How long does it take to learn papiamento?

Answer 1

This question can't be answered in specific terms, only in general terms. If an English speaker is living in a German-immersion context in a German-speaking country, you might learn to develop basic fluency in German in one year or less. If an English speaker is taking four hours of German classes a week in an academic context, it might take three to six years to develop basic fluency.

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A lot depends on motivation - on the desire to learn and put in the necessary work - and on the quality of the teaching. I learned German at school and after one school year (with five 45 minute lessons a week of excellent teaching) and lots of hard work I had a good, basic grasp of the language, but that was probably exceptional. In my second year of German I was already correcting the teacher - to such an extent that it became something of a joke.

Answer 2

It really depends. Here are some factors to consider:

1) Do you have an aptitude for languages?

2) Do you already have an knowledge of any other romance language? It will be easier if you do.

3) How much time can you devote to learn the language?

Taking those factors into account, I think that you may be able to reasonably speak Portuguese and have a pleasant conversation with someone in about 6 months. But you will mainly speak in the present tense. It will be a little longer until you have a really good domain of the language and use past and future tenses.