I’ve heard watching kid’s shows in the language you’d like to learn works pretty well for newbies.

I did this when I studied abroad in a foreign country. I also went to a local bookstore and bought a bunch of kid’s books. My Professor loved the idea and stole the books to make photocopies for everyone. This was all while I was totally immersed, so that helps.

leaving trial by fire

The real answer is rough, because there are no shortcuts.

The best way to do it is the same way you learned your primary language. Learn just enough through study to be able to use a little bit of the language, and then actually start using it.

Talk with people who speak it, and learn to read and write all over again. Sound like a tourist for a couple years as you pick up more and more. Eventually you’ll be fluent.

Comprehensible input is far and away the best way to learn a language. If the language you want to learn is Spanish, I highly recommend Dreaming Spanish. I believe there is also a French version.

If you want a different language than above, search “Comprehensible Input [target language]” and you should be able to find lists of resources in your target language.

Lengualytics is a really good tool for comprehensible input in any language. Basically it’s a collection of comprehensible input videos found and submitted by other users, and ranked according to language, dialect and difficulty level.

Fascinating. I’d never heard of that resource. Unfortunately the language I’m currently trying to learn isn’t supported. Looks really useful for the languages offered though.

To jump onto your comment as a current Spanish learner, dreaming Spanish is pretty good. Language Transfer however is, in my opinion, the beat single tool for learning Spanish.

I think it is best coupled with some other methods, like dreaming Spanish, but I have learnt more from Language Transfer than anywhere else.

Obligatory never use Duolingo, it is fucking trash!

I guess it depends on your goals and the timeline you have. I did Dreaming Spanish pretty intensively (1-2hrs a day) for 10 months. My goal was to be able to understand native Spanish speakers and hopefully communicate back to them. I absolutely achieved my goal in that when I went to a place with native speakers I could at least get the gist of what they were saying almost always, even in somewhat complex situations. However, I was basically able to speak on the level of a toddler and had to rely on Google translate to get what I needed to say across.

If you want to speak the language faster, then there are certainly ways to do it that may work better, but you will have to do more translation work that is mentally taxing. In the long run, if your goal is fluency, I believe CI should be prioritized initially and then you can go in and learn grammar rules and such later (much like how you learn your native language through input for the first 5 years of life then you go to school and learn the rules there).

Thanks for the advice! I want to learn Polish and I didn’t even know where to begin.

I’m currently trying to learn Hungarian, and was able to find content using this method. I’m sure there are just as many resources for Polish and there are for Hungarian (maybe even more?).

Aws is a really good Hungarian post-hardcore band if you’re into that. Listening to Polish music is what made me appreciate the language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQgurXKh42U

The best method is the one you can stick to.

What works great for me, is boring to another one. Even if I have the most optimal way of learning, if you abandon that, you won’t learn anything.

That said, the availability of podcasts, videos, online courses, AI for checking your output, asking follow-up questions, and having real time conversations, are all tools we could have only dreamed of even 10 years ago. Even if people here dismiss the use of AI, it will get you up to CEFR B2/C1 level easily.

Pretty much this. I couldn’t commit to self-study enough to make any meaningful progress even though I tried really hard. I’m sure other people can just pick up a book and some audio tapes and do well on their own. I ended up doing lessons in iTalki because I need the guidance and live feedback. It’s been great so far although I’ve only been at it for a few weeks. Looking forward to see where I am in a year.

Immersion.

This right here. Go live there. Stop trying to get the locals to speak your language.

This. A thousand flashcards may get it in, but it slips away unless you ACTIVELY use it.

Anki for flashcards and a lovely local teacher that I go to once a week (not a university classroom). The real truth is it takes between 1000-4000 hours depending on your language, and the only way to get that is by doing a little bit every day. I’m probably somewhere around 700 hours after three years.

I’ve been using Duolingo to learn a language for a few years now, enjoy it, and feel that I continue to progress. I know there are other apps out there as well but I don’t have any experience with them. Duo does have a gamification component to it — some of which you can disable, but not all — and there is a cost if you choose to subscribe.

For me, though, I’m likely going to need to immerse myself and/or take a few formal classes to get better at conversational speaking as I keep learning. Not many folks around me learning German. The app does help practice conversations and give tips, which is nice, but using a language in real life with another person is more effective for me.

I want to keep Duo (the owl) happy, so I check in daily. It’s an interesting way to form the habit

I found duolingo very helpful for spanish, but I recognize that if I hadn’t taken the class in high school it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy to jump into duolingo.

My recommendation is actually the opposite of what you are asking for. Language Transfer is a series of audio files where you hear a teacher speaking to a student in a kind of Socratic dialogue.

Everything is completely free. You can find it on YouTube, SoundCloud, download MP3s, or use the simple but very effective app. I have been supporting it with monthly donations for about 5 years.

There are courses for French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Swahili, and for Spanish speakers wanting to learn English. British Sign Language and Japanese are coming. Some of these are introductory courses, others are more complete.

In addition to my native English,I have learned one language in school, and three more by immersion + lessons) self-study. I have to say that Language Transfer is the best system I have ever used.

The emphasis is on internalizing, and developing strategies for retrieving information in your brain, rather than wrote memorization. I found that I retained knowledge much better, and it has lasted longer.