How Long Does It Take to Reach Each Language Level (A1-C2)?
Want to know how long it takes to reach B1 in German? Or how many months until you achieve B2 in Spanish? This research-based guide will show you exactly how much reading you need to do to reach each CEFR level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) in any language.
Why choose reading?
I remember when I was a child and began to learn my native tongue, English. Every day, I would take out a deck of 100 flashcards and start memorizing words. I would do this for hours on end, and I would see my vocabulary grow week after week.
Oh wait, that's not at all how I learned English.
Instead, I learned from context. In my earliest days, this took the form of the words of my parents and grandparents. Later on, this evolved into the words I heard on TV, from movies, and crucially, at least for my Harry Potter obsessed self, the words of the books I read. Regardless of language, being exposed to authentic, natural context through reading is one of the fastest ways to increase vocabulary size. Although there are important differences when extrapolated to second-language aquisition, the core principles rings true: exposure is key.
Oh wait, that's not at all how I learned English.
Instead, I learned from context. In my earliest days, this took the form of the words of my parents and grandparents. Later on, this evolved into the words I heard on TV, from movies, and crucially, at least for my Harry Potter obsessed self, the words of the books I read. Regardless of language, being exposed to authentic, natural context through reading is one of the fastest ways to increase vocabulary size. Although there are important differences when extrapolated to second-language aquisition, the core principles rings true: exposure is key.
Compared to classroom instruction, reading offers a number of benefits:
- You choose topics aligned with your interests
- You learn from authentic, contextual language use
- You can practice anytime, anywhere
How many books?
Minutes of reading per day: 35
Show cumulative totals
Target Level | Total Words Needed | Days to Reach (35min/day) | Months to Reach |
---|---|---|---|
2th 1,000 families | 171,411 | 25 | 0.8 |
3th 1,000 families | 300,219 | 43 | 1.4 |
4th 1,000 families | 534,697 | 77 | 2.6 |
5th 1,000 families | 1,061,382 | 152 | 5.1 |
6th 1,000 families | 1,450,068 | 208 | 6.9 |
7th 1,000 families | 2,035,809 | 291 | 9.7 |
8th 1,000 families | 2,427,807 | 347 | 11.6 |
9th 1,000 families | 2,956,908 | 423 | 14.1 |
Time to Reach B1
Reading 35 minutes per day, we estimate you can reach B1 level in 158 days of consistent reading.
Paul Nation's 2014 paper, "How much input do you need to learn the most frequent 9,000 words?", provides a useful framework for thinking about how much reading is needed to reach fluency. He breaks down the 9,000 most frequent word families into 9 levels, each containing 1,000 words. A word family is a group of related words derived from a common root. For example, knowing the word family 'access' (access, accessed, accesses, accessible, etc.) means the learner likely can understand related words without needing to learn each form individually. A language learner needs to have a baseline understanding of the first 1,000 words before reading will make a meaningful impact. Importantly, levels are cumulative. To reach level 3, you first need to read enough words to cover the word families in levels 1 and 2.
The Total Words Needed column shows how many words you need to read to cover all the word families up to that level. Naturally, this number is much higher than the number of words actually in the level. This is primarily due to two factors:
The Total Words Needed column shows how many words you need to read to cover all the word families up to that level. Naturally, this number is much higher than the number of words actually in the level. This is primarily due to two factors:
- You need to see the same word multiple times in many different contexts to piece together an understanding. From the study, the average number of repetitions per family is around 12 but this can vary.
- Some words are used more frequently than others. As the rarity of a word grows, you need to read more words to encounter it the same number of times.
The guidelines above are a good starting point for how much reading you need to do to reach a certain level, but there are a number of factors that can affect the time it takes to reach fluency. Additionally, books are not the only way to learn a language. Other types of reading material, such as news articles, can also be a useful supplement to your reading practice.
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