all my life. and this also applies to the mother tongue. The way of communicating can be learned in a short time (in the order of months, if we omit the phenomenal abilities of some individuals), it only depends on the environment and how often you communicate (this is important). 5-year-old niece (native English-speaking) helped me immensely when learning English (I didn't have any basics from school, only it) - she was the only one who had the patience to explain the meanings of the words to me (with the appropriate comment in the period of flattery (also it's a vulgar word that it presented as ****?), prostáčik, truľo]) and phrases, all calm down all day. learning by playing - the best school. (tuxedo)