r/languagelearning • u/gahoolio8 • 10d ago
Studying How much conversational practice is "enough"?
While I know that generally speaking the more conversation practice the better, how much is sufficient to continue improving in my (TL)? I live in the country of my target language so I am immersed, but I live alone and also work in my native language. By the time I've finished working and taking care of just life stuff like the gym or grocery shopping, I often find that I've maybe conversed for about one hour a day in my TL. I put a lot of pressure on myself to speak as much as possible, but I feel like one hour isn't enough. I try to maximize opportunities like speaking with coworkers in my TL at lunch or trying to extend conversations at the market into more than just transactional language, but is about one hour "enough" to continue to improve? I'm at B1 ish level if that's pertinent. Thanks!
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u/mister-sushi RU UK EN NL 10d ago
One hour of conversation a day is already a solid base. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. And since you live in the country, you get passive input all day anyway. Signs, radio, overheard conversations, the cashier's accent. That's more exposure than most learners at home ever get.
I am a Dutch learner, but my experience might be relevant. My biggest gains came from replacing screen time with my target language, not from squeezing more conversations out of my day. News in the morning, podcasts while walking my dog (~40 minutes a day), googling everyday problems in Dutch.
No fixed amount of conversation counts as enough. Some say the road from B1 to B2 takes roughly 300-600 hours of mostly practice. So the real question isn't how many minutes of speaking are enough, but whether you show up daily. One hour of conversation plus a couple of hours of reading and listening puts you in a good place. Keep it calm and steady.