This is a very good question, one with which I sympathise.
Perhaps we could rephrase the question to "how long does it take to learn French?". Because for passable French you have to read it, write it, understand spoken French and speak it! Speaking French means being understood, especially by French native speakers. And how long to speak understandable French???......that depends a lot on the individual.
I do not have a musical / language ear. When learning French on arrival in France 16 years ago I found reading and writing easier than speaking or listening. I'm better where logic and "rules" work.
As a child I had a stutter, not bad, but enough to be a bit of a handicap. With experience and helpful parents and teachers I learnt to overcome it. (not total cure, but techiques.....but how to avoid words that cause problems). I also has problems arranging words in the right order. On arrival in France at age 56, all the stuttering problems came back when speaking French!
Some hints for Anil
1 Find a native French speaker who will correct your spoken French. Not easy, but it's easy to make the same mistake over and over again without knowing it. The mistake then becomes the habit.
2. A Speech therapist's technique. Take a wine bottle cork and put it between the teeth. Then read aloud something in French. The cork forces you to think about mouth movements and to concentrate on the invidual sounds. If you can do this with a native French speaker then even better! I found my mouth / face muscles ached badly after this exercise - so it must be good!
3. I went to a language school where they used a computer learning system. Part of the software invited you speak some phrases, it analysed the speeach and told you where you made errors. I found this both difficult and useful. Can't remember the name of the software..perhaps others can help?
If it helps Anil, I still have problems speaking French, even after 16 years in France and married to a retired school teacher. My address contains the word "République", which I tend to pronounce as the English "Republic". It not recognisable to many French people - as I found out last week at a doctor's receptionist.
In the UK I've had the honour to employ many Indians. Certainly I found some had a very strong accent in English that made communication difficult sometimes. Patience and understanding are necessary from both sides!
...work at your spoken French and it will get better.
Good luck..I'm interested to read what others think.
DDDDDDDDejW (with stutter)
So I started learning French around 1.5 years ago and I am around B2 level (but not quite there yet). While I can understand and read a lot of stuff in French when I speak with people, they always have a problem understanding me. And that's because of my accent.
My accent in French is a mix of Indian accent combined with North American accent (as I used to live in the US for 7 years). So basically, I wanted to know from all the people who have been living in France for a long period of time, did you encountered the same problems as I do?
Due to the fact that I lived in US before, my English accent is much more North American than Indian which makes me wonder. I know I can never get rid of my accent in French completely but will it get reduced overtime? How long did it took you guys to make yourself understood well in France?