mutt,
How much vacation time does your friend have to obtain his PPL?
The FAA PPL can be done in less time. The record for a student completing an FAA PPL 0 to license at my school is 2 weeks, but I do not recommend it. Weather has to be perfect and your learning curve must be perfect too.
Does your friend have any flight time already? (All flight time with an instructor and all supervised solo counts.)
Studying for the FAA written in advance helps too. Sitting down and taking the FAA written exam in the first week will remove a lot of pressure and help concentrate the study on the knowledge needed for the oral portion of the checkride.
Reading the course material in advance will again shorten the time needed.
Hope This Helps,
Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.