How many hours does it take to learn Chinese?

Recently, a client approached our school with such an interesting question. Methodists took it to work, and now they are ready to voice the answer. However, let's make a few clarifications:

— we write about average results, that is, they may differ in a particular case;

— we rely exclusively on the experience of our school and with our teachers, selected according to the standards of CHINECT;

— we take into account only individual time with the teacher and self-study (without distractions).

“Learning Chinese” is a loose concept

In Chinese, there are 6 levels of language proficiency: from HSK 1 to HSK 6. The easiest way to answer is HSK 1, because:

— at this level, the entire base of Chinese is mastered;

— the student already knows ~ 150 hieroglyphs, talks about himself, his family and hobbies, and also asks the interlocutor;

— 92% of the school's students start from scratch and reach HSK 1, so we have data for accurate assessments.

So, how many hours does it take to learn Chinese at HSK level 1?

Our answer is 80 hours. Of these, with a teacher - 27 hours, and independently - 53 hours.

That is, the proportions are approximately the following: 1/3 with the teacher and 2/3 yourself. The latter is very important, as it enhances the effect of classes with a teacher. That is why we have introduced flashcards and online dictionaries for students in CHINECT to make the repetition process easier.

What is 80 hours?

This is, in fact, two working weeks of an adult. However, for 8 hours a day 5/2, of course, you don’t need to study. We encourage students to dedicate to learning...only 1 hour a day! And at the same time, it is imperative to make 1 day completely a day off from Chinese, so that everything “fits” in your head. With such, frankly, low rates, the result is achieved on average in ~ 3 months of training.