Reaching B2 German takes roughly 450–600 hours of instruction by the Goethe-Institut's rough guideline, about 15–20 months at an hour a day. B1, where everyday life in German becomes manageable, takes about 260–490 hours. For professional fluency, the US Foreign Service Institute allows approximately 36 weeks of full-time training, longer than for Dutch, Spanish or French.
- To A1
- Approx. 60–150 hours of instruction (Goethe-Institut)
- To B1
- Approx. 260–490 hours
- To B2
- Approx. 450–600 hours
- FSI group
- Category II: approximately 36 weeks (828 class hours)
- Contos German library
- 48 series, 296 chapters (October 2026)
How many hours does each German level take?
The Goethe-Institut, Germany's official cultural institute, publishes a rough guideline for the instruction needed to complete each level of the CEFR, the Council of Europe's six-step scale. It counts in 45-minute teaching units and converts them to hours. Read the ranges as totals from zero: B2 starts where B1 ends.
| Level | Instruction (Goethe-Institut) | At 30 minutes a day | At 1 hour a day | At 2 hours a day | Contos moves you up at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Approx. 60–150 hours | 4–10 months | 2–5 months | 1–2.5 months | Start here |
| A2 | Approx. 150–260 hours | 10–17 months | 5–9 months | 2.5–4 months | 500 known words |
| B1 | Approx. 260–490 hours | 17–32 months | 9–16 months | 4–8 months | 1,500 known words |
| B2 | Approx. 450–600 hours | 2.5–3.3 years | 15–20 months | 7–10 months | 4,000 known words |
The ranges are wide on purpose. The Goethe-Institut names the things that move you along them: how committed you are, how much time you put in, whether you use extra practice, whether you already know another foreign language, and whether you study in Germany, surrounded by German outside the classroom.
Those hours are taught hours. Reading, listening and flashcards on your own also count, which is why a learner with an hour of class a week and half an hour of daily reading can move faster than the table suggests.
What does the FSI's 36 weeks mean for German?
The Foreign Service Institute trains US diplomats, and its figures describe something more demanding than everyday German: an integrated score of 3 for speaking and listening on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale, a professional working level. Its students spend a typical week on 23 hours of class and 17 hours of self-study.
German is in Category II, at approximately 36 weeks and 828 class hours. Add the self-study and the course comes to about 1,440 hours: roughly four years at an hour a day. On the FSI's list, German is the only European language in Category II; Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sit in Category I at 24 weeks, and Spanish and French at 30.
Most people learning German for a holiday, a partner's family or a move to Germany don't need that standard. B1 lets you cope with everyday situations; B2 lets you hold a normal conversation with native speakers without strain on either side. For why German needs those extra weeks, see is German hard to learn?
What changes between German levels on the page?
We measured the free chapters (1 and 2) of every series in the Contos German library, October 2026 export: 24 chapters per level, each written for one level only. The numbers show what a step up actually asks of you.
| Level | Average chapter | Average sentence | Different word forms | war, waren, hatte, hatten per 1,000 words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | 167 words | About 5 words | 777 | 2 |
| A2 | 237 words | About 6 words | 1,214 | 8 |
| B1 | 292 words | About 8–9 words | 1,756 | 22 |
| B2 | 359 words | About 10 words | 2,156 | 21 |
Two jumps stand out. Chapters more than double in length from A1 to B2. And the past tense arrives at B1: the forms of sein and haben that narrate the past (war, hatte) are rare in A1 chapters and about ten times as common at B1, along with longer sentences that send the verb to the end. Here is how a B2 chapter opens:
Um drei Uhr morgens war die Schleifergasse noch so still, dass Lena Hoffmann ihre eigenen Schritte auf dem Kopfsteinpflaster hörte.One sentence, a past tense (war, hörte), a so … dass clause with its verb parked at the very end, and a compound noun (Kopfsteinpflaster, cobblestone paving). None of it is rare at B2, and all of it would stop an A1 reader. That gap is several hundred hours of study in the table above.
How can you learn German faster?
- Study every day, even briefly. Thirty minutes daily beats three and a half hours on Sunday, because words come back before you forget them. Our 15-minute reading routine shows one way to fill the time.
- Read far more than you think you need. Reading is the cheapest way to add hours of German: a free A1 chapter averages 167 words, so even a week of them is a few minutes a day. See how to learn German by reading.
- Learn every noun with its article (der Brief, die Tür, das Foto). Fixing gender later costs far more time than learning it now.
- Pick a target level and a date. B1 for everyday life, B2 for work or study. The Goethe-Institut and telc certify both; see German CEFR levels.
- Add listening and speaking. Contos is for reading. Pair it with podcasts, a tandem partner or a class.
Start with chapter 1 of an A1 German story, free. Tap any word for its meaning.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
Can I learn German in a year?
An hour a day for a year is about 365 hours. By the Goethe-Institut's guideline that takes you past A2 (150–260 hours) and well into B1 (260–490). B2 usually needs 450–600 hours, so expect 15–20 months at that pace.
How long does it take to reach B1 German?
About 260–490 hours of instruction from zero, or 350–650 lessons of 45 minutes, according to the Goethe-Institut. At an hour a day that is 9–16 months. Prior languages and time spent in a German-speaking country can shorten it.
Is German slower to learn than Dutch?
By the FSI's figures, yes: approximately 36 weeks of full-time training for German against 24 weeks for Dutch. German's cases and three genders are the main reason. Our German vs Dutch guide compares them in detail.
How long until I can read German novels?
Longer than B2 for most learners. Paul Nation's research on English puts 98% coverage of novels at 8,000–9,000 word families. Contos moves readers to B2 at 4,000 known words, and graded stories are the bridge to native books.
Does living in Germany make it faster?
Usually. The Goethe-Institut says it makes a big difference whether you take a course at home or in Germany, where you hear German outside the classroom. Exposure only helps if you use it, though: reading, listening and talking every day.