How long does it take to learn Sanskrit fluently?

Sanskrit is a classical language of South Asia belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. 

Language learning is a process that does not happen overnight nor in a fortnight.

Even linguists or people who know how to speak more than two languages aside from their native tongue have to spend not less than two years to master one language.

Purpose of learning Sanskrit:

• Depends on what purpose you wish to find out. If you wish to grasp Sanskrit just like the Vedas and the Upanishads then it’d take an excellent deal of your time, 3-4 months or even a year or 2 for deep learning. However, if you wish to find out to merely have a conversation and understand the fundamentals, then you’ll succeed in acquiring the language in barely 2-3 weeks.

Prior knowledge:

• If you have a hold of any other language, mainly any language from Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, it would be comparatively quicker to grasp Sanskrit. With this in two to three weeks you’ll be decent in it, can read stuff like simple prose and around 1.5–3 years, learning will be more or less like a great 2nd mother tongue and perfect speech and readability can comprehend poems with relative ease.

Therefore, to ask how long does it take to learn a language fluently is such a big question.

The answer depends on various factors that vary from person to person.

#1 How many hours per day can you commit to learning the language?

Each of us has a life to live and our day to day schedule can vary. Therefore, the decision on how many hours you can actually dedicate in a day will vary, too. 

In such a case, you are free to choose how many hours you would like to commit but your time allotment for this goal will absolutely have a huge impact on your speed in learning the language.

#2 Do you study a language by yourself or do you have a tutor?

If you are a beginner and you’re trying to learn a language that’s very much unfamiliar to you, seeking help from those who know better is the best. 

Definitely, you will need guidance and some advice on how to do it correctly especially with the pronunciation and complex words. Doing it by yourself, however, will just cause you frustration and stress so you better get a tutor to help you out.

At Multibhashi, we work with world-class native tutors who are experienced in providing online lessons to language learners all across the globe. If you want to become fluent and speak with confidence, count on us!

#3 Can you practice the language in your daily life?

Application is what should come after memorizing a few lines of the language you are trying to learn. This means that you need to at least try your best to use it in communicating with other people. 

Slowly but surely, you can expect to feel more natural about using the language as well as in understanding it without having to look up in the dictionary for each and every word.

#4 Start learning the most common words and expressions

Take your time and start with easy words and those that you can actually use in normal conversations. 

Once you’ve mastered the simple ones, that’s the time to jump into the more complex set of words and expressions. 

Focus on learning the most common words first then proceed to others.

#5 Always bring a pocket dictionary or a useful language learning app

Arm yourself with some useful tools like a pocket dictionary or an online vocabulary or grammar app. Consult them anytime you have difficulties understanding the language.

#6 Set up of learning:

Your learning strategies play a vital role in how fluently you learn Sanskrit. If your learning is restricted to a room setting, then it’ll most likely take you longer to learn the same. If, however, you are exposed to Sanskrit outside the classroom setup, then you’ll curtail the time required to learn it. Reading, being attentive to the audio, speaking, all will facilitate your learning speed.

So, how long does it take to learn a language fluently? Only you can answer that for yourself.

Time should not be your focus, though.

It’s not about how slow or fast you are, but about how well you learn a particular language.

Start learning now

Good luck!