Do you need 1100 hours to learn Russian? (My experience)

2 Weeks ago, a student asked me about FSI’s 1100 hours for learning Russian.

He was comparing the amount of hours he had put into this “magical” 1100 hours. And wondered why he wasn’t fluent yet.

Turns out, he was comparing his TOTAL hours to FSI’s CLASSROOM hours.

And that’s the first thing you have to know:

When FSI talks about you needing 1100 hours to speak Russian, they only count classroom hours.

The Foreign Service Institute course for Russian is this:

• 44 weeks
• 5 hours a day of classroom hours
• 3-4 hours a day of homework

That makes a total of 1760-1980 hours for diplomats following the course to get to a reasonable level of Russian.

Sounds like a lot of time?

It is.

But will you only be fluent in Russian after spending at least 1760 hours?

No, you’ll be able to have good conversations MUCH earlier.

Why? You can watch the video below:

Or continue reading to learn:

• My biggest issue with FSI’s 1100 hours to learn Russian
• How long did it take me to learn Russian?
• A simple strategy to 10X your classroom hours, even if you’re busy

My biggest issue with FSI’s 1100 hours to learn Russian

My biggest issue with these 1100 hours guidelines is that it’s so demotivating.

Even if you just count classroom hours, it’s still a lot of time:

Imagine you’re taking 1 classroom hour a day…

… then it still takes you 3 years to get to 1100 hours

(1 hour x 1 day x 3 years = 1185 hours)

If you would’ve told me when I started to learn Russian, that I would need to spend 1 hour EVERY SINGLE DAY in a classroom for  the next 3 years, I might’ve quit on the spot.

Luckily, that’s not the case (more on that later).

But first, let me explain another issue most people get wrong.

There are 3 ways of looking at these 1100 hours:

• Binary model
• Linear model
• Non-linear model

Here’s what each means:

Binary model of the 1100 hours guidelines

Some people think of this, when they hear about 1100 hours to become fluent in Russian:

This is the binary model. And it’s false.

Most smart people understand that it’s not a binary switch. 

You don’t spend the first 1000 hours unable to speak…

… and then once you reach a magical point, you’re fluent all of a sudden.

So if this is false, is the linear model maybe correct?

Linear model to FSI’s 1100 learn Russian hours

The most common mental model people have is this:

It makes sense, right?

If it takes 1100 hours to become fluent in Russian, you need 550 hours to become “half fluent”.

And 110 hours to become 10% fluent.

Nope.

Again not true.

Because what I experienced when learning Russian was this:

Non-linear model to become fluent in Russian

In reality, this is how your progress in Russian will look:

Learning Russian (like most skills) is a non-linear progress. 

You will reap the most benefits from the first time block invested.

The first 100 hours will do much more for your conversational ability, than hours 1000 to 1100.

Assume you’re a complete beginner:

If you were to learn 100 common words/phrases like:

• Привет – hi
• Спасибо – thanks
• Меня зовут … – my name is …
• Пока – bye
• Я из … – I’m from …
• Я работаю в компании … – I work in company …
• Мне нравится – I like
• Как дела? – How are things?
• У меня всё хорошо – Everything’s fine with me

Learning 100 words/phrases like this may take a beginner 5 to 20 hours.

But it will make a massive difference in how well they would be able to have a conversation.

They would go from 0 to 10% fluency.

Just by learning some common phrases and words.

But if I would learn an extra 100 phrases now (after already being fluent in Russian), it would maybe add a 0,5% to my fluency…

Talking about me, let’s compare my progress in Russian to the non-linear model:

How long did it take me to learn Russian?

When I went to Moscow for the first time in my life, I had probably spent around 100 hours learning Russian.

Or at least, the “classroom” equivalent of 100 hours.

I never took any classes, but did something different that allowed me to make much more progress in a shorter period of time. I’ll explain later in this article what I did.

But when I came to Moscow, I found that I was able to have basic conversations.

I could explain:

• Where I was from
• Which hobbies I enjoyed
• What I had studied in university
• Where I was going to work
• How I liked Moscow
• What food I enjoyed

My grammar was still bad, but I managed to have conversations. And I had a great 2 weeks in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

So my first milestone was about 100 hours, that allowed me to have basic conversations and not feel lost.

I do want to mention that I also spent a similar amount watching Russian series and movies. That’s a valuable “extracurricular” activity that helps with listening comprehension and general knowledge. But I wouldn’t count it as classroom hours.

My second milestone came at about 300 “classroom equivalent” hours.

I had picked up some Russian-speaking friends at Schiphol Amsterdam airport, and we were going to my place by train.

We were talking, and I asked them how their flight was, and about their plans in the Netherlands.

Only after 10 minutes it dawned upon me that we were speaking Russian the whole time!

And it felt almost like I was having a regular conversation in Dutch or English.

That’s the moment I started feeling comfortable with my skills.

And I told myself that every extra hour spent learning Russian will be “bonus”.

This was after about 1.5 years of learning, or I estimate 300 hours.

Even though 1100 classroom hours may be required to become fluent in Russian, you will be able to enjoy conversations MUCH earlier.

So, how can you repeat my success? Let me show you:

A simple strategy to 10X your classroom hours, even if you’re busy

I already told you that I’ve never taken any real classes in Russian.

So I’ve never experienced any classroom hours.

What did I do instead?

Here’s the secret:

I listened to Russian audio lessons.

In essence, audio lessons are recorded classroom hours.

And the great thing about audio lessons is that you can listen as much as you like.

Instead of having 2 classes per week, you can listen to audio lessons during your commute or while taking a walk.

This makes it much easier to rack up quality practice time.

An extra benefit is that you can go at your own speed.

Instead of following the pace of the least smart/motivated person in class, you follow your pace.

You can also choose your preferred way of learning, as there are lots of audio courses available.

I liked to listen to Russian audio lessons that focused on speaking, as communication was my main goal.

The audio course I recommend the most is Russian Conversations Unlocked, as it’s built on speaking.

In that course, you learn a new word, and then immediately get a prompt to create a sentence with that word.

Or when you learn a new grammatical point, you also get a prompt to use it in a real phrase.

That makes it an efficient way to learn Russian.