There's no single honest answer to "how long does it take to learn German" — it depends on your target level, how many hours a week you can realistically commit, and whether you're speaking regularly or just reading grammar books. But language schools worldwide use a shared framework, the CEFR levels (A1 through C2), and each one has a commonly-cited hour range that gives a much more useful answer than a single number.
A1 (beginner): typically 70–150 hours, or about 2–3 months of regular study. At A1 you can introduce yourself, order food, ask simple questions, and follow very slow, basic conversation.
A2 (elementary): another 150–200 hours on top of A1, so roughly 3–4 more months. A2 gets you through everyday situations — shopping, small talk, simple past-tense stories about your day — without constantly reaching for a dictionary.
B1 (intermediate): another 300–350 hours, putting you at 6–8 months total from zero if you're studying consistently. This is generally considered the first "independent user" level — enough to handle most travel, work, and social situations, express opinions, and use multiple tenses.
B2 and beyond: another 500+ hours to reach B2, often a year or more of cumulative study. B2 is typically the level required for university study or professional work in German, with C1/C2 representing near-native fluency reserved for those who keep pushing for years, often while living in a German-speaking environment.
What actually changes this timeline more than anything else: daily practice beats weekly cramming, speaking from the very first lesson beats waiting until you feel "ready," and getting your mistakes corrected in real time (rather than repeating them silently for months) is consistently the biggest accelerator learners report.
