How Long Does It Take To Learn German?

If you want to learn German from scratch and scale up to the level of a German cirtizen then it could take anywhere between one year to three years. This would depend on the mode of learning, the quality of the instructor (if any), the intensity with which you learn and the ethnic background of the student.

It would be easier for an American to learn German as compared to someone who converses in a language that uses a script that is non-Anglican. A good instructor will be able to suggest various shortcuts to effectively learn the language. It will also help if you are based in a German speaking nation while you are learning the language. This ensures that you are constantly hearing the language around you. A student will probably be able to pick up the language quicker if he knows that he will be impaired in his professional or social life if does not know German.

Perhaps quite a long time...
You can "testdrive" a little bit here:
www.leselupe.de
www.leselupe.de, Tim