Living in the country where the target language is spoken is way easier since you’re surrounded by the language all the time. (Although not everyone will learn within 6-8 months)
I’m talking about those who can’t go abroad, do you know any examples of such achievement?
I don’t think it’s impossible. I just think it’s really hard to become fluent in 6 months, in this case.
Hi ! =)) Just occurred to me a moment ago! 
You know what really matters absolutely greatly? The so-called addressed speech ! =))) I know it from my own experience, with another language, when the sentence is addressed personally to you, it both, has a bit different structure, strange that it may seem, but still quite explicable, and, it is memorized waaaay better, and again, because it was said to personally you, not to everybody in general ! =)))
I think it really, as always depends on your idea of fluency. Simple conversations about your life, job, where you come from, what you did today, your plans for tomorrow, what foods you like eating etc, could be considered a level of fluency. It would certainly get you through a trip to that country. That could be achieved in a short period, perhaps 6-8 months. I’ve been learning Russian now coming up three years, two of that not really being serious, and with about 7 months of that being on Lingq, I’m still nowhere near where I want to be, but I’m getting there.
I don’t have any examples of people learning alone being fluent in that time, in their own country I’m afraid.
The reason is, English, luckily, lost huge lot of those complicated linguistic aspects that are retained in Russian, and in German, by the way! That’s why you do not have to be upset, even more so, that many native Russians make mistakes themselves exactly in these two aspects, declentions and conjugations! Noun gender, however, strangely enough, is not an issue at all ! =)))
I have to agree with you. If you discard the random Facebook checking, disciplining the kids, and just do 3 hours of undivided learning, 6 months seems like a reasonable time to become very proficient.
However, it’s just not exactly realistic I feel like. People have other obligations and interests and only really dedicated people will put in 2-3 hours a day of good studying in do it for 6 months.
That being said, it would be a cool challenge to try. But then as I typed this, I just remembered there is that ‘90 day challenge’ thing.
There was an Indian mathematician named Ramanujan and all he could think about was math. Nothing else. But he became to known as one of the smartest mathematicians (without school training) in history.
I have been learning French for about 5 years now and I would say I’m fairly proficient in French working towards being completely fluent. What amazes me is that I had never taken a Spanish course in my life and after having gone to a Spanish speaking country (the Dominican Republic) for just over a month, my Spanish speaking skills far surpassed my French speaking skills. This being said, I had not really taken my school studies of French seriously until the past couple of years and I have not had time to practice speaking with a native Francophone. I recently found out about LingQ though, and this seems to be boosting my learning curve in French quite a bit, so I am ecstatic about what I can accomplish! I wish you the best in whatever language you are studying. Keep going at it.
Certainly not a language that is totally different from the language one has grown up with, unless you count a four-year-old who has learned a new language at a four-year-old level.
Hi ! =)))
An idea occurred to me earlier today! =))) What’s your opinion?
It’s only recently when I was explaining the peculiarities of Russian to an absolute beginer foreigner with no initial background of Russian at all, that I realized it’s absolutely irrelevant for them to know and, hence, no point to explain if it’s an adverb, or a modifier of concession, say, as they are not going to make any parse of the sentence at all, the reason being it’s just not their job! =)))
What they legit need to know is to get an answer to 3 simple questions: (1) how to say this, (2) what exactly it means, and (3) these two seem to denote nearly the same, what is the difference between them and when do I have to use this, but not that one? =)))
It’s only for me that it’s both interesting and relevant to know, say, that this is an enclitic particle, and not a mere preposition! =)) The majority of ordinary people never even think of this, as it just doesn’t matter for them, at all !
Thanks man.
I hope you become completely fluent very soon! 
I agree with you.
Learning the basic words and chunks of the language should be the first steps for an absolute beginner, in my opinion.
Taking a look at some grammar points later on wouldn’t be a bad idea. But becoming obsessive about it ends up preventing learners to speak naturally.
I like the way you think. Language is an endless journey but the good news is that the fun isn’t in the destination but in the journey itself.
You live you learn.
Exactly! =))) You’re absolutely right! =))))
The reason I came to this conclusion was, I just thought for a moment, suppose we take a rank-and-file in the street and ask him in Russian, if he knows the verb conjugation paradigm for, say, the easiest verb, ‘‘to go’’, for example?
I have no doubt, the reaction will be, and quite natural and understandable, by the way, “Do I know what??? Listen, if you want to show me I’m a fool, just go ahead and try to show this to someone else, Key???”
But if we ask him, “Hey, how would you say in Russian ‘He went…’, please?” Not only will there be no offending echo question, but what’s more, the answer will be instant and, what’s more important, without any thinking at all ! =)))
In other words, grammar is surely necessary for the real knowledge of the language, but I very much doubt, it should be explained in an absolutely academic terms and definitions! =))) They tend to scare those who are not linguists, and the majority of those learning a language are NOT! =))))
The same happens in Portuguese. To be honest, I think it’s like that in every country. not only ours.
Non-native speakers tend to know more about grammar then native ones! Isn’t that funny? lol
I think it depends on your definition of “fluency”.
“Evgueny fluency”
Description: Bullshitting your way through a short conversation, I guess.
Required time investment: 500 hours (3 hours a day for 6 months)
“Paule89 fluency”
Description: Reaching a near-native level when it comes to listening and reading. Being “pretty good” at speaking and writing without being mistaken for a native speaker
Required time investment: 10,000 hours (3 hours a day for 10 years)
“Advanced fluency”
Description: Being as good as an educated native speaker.
Required time investment: 40,000+ hours (3 hours a day for 40 years or 10 years of full immersion)
That´s a rough estimate though. Things like… the language you´re learning, your native languages, the languages you already speaking, your age, your intelligence, your level of focus, your method and whatnot can make a huge difference…
Haha, it surely is, right you are! =)))
Mostly it’s because the non-natives are mostly taught in academic style!
But the idea became absolutely pronounced for me as now I’m involved with a language which is legit exotic for us, Europeans! =)))
So, when I first saw the sentence like ‘Ang pinakamataas na niya!’ I looked up on the Internet to find that ‘na’ here is an eclitic particle! =)) But when I asked a native speaker about the function of enclitics, the reaction was absolutely natural, “What??? Enclitics? What on Earth does it mean???” =))) But when I asked just as any ordinary native would ask, “And what does this ‘na’ mean here?” The answer was immediate ! =))))
"Deutsche Welle suggests A1 is reached with about 75 hours of German tuition, A2.1 with about 150 hours, A2.2 with about 225 hours, B1.1 with about 300 hours, and B1.2 with about 400 hours.[5]
Cambridge ESOL said that each level is reached with the following guided learning hours: A2, 180–200; B1, 350–400; B2, 500–600; C1, 700–800, and C2, 1,000–1,200.[6]
Alliance Française has stated students can expect to reach CEFR levels after the following cumulative hours of instruction: A1 60–100, A2 160–200, B1 360–400, B2 560–650, C1 810–950, C2 1060–1200.[7]"
Thanks
Conservative numbers.
You are missing “Benny-fluency” 10 hours a day, 4-5 months, 1500 hours, followed by 1 week of intense youtube/video editing, call it 1540 hours - > “100% Benny-fluent mission success” as judged by 1st year college students on facebook.
Hi ! =))
Fortunately, acquiring a language is not about any figures, at all ! =))) And never will be!
Or else, just populate a computer data base with, say, 2 million of words in any language, and voila, a computer has learned a new language and acquired a high proficiency level in it! But it’s not the case, so far, at least!
No point muddying the waters here, Pauler. Hours spent awashed in the language is the single, best predictor of level.