In a few years of high school I learned enough Spanish to comfortably read a newspaper or simple novel, looking up occasional words. After some considerably more ad hoc attempts to learn Chinese and probably thousands of hours of exposure to it, I'm able to get the gist of a simple conversation (without most of the details), read idiot-proof signs, and able to say about a dozen simple greetings etc. without getting a blank look back. It's very humbling.