<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am very interested in studying abroad with almost zero language knowledge. How long did it take you to pick up the language? How long before you could make friends in that language? If you could not speak the language well/at all, how did it affect your ability to make friends and experience the country? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>If you go abroad with no knowledge of the language, you will also come back with no knowledge of the language. Some people will tell you it’s easy to pick it up and you will learn loads, but that’s untrue. Before I went to Norway for a year as part of my degree, I had been studying Norwegian full time (25+ hours a week) for three years and I still found it hard to communicate.</p>
<p>well i was thinking of self studying the language (w/ a tutor) for a year and then going for 8 weeks. The program said it would include 4 hours of language study a day while I am fully immersed in a homestay program. Would this be worth it?</p>
<p>How long would the program be? If it is a longer program and you have an aptitude for languages then yes it could be worth it. (other factors such as cost, opportunity cost, etc. matter as well)</p>
<p>It might be worth it if you studied the language with a tutor for a year before you left (assuming you mean a European language, anything else and a year is no where near long enough). There is absolutely no point going abroad unless you have reached at least B1 level (using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, google it) before you go and ideally B2 level or above.</p>
<p>Eight weeks does not sound very long. American college-run homestay programmes have a bit of a reputation for using families who speak English so the whole thing is a bit pointless because they inevitably speak to you in English. Ultimately it is up to you but there are better and cheaper ways of learning a language.</p>
<p>Yes, I am trying to learn Portuguese in Brazil. I am a high school student, and I am looking at 8 week programs but am also considering semester long programs through AFS USA and Greenheart. Clearly, they are biased and are trying to make money, but through reading their blogs it does become apparent that some students go to Brazil with zero language ability. Thank you for mentioning the B1 and B2 exams. They do seem to be good indicators of basic language ability to get around. </p>
<p>I am going to ask for Portuguese tutoring while I am there everyday in addition to attending regular classes in Brazil.</p>
<p>I studied a few semesters of German - found it hard to communicate in the beginning in Germany. I did an intensive German course in Germany - I studied hard core for 6 months - 4 hours of class every day.</p>
<p>I am fluent in German. I did the same in Spain - I am fluent in Spanish.</p>
<p>If you want fluency in a language, look into language schools with intensive langauge programs. Also check out the intensive language programs offered by universities.</p>
<p>If you can, avoid going on a US sponsored program - you will go with a group of US students, you’ll all stick together and have the “time of your life” and your “eye opening experience” - but becuase you guys are going to speak English all the time with each other, your language progress will be hindered.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would save your money before you go, NOT spend it on learning Portuguese in the US, and spend an extra month (if you can swing it) learning Portuguese in Brazil.</p>
<p>Good luck with your plans and have a great tirp, when the time comes!</p>
<p>I am very wary of anyone who claims to be fluent in a language after only 6 months of study. Either you are lying, or we differ greatly in our interpretation of what fluency is.</p>
<p>American fluent is completely different to the definition of fluent in any other country in my experience!</p>
<p>thanks for your response magellan26.</p>
<p>I agree, I have decided to do a 5 month program with CCI Greenheart travel. It includes a homestay and placing me in a private school in Brazil. This way, I will be immersed to the language 24/7. I will be working 1 on 1, 1.5 hours a day to learn the language with a tutor. I think I can become conversational fluent by then.</p>
<p>Yes, American fluent and native fluency are too different things. I interned at the University of Malaya where many professor’s second language was English. They told me they learned English (harder than Portuguese) in 7 months. Yes, they speak with an accent. Yes, they have to read translated texts of the economic journals we were studying. But they could definitely converse in English for the entire day and make friends using the language. That is good enough fluency for me.</p>
<p>You won’t become fluent, not even close. I don’t know why I keep having to say this. Think what you like, but being able to communicate effectively without making mistakes or pausing every minute takes time and a lot of effort… 6 months, a year even isn’t going to cut it.</p>
