn Chinese faster than the FSI estimates?

Yes. Factors like motivation, study routine, access to good resources, and immersion can dramatically cut learning time. Some learners progress twice as fast as average.

Is learning Chinese really worth the effort?

Absolutely. It opens doors to over a billion speakers, global business opportunities, and a rich cultural heritage. Plus, the personal satisfaction of mastering one of the world’s hardest languages is a major achievement.

References

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  2. American University Center of Provence. (n.d.). Understanding the TEF results [PDF]. Archived from the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 11, 2025. ↩

  3. Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, June 22). List of frequently used characters in modern Chinese. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. ↩

  4. Bella, G., Batsuren, K., & Giunchiglia, F. (2021, August). A database and visualization of the similarity of contemporary lexicons. In International Conference on Text, Speech, and Dialogue (pp. 95-104). Cham: Springer International Publishing. ↩

  5. Benigno, V., De Jong, J., & Van Moere, A. (2017). How long does it take to learn a language? Insights from research on language learning. Global Scale of English Research Series. ↩

  6. Ellis, N. C. (1996). Working memory in the acquisition of vocabulary and syntax: Putting language in good order. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 49(1), 234-250. ↩

  7. Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How Languages are Learned (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ↩ ↩2

  8. Peters, E., Noreillie, A. S., Heylen, K., Bulté, B., & Desmet, P. (2019). The impact of instruction and out‐of‐school exposure to foreign language input on learners’ vocabulary knowledge in two languages. Language learning, 69(3), 747-782. ↩

  9. Wikipedia Contributors. (2025, September 17). Japanese-Language Proficiency Test. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. ‌ ↩

  10. Japanese Language Education Center. (n.d.). JLPT Study Hour Comparison Data 2010-2015. Archived from the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 11, 2025. ↩

  11. Knight, B. (2018). How long does it take to learn a foreign language. Experience Better Learning, 15. ↩

  12. Tsang, A. (2025). Relationships between formal and informal input, listening motivation, and listening proficiency among young EFL learners in Hong Kong. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, (0). ↩

  13. Li, Q., Kurkela, J. L., Lohvansuu, K., Hämäläinen, J. A., Li, X., Xu, W., & Astikainen, P. (2025). Dynamic changes in electrical brain activity during passive learning of foreign speech sound discrimination. Cerebral Cortex, 35(7), bhaf181. ↩

  14. Hodson, A. J., Shinn-Cunningham, B. G., & Holt, L. L. (2023). Statistical learning across passive listening adjusts perceptual weights of speech input dimensions. Cognition, 238, 105473. ↩

  15. Zhou, J. (2023). The contribution of radical knowledge and character recognition to L2 Chinese reading comprehension. Journal of psycholinguistic research, 52(2), 445-475. ↩

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  17. Kuo, L. J., Kim, T. J., Yang, X., Li, H., Liu, Y., Wang, H., … & Li, Y. (2015). Acquisition of Chinese characters: the effects of character properties and individual differences among second language learners. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 986. ↩

  18. Chai, X., & Ma, M. (2022). Exploring relationships between L2 Chinese character writing and reading acquisition from embodied cognitive perspectives: evidence from HSK big data. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 779190. ↩

  19. Hsiung, H. Y., Chang, Y. L., Chen, H. C., & Sung, Y. T. (2017). Effect of stroke-order learning and handwriting exercises on recognizing and writing Chinese characters by Chinese as a foreign language learners. Computers in Human Behavior, 74, 303-310. ↩

  20. Chen, Z., Kunda, C., Oweke, D., Komolafe, B., Badamsereejid, B. E., & Zou, Z. (2020, July). Understanding Learning of Chinese Characters for International Students in China. In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 250-258). Cham: Springer International Publishing. ↩