According to the Foreign Service Institute, you will need to spend around 30 weeks to learn German. Starting to speak German is easier than everyone thinks. In fact, German and English have many words that sound and mean the same things. To master it quickly, communication with native speakers is vital. That’s why many people connect with a private German tutors who are native speakers. According to the Foreign Service Institute, you will need to spend around 30 weeks to learn German. You need 300 hours of German lessons to reach independent proficiency in speaking and reading German based on the European CEFR guidelines. Otherwise, you'll need 900 hours to reach professional working proficiency based on Foreign Service Institute guidelines for US diplomats. Natural ability and previous experience with similar languages will affect these numbers.