Learning a language

[bunn]

How long do you reckon it takes to learn a new language to the point where you can have simple conversations with native speakers of that language?

Specifically, how long do you think it would take for someone who can already speak at least two languages to learn an unfamiliar language, when they are in an environment where the unfamiliar language is spoken by everyone and they are working on picking up the language as the main thing they are doing?   Assume that the person has the assistance of someone who can speak both languages, and that the structure of the language is similar to those already known.

I reckon two weeks would be more than enough, but then my attitude to languages is a bit Top Gear.  Pp, who has A's at O Level in several languages he can't speak at all, feels that two weeks is a ludicrous underestimate. 

Comments

[carmarthen.livejournal.com]

I'd disagree about new scripts - if they're alphabets, they're pretty trivial. My intensive Russian class in uni did print one day, cursive the next, because being able to read Cyrillic was a necessary foundation for reading the textbook. I still read Cyrillic very slowly, but I can read it (and write fluent cursive that...I can't read very well, heh) despite forgetting most of the grammar and vocab.

Learning Arabic script is a bit more time-consuming, but it's still an alphabet, just one where letterforms change. Learning to write in Japanese or Chinese is where it becomes non-trivial.