How long did it take you to seriously learn your target language to a near-native level

This is kind of related to this post from a few hours ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/jj3e5u/there_are_no_shortcuts_to_learning_a_foreign/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

I’m wondering how long it took any serious language learners to acquire their second language to a near-native level where you could understand close to everything in books, conversations, on tv, in movies, and where you would potentially be able to live and work in a country with your language without any language issues.

I do agree that most people that learn languages tend to over-rate their ability and claim fluency at what’s probably more like an upper intermediate level. I’ve been learning Korean pretty seriously while living in South Korea for a little over three years now, and I’ve gone from nothing to around TOPIK 5 or 6. I still don’t think I’m anywhere close to fluent, and I struggle to understand most random conversations if I don’t know the topic. When I read a book, I have to use a dictionary often. But I’m definitely making progress and I’m better each year. I think it’ll probably take me another 5 years at least until I’m really close to what I would call fluency. Korean is a difficult language though and I know it wouldn’t take as long for languages closer to my own native language (English).

For those of you who’ve learned your target language to a near-native level: what are your native and target languages and many years did it take to reach that point? What were your study methods and environments like?

(Also, I’m mostly asking for people who started learning the language as an adult. It’s probably difficult to measure if you started as a child and started studying it more as an adult)

submitted by /u/geomeunbyul
[link] [comments]

from Ẹ káàbọ̀ https://ift.tt/2HEsXRS
via Learn Online English Speaking