Reaching A2 in Spanish usually takes about 180–240 hours of study, B1 about 300–420, B2 about 480–600 and C1 about 660–780; at one hour a day that is roughly 7 months to A2, a year to B1, a year and a half to B2 and two years to C1. These are cumulative course hours from Instituto Cervantes centres, which set their own plans. For English speakers Spanish is one of the quicker languages to learn: the US Foreign Service Institute puts it in its easiest group. Below is a table for different daily amounts, what makes Spanish easier or harder for you and a weekly plan you can actually keep.
Hours and months for each level
The table shows cumulative hours from zero and how many months they take at different daily amounts. Months are calculated from the middle of each range: hours divided by your daily time, divided by 30.4 days, rounded to half a month.
| Level | Hours from zero | 15 min a day | 30 min a day | 1 hour a day | 2 hours a day |
|---|
| A2 | 180–240 | 27.5 months | 14 months | 7 months | 3.5 months |
|---|
| B1 | 300–420 | 47.5 months | 23.5 months | 12 months | 6 months |
|---|
| B2 | 480–600 | 71 months | 35.5 months | 18 months | 9 months |
|---|
| C1 | 660–780 | 94.5 months | 47.5 months | 23.5 months | 12 months |
|---|
The assumption behind it: every day counts, and the time is focused study (new words, reviews, reading, listening, speaking), not a podcast in the background. A Cervantes class hour is often 50 minutes, so self-study minutes are roughly comparable. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to keep your words alive, but on its own it gets you to C1 only after about eight years. If you already know some Spanish, take the Spanish vocabulary test and start counting from your current level.
What makes Spanish faster or slower for English speakers
- Thousands of cognates. Words ending in -tion, -ty and -ly often map straight to -ción, -dad and -mente: nación, universidad, rápidamente. You understand written Spanish surprisingly early.
- Spelling you can trust. Spanish is written almost exactly as it is spoken, with five clear vowels. Once you know the rules, you can read any new word aloud.
- Verbs take time. One verb has around fifty forms across persons, tenses and moods. The past tenses (pretérito vs imperfecto) and the subjunctive are where most English speakers slow down at B1.
- Gender and agreement. Every noun is masculine or feminine, and adjectives agree with it: la casa blanca, el coche blanco.
- Ser and estar. English has one verb “to be”, Spanish has two, and choosing between them is a classic A2–B1 hurdle.
- False friends. Embarazada means pregnant, not embarrassed; actual means current; librería is a bookshop.
- Speed of speech. Native speakers link words together, so listening usually lags behind reading. Plan extra listening time.
Official guidance: Instituto Cervantes and the FSI
The Instituto Cervantes, which runs the DELE exams, does not publish one fixed number of hours per level. Each centre builds its own course plan. Two examples of hours per level (not cumulative):
| Cervantes centre | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 |
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| Warsaw | 60 | 120 | 120 | 180 | 180 |
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| Istanbul | 120 | 120 | 180 | 180 | 180 |
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Added up, that is 300–420 hours to finish B1 and 480–600 to finish B2, close to the Cambridge English estimates for English (350–400 hours for B1, 500–600 for B2). The US Foreign Service Institute places Spanish in Category I, the easiest group for native English speakers: about 30 weeks, or roughly 750 class hours, of full-time training to reach professional working proficiency, roughly C1. Its students also do self-study every day, so that is a minimum in a very intensive setting. For other languages see how long it takes to reach B1 and B2.
How many Spanish words each level needs
Hours turn into levels mostly through vocabulary. Research estimates for the words you recognise when reading are about 1,500–2,500 for A2, 2,750–3,250 for B1, 3,250–3,750 for B2 and 3,750–4,500 for C1. The full breakdown, with the most useful words to start with, is in how many words you need in Spanish.
Ten new words a day with regular reviews make about 300 a month and about 3,600 a year. Without reviews, a large share of them is forgotten within weeks, which is why spaced repetition saves more time than any trick for learning words faster.
A realistic weekly plan
An example of about 5 hours a week that fits around a job:
- Monday to Friday, 45 minutes. 15 minutes of new words and due reviews, 15 minutes of grammar or a short text, 15 minutes of output: building sentences, a few lines of writing or speaking.
- Saturday, 1 hour. A longer story or dialogue at your level, then a Spanish series episode or podcast with Spanish subtitles.
- Sunday, 30 minutes. Reviews only, plus a short text about your week.
That is about 5.25 hours a week, roughly 23 hours a month: A2 in about 9 months, B1 in about 16 and B2 in about two years. Short daily sessions beat one long weekend session, because distributed practice is remembered better than cramming (meta-analysis by Cepeda and colleagues, 2006).
How NewLexi helps
- Word sets for any topic, level or exam. Type “B1 travel” or “DELE B2” in the chat and get a set already split into categories.
- Words in context with example sentences, audio and spaced repetition, so you review each word just before you would forget it.
- A daily plan with reviews, new words, a story and a dialogue, so you know exactly what to do in your 30 or 45 minutes.
- Stories and dialogues written for your level using the words you are learning.
- Grammar lessons and exercises from A1 to C2, from ser and estar to the subjunctive, plus sentence building.
- Writing practice with instant AI feedback and an AI chat for conversation.
- Import words from a photo, Anki or Quizlet, and Lock Screen widgets to review while you wait.
NewLexi is for iPhone only. It is free on the App Store, with an optional Pro subscription.
FAQ
How long does it take to learn Spanish to B1?
About 300–420 hours from zero. At one hour a day that is about a year, at 30 minutes about two years. English speakers are often at the fast end of this range thanks to cognates.
Can I learn Spanish in a year?
To a solid B1, yes, with about an hour of focused study every day. To reach B2 within a year you need about 1.5 hours a day, every day.
How many hours a day should I study Spanish?
30 to 60 minutes is realistic for most people with a job. Regularity matters more than length: an hour every day works better than a seven-hour Sunday.
Is Spanish hard for English speakers?
Not especially: it is one of the easier languages for English speakers, and the FSI places it in Category I. Vocabulary and pronunciation come quickly; verb forms, the subjunctive and fast native speech take the longest.
How long does it take to go from B1 to B2 in Spanish?
About 180 more hours, based on the midpoints of the Cervantes ranges. At an hour a day that is about six months.
Sources
- Instituto Cervantes de Varsovia. Cursos de español: información general (horas por nivel). varsovia.cervantes.es/es/cursos_espanol/informacion_cursos_espanol.htm
- Instituto Cervantes de Estambul. Cursos generales de español (horas totales por nivel). estambul.cervantes.es/es/cursos_espanol/estudiantes_espanol/cursos_generales_espanol.htm
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute. Foreign Language Training: language learning timelines. www.state.gov/national-foreign-affairs-training-center/foreign-language-training
- Cambridge English. Guided learning hours. support.cambridgeenglish.org/hc/en-gb/articles/202838506-Guided-learning-hours
- Milton, J., & Alexiou, T. (2009). Vocabulary size and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In B. Richards et al. (Eds.), Vocabulary Studies in First and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 194–211). Palgrave Macmillan. doi.org/10.1057/9780230242258_12
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
- Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages
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