Full-time Lithuanian at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI) means about 23 hours of class each week, and students add about 17 hours of study alone.
Vilnius University's four-month beginner course aims at A2. It lists 256 academic hours, taught in 90-minute classes that each count as two, so the teaching adds up to 192 hours.
Spread over a few amounts of study a week, each total takes this long, rounded to the nearest month:
| Study per week | Vilnius beginner course (192 hours) | FSI full-time course (1,012 hours) |
|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 1 year 1 month | About 5 years 6 months |
| 7 hours | About 6 months | About 2 years 9 months |
| 14 hours | About 3 months | About 1 year 5 months |
| 28 hours | About 2 months | About 8 months |
Neither total includes the time you study alone.
Here are six levels of Lithuanian, each with a step you can test yourself on.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
Greet someone with Labas (hello), and tell them your name.
- Level 2
I can read simple sentences.
Read a short note about where someone lives and what they like to eat.
- Level 3
I can read short stories and messages.
Read a short story for learners, then retell it in three or four sentences.
- Level 4
I can read longer texts about everyday life.
Read posts and articles about everyday life, and check a word only when you lose the thread.
- Level 5
I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.
Follow the radio or the news on a topic you know, and catch the main points.
- Level 6
I can read almost anything.
Read Lithuanian novels and newspapers for fun.
Labas!
Hello!
Hello! How are you?
Great! Bye!
Poppy, your AI tutor, wrote this Level 1 lesson in Bubblegum, a language app.
For what to do at each level, read how to learn Lithuanian, step by step. For the parts that take the most practice, read is Lithuanian hard to learn?
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Lithuanian. You learn from Lithuanian you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
- Lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Read and listen to news and stories in Lithuanian about things you care about.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading. You can also export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn a Lithuanian article into a lesson. Paste a paragraph into the chat, and Poppy explains each line of it.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
Can I Learn Lithuanian in Four Months?
In four months, or about 17 weeks, 3 to 5 hours a week adds up to about 51 to 85 hours. That's about a quarter to almost half of Vilnius University's 192 teaching hours. Aim for something concrete, like reading a short note from a friend without the English, and use the fastest way to learn Lithuanian to split each hour.
Does Knowing Latvian Make Lithuanian Faster?
It helps with some words and grammar, because Latvian is closely related to Lithuanian. Speakers of one still can't follow the other without learning it, so plan on learning Lithuanian as a new language.
Is Bubblegum Free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (Category III, about 44 weeks or 1,012 class hours, includes Lithuanian; timelines for an ILR 3 in speaking and listening; a typical week is 23 hours in class and 17 hours of self-study)
- Vilnius University, Department of Lithuanian Studies, Lithuanian Semester Course (256 academic hours over four months; a class is 2 academic hours, or 1.5 hours; Group 1 for beginners, target level A2)
- Wikipedia: Lithuanian language (closely related to Latvian, though the two are not mutually intelligible)
