So let’s talk about this honestly. You might have Googled this question. And you have probably stumbled on the classification of Arabic as Category IV (Super-Hard) by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) and the Defense Language Institute (DLI). But here is what you need to know. These systems, first of all, do not assess language difficulty levels objectively. They measure the linguistic distance and how far the language is from English.
So knowing that, you will find:
- Category I (Fastest): Languages structurally close to English (e.g., Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch). Requires 600–750 hours.
- Category II/III (Medium): Languages with significant linguistic differences from English (e.g., German, Indonesian, Swahili, Hebrew). Requires 900–1,100 hours.
- Category IV (Super-Hard): Exceptionally difficult for native English speakers (e.g., Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean). Requires 2,200 hours.
But we need to know that similar linguistic scales also exist in other parts of the world. For example, in Japan and for a native Japanese speaker, Korean will be considered a Category I language, whereas English would be classified as Category IV (super-hard).
So the classification that you might read online might not be accurate for you just because you speak English.
Another very important point is that even if you are a native English speaker, the Arabic referred to in these classifications is MSA: Modern Standard Arabic. And it is NOT the spoken Arabic that you hear everywhere you go. There is no system to rate the native languages of the world as they are random and very hard to rate.
But let me answer straight to the point. Arabic is not easy, but it is absolutely learnable. I think when embarking on learning any skill in the world you need to really commit to practicing that skill as often as possible.
One hour per week isn’t going to cut it. The minimum you need to commit to is 2 hours per week, with an optimal schedule of three short sessions per week to really adopt the skill.
You should expect to be able to express yourself within a year and then the listening skill to follow within the next year. It will take you 3 to 4 years depending on the frequency to become fluent. Don’t make the mistake of starting with only one lesson per week and then, after six months, finding yourself stuck in revision and trying to keep the info you learned from slipping out rather than learning and practicing new things. Remember the power of compounding effort. Five minutes per day reading out loud through your Arabic notes will keep telling your brain: I know this language, I need this language, I heard it, it is familiar, let’s keep it around.
