Is it true English as a Second Language takes about 4 to 8 years to learn?? (university, high school)

[Bubble99]

I read some where that it takes 4 years to learn really basic English like reading, writing, spelling and grammar.But 8 years for the English to be at basic high school level.

That in the 4 years learning English your English will not be good enough to get into college class!!! Well you may get by on a chat room or a message board and use word here may be!! With basic English you will not be best at reading, writing, spelling and grammar and not any where close to basic high school level English.

But to get better at English it will take 8 years to learn?

Is this mostly true?

It takes immigrants 4 to 8 years to learn English? The 4 years to learn really basic English a enough to get by and 8 years to bring it up to a basic high school level?

I also read if you want job like writer, reporter, journalist or lawyer it will take you 10 years to learn English!!

And English always been like this? Some other languages take longer to learn and some other languages take shorter to learn. The English language is very old that is why it takes 8 years to learn it?

[lucknow]

It totally depends on so many factors. What is your mother tongue? German speakers can learn English very quickly. The languages are very similar in many ways. Slavic speakers on the other hand have a much harder time learning English. The individuals aptitude plays a huge part obviously. I have a little Korean friend who at age 10 spoke far more correct English than Canadian kids ever will. I have met Chinese people who can't speak passable English after living here for 50 years.

[nightlysparrow]

Take a look at the average dictionaries for foreign languages. They're mostly a few inches thick. Then look at an English dictionary. It's huge! It looks like a car battery!

There are thousands of new English words added to dictionaries each year. The Oxford Dictionary has begun updating quarterly, there are so many new entries. It's already the lingua franca in so many parts of the world, so its ever-expanding usage and growth is inevitable. That's why it has become harder and harder to master.

[HabsFanMTL88]

It's not quite as hard for native German and French speakers because of the similarities. But overall, yes it is a difficult language to master because of grammar rules. Most languages have set rules. In Quebec, those who don't start learning the language outside of school by around age 9 or 10 have thick accents and you can tell it's not their native language. It's always easier to start kids as young as possible.

[ukrkoz]

As an ex immigrant, I agree with some and disagree with some. I came with some classic British English and was in university 2 years after we crossed the boarder. My wife came with NO English and in 3 years she started RN college degree.
See, it depends which English you refer to. Basic vocabulary is less than 200 words. Colloquial vovabulary is around 500 words. Surely does not take 8 years to learn THAT.
But it surely takes years to soak into culture, to develop pronunciation, so start "speaking same language".
Problem with many immigrants is they stay within their own linguistic realm. They speak their language at home. Go to same language church, clubs, stores, social gatherings. This by no means helps to acquire good language.
I, eg, speak mostly Ukrainian with my wife and almost exclusively English with my sons. I THINK in English.

[HabsFanMTL88]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

As an ex immigrant, I agree with some and disagree with some. I came with some classic British English and was in university 2 years after we crossed the boarder. My wife came with NO English and in 3 years she started RN college degree.
See, it depends which English you refer to. Basic vocabulary is less than 200 words. Colloquial vovabulary is around 500 words. Surely does not take 8 years to learn THAT.
But it surely takes years to soak into culture, to develop pronunciation, so start "speaking same language".
Problem with many immigrants is they stay within their own linguistic realm. They speak their language at home. Go to same language church, clubs, stores, social gatherings. This by no means helps to acquire good language.
I, eg, speak mostly Ukrainian with my wife and almost exclusively English with my sons. I THINK in English.

That's immersion. Immigrants don't fully immerse themselves and even if they did, English is one if the more difficult languages to learn. We have French immersion schools in Canada for Anglo students. Immersing yourself definitely speeds up the process.

[Joann Kitchens]

You can live in America for 10 years and did not learn English or you can make great efforts and learn it for 1 year.
I read in BBC.com, that even in England, more than 138k of people which live there, do not speak English at all)
It also depends on your age. The younger you are when you start studying English, the quicker you can pick up the language. It is also important don't push yourself too hard, try to make it fun.

I, for example, found a good tutor, who helps me with learning English as a second language. I think there are numerous of such services in every state. Maybe their qualitytutoringservices.com/programs.html programs will be also useful for you

[lepoisson]

I lived in France for a year and was fully immersed in the language and culture. The first few months were a little rough, even though I had previous knowledge of the language. The biggest challenge for me was not really language, but a different way of doing things. Opening up a bank account, dealing with finances, and renting an apartment are all different in other countries.

[Sabrosa]

Eight years seems a bit long to me, but english doesn't make nearly as much sense as some other languages in terms of the rules.

[Chava61]

It really depends on many factors which include at what age you start learning English, what is your native language, what other languages you speak and your natural linguistic ability/talent for learning languages in general.