<p>English isn’t harder than Portuguese, English is one of the easiest foreign languages to learn.</p>
<p>It is strange how quickly people are to judge others here. magellan says he became fluent in 6 months. If improbable, it is by no means impossible if he worked extremely hard and immersed himself in the environment. I know Americans who did this in France and Germany, where in each place it took me a year or more to get fluent. </p>
<p>Cupcake splits too many hairs about what “American fluent” is. If you can easily listen, express yourself on most subjects, and read, that is a good rule of thumb for language competency. Fluency in my view is the ability to function in an environment with natives easily and without difficulty, even if you have an accent. My kids grew up in France, so they are native speakers. “Native fluency” sounds like a nonsense category to me.</p>
<p>I am not judging anyone; I simply reject the possibility of becoming ‘fluent’ in 6 months, or even a year. One can certainly attain a level akin to a native speaker with effort - I don’t know why you think otherwise. It takes years and years (maybe a decade or more) but it’s possible. </p>
<p>I quite often meet people who claim to be fluent in a language, but after a ten minute conversation it is evident to me that they are exaggerating their abilities. Fluency to me (and most people outside America) is the ability to discuss at length any subject, even a subject you know nothing about without making mistakes.</p>
<p>Magellan, will you post the names of programs you have had success with please?</p>
<p>Nordicblue, most Americans cannot discuss any subject in English without mistakes. How can you discuss something you know nothing about? That is a pretty unrealistic bar.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is a clear definition of fluency. In my experience, it takes about a year to learn an indo-european language that is fairly similar to your original language. What do I mean by “learn”? That you can listen in a relaxed manner, talk about most subjects, understand slang well, and read a novel with the occasional help of a dictionary. Is that “fluent”? I worked in France a year (I arrived not knowing the language), then did graduate work for 2 years in France in French. </p>
<p>My kids both arrived in France while very young. We put them right into a local school, and I can tell you, they were competent in 2 months and fluent in 6. It is not the same for someone over 20, of course, but I know people - especially those who learned languages when young - who can make progress faster than others, that is, if they are in an intensive program and living in an environment where they must speak it.</p>
<p>And some people are just better at learning languages.</p>
<p>thanks for your helpful post MDmom.</p>
<p>yes, I will be 18 when I go on my study abroad program so hopefully I will be young enough to take in the language! I have been reading blogs and interviews etc, and kids do seem to become fluent after 5-6 months. I think being forced to go into a school taught entirely in a foreign language does the trick. I lived in Korea for 14 years of my life, but my parents speak english and I never use Korean. I can understand almost everything around me, TV, radio etc. but I cannot speak a word of it. If only I had taken lessons and practiced speaking…</p>
<p>Hi August. I not only did it with German - I also did it with Spanish. Intensive courses, 4 hours a day. Let’s do the math: 80 hours a month, 320 hours of langauge classes per 6 month period. Add to that time speaking with locals outside of class, readings newspapers and books, and there you have it. When I was in Germany one of the German guys told me that “he had never met someone who learned German so fast.” He knew me when I first got there, and there was a huge difference. Send me a private message if you want - I’ll give you my skype address and we can talk in German and Spanish. :)</p>
<p>Hi MD mom - sorry, I haven’t been on CC for a bit, so I hope this post is useful for you. In Germany I went to the “Sprachenkolleg für Ausländische Studieriende.” The school is in Freiburg, in the Black Forrest in Germany. Tuition for the entire year – 3 trimesters – was something like 900 bucks. </p>
<p>They give intensive courses in 3-month periods. 4 hours of class per day, and more homework than I ever experienced in a language school. My progress with German was based on the hours of study, the amount of homework, living in a student Dorm with German students, and being the only American in the language school - my friends were mostly Italians, French, and Japanese students, so we always spoeke German. I also read a lot - I was motivated. My German really took off. </p>
<p>The three month courses were a plus - in two-week or month-long courses, you have more students coming and going. But with three-month long courses, you are not interrupted by new students, so the teachers don’t have to accommodate them (and slow down our progress).</p>
<p>Nordicube, do feel free to take me up on my offer and contact me!</p>