How long does it take to be fluent in japanese?

Question:

I know it varies but like how many years is the average time?

Answer:

It really does vary a lot and it depends on how much you study and relies on your continued study through out your life. Because even if you do get to a level where you're fluent, if you stop using it you will start to go backwards and it'll take time to get back up to that level.

Other factors depend on things such as age. Unfortunately, the older you are the less chance you have of becoming fluent no matter how hard you study. That being said, you can still reach a very high level. And then there are individuals who just have a nack for it and individuals who may have the passion and interest in a language but seem to struggle no matter what. Doing the language while at university will really help, you'll be graded at a much higher level, they will be much stricter in perfecting your speaking fluencing and handwritting than normal evening classes and you will attend class much more regularly and have assessment items to keep you studying outside of that. That being said, I know someone who majoured in japanese at university as a four year degree and while she considers her level as being very advanced, she doesn't consider herself a fluent speaker. In addition, living in Japan and being forced to use it would help you improve a lot faster.

Realistically, if you're studing in casual evening classes outside of university you could study for 10 or 20 years and never reach fluency.

However, giving a definitive answer to your question is impossible because as you can see it depends on so many factors.