How long does it take to learn English?

Many things can affect how long it will take you to increase your level of English. These include:

your motivation
group or 1-to-1 lessons
the amount of study and contact with English outside the lessons
your previous English learning experience

The table below shows the normal length of time it takes my students to go from one level to the next level. I.e. If they were B2 it took them approximately 12 months with two lessons per week to reach C1.

CEFR Level	How Long It Will Take	What You Can Do
C2	2 x 60-minute lessons for 16 months	Understand nearly everything that you read or hear on any subject.
C1	2 x 60-minute lessons for 12 months	Work and study in English full time.
B2	2 x 60-minute lessons for 18 months	Start to communicate with advanced and native speakers on familiar subjects.
B1	2 x 60-minute lessons for 16 months	Be OK on a trip to an English-speaking country.
A2	2 x 60-minute lessons for 8 months	Understand and use common expressions and create longer sentences on familiar subjects.
A1	2 x 60-minute lessons for 8 months	Understand and use simple expressions and create simple sentences.

How long it will take assumes:

1-to-1 lessons
30 minutes of study outside of the lessons per day.
From B1 you will have started to use English informally outside of the lessons: watching films, listening to podcasts, reading articles, communicating with colleagues, etc.

Compare that with trying to learn to draw which would take you about 24 months to reach a competent level. To achieve a competent level with the guitar would take you around 36 months.