How Long Does it Take to Become Proficient?
The following ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) Ratings represent levels of expected performance for language learners who complete full-time intensive and/or immersion, proficiency-based language training under the supervision of an instructor and with 1-4 students per class.
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Group I Languages: Including Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Haitian Creole, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish… |
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| Length of Training | Minimal Aptitude | Average Aptitude | Superior Aptitude |
| 8 weeks (240 hours) | Intermediate Low | Intermediate Mid | Intermediate Mid |
| 16 weeks (480 hours) | Intermediate High | Advanced Low | Advanced Mid |
| 24 weeks (720 hours) | Advanced Mid | Advanced High | Superior |
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Group II Languages: Including Bulgarian, Dari, Farsi, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Urdu… |
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| Length of Training | Minimal Aptitude | Average Aptitude | Superior Aptitude |
| 16 weeks (480 hours) | Intermediate Low | Intermediate Mid/High | Intermediate High |
| 24 weeks (720 hours) | Intermediate High | Advanced Low/Mid | Advanced Mid/High |
| 44 weeks(1320 hours) | Advanced Mid/High | Advanced High/Superior | Superior |
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Group III Languages: Including Amharic, Bengali, Burmese, Czech, Finnish, Hebrew,Hungarian, Khmer, Lao, Nepali, Pipilino, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Sinhala, Thai, Tamil, Turkish, Vietnamese… |
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| Length of Training | Minimal Aptitude | Average Aptitude | Superior Aptitude |
| 16 weeks (480 hours) | Novice High | Intermediate Low/Mid | Intermediate Mid/High |
| 24 weeks (720 hours) | Intermediate High | Advanced Low | Advanced Mid/High |
| 44 weeks(1320 hours) | Advanced Mid | Advanced High | Superior |
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Group IV Languages: Including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean… |
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| Length of Training | Minimal Aptitude | Average Aptitude | Superior Aptitude |
| 16 weeks (480 hours) | Novice High | Intermediate Low | Intermediate Low/Mid |
| 24 weeks (720 hours) | Intermediate Low/Mid | Intermediate Mid/High | Intermediate High |
| 44 weeks(1320 hours) | Intermediate High | Advanced Low | Advanced Mid/High |
| 80-92 weeks (2400-2760 hours) | Advanced High | Superior | Superior |
Source: Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro. ETS Oral Proficiency Testing Manual. Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service, 1982. ILR ratings have been converted to reflect the equivalent ACTFL ratings.