Time calculator
“How long will this language take me?”
Current NFATC training hours, adjusted for your target level, study method, and the languages you already speak.
Tools
Each one answers a different question from the same model — current NFATC programme baselines, printed for Categories II–IV and derived transparently from listed weeks for Category I, then adjusted for level, method, and what you already speak. All of them will tell you when the answer is no.
Daily time needed
“I want to reach B2 by a date. How much do I need to study a day?”
Pick a language, a level, and a deadline. Returns the daily study time that gets you there — or says plainly that no daily figure does.
Can I learn it in time?
“Can I learn Spanish in 3 months?”
A yes or a no, the level you would actually reach in that window, and what the honest version of the plan looks like.
Head start from what you speak
“I speak Spanish. How much faster is Portuguese?”
The head start this model assigns one language from another, shown as estimated hours saved rather than a vague "it helps".
Compare languages
“Is Japanese harder than Chinese?”
Two to five languages side by side on hours, band, and what the time is actually spent on.
Cost to fluency
“What will this actually cost me?”
Total spend to a target level by method, including the free routes, with the assumption behind every figure shown.
FSI category lookup
“What FSI category is Vietnamese?”
Every language named on the current NFATC page, its hours, and the legacy numbering scheme readers still encounter.
Which language should I learn?
“I have 6 months and 30 minutes a day. What is realistic?”
Works backwards from your constraints to the languages you could actually reach a useful level in.
Not built yet
Listed with the reason, including the ones held up because no source exists for the numbers they would need. A tool that guesses is worse than a tool that is missing.
- Writing system time — The writing system on its own, separated from the language — because for some languages it is a week and for others it is a third of the work.
Blocked: No sourced hour figures for scripts in isolation. The NFATC source publishes whole-language training timelines only. This needs a citable source per script before any number is shown — see the data-integrity rules in CLAUDE.md.
- JLPT hours by level — What the published estimates say, how far apart they are, and why nobody can narrow the range.
Blocked: Keyword batch 4 (HSK/JLPT/TOPIK) not pulled, so priority is unknown. Separately, the hour figures need sourcing to a body that published them — JLPT itself publishes none.
- HSK hours by level — The same treatment for Chinese, including the 2021 HSK 3.0 rewrite that made older estimates incomparable.
Blocked: Same as jlpt-hours: keyword batch 4, plus sourcing.