The Hard, But Effective Way to Learn a New Language

• Don't wait too long before you start practicing. Most people find it uncomfortable to speak a language poorly and avoid it. Don't think you will wait until you're "ready".
• Going from zero to 100% will require some preparation. 25 - 50 hours are usually enough for a European language, 100 hours for harder Asian languages.

If you want to do some practice before traveling to a country for a 100% immersion, do about 50% conversation practice and 50% with some beginner learning resource.

The non-speaking parts of learning are to supplement the conversation practice, not to be in place of it.

Open a translating tool, type what you want to say, translate to the language you want to speak, try saying it to the other person.

If they understand you and say something you don't understand, ask them to write it down and use Google to translate it. It could be very awkward at first, but don't stress yourself too much about that.

This strategy of learning a new language only works if you speak in the language. If you are only able to spend 50% of your learning time in conversations, invest your time on the important aspects of the language that you can't focus on enough. It will be different for each language.

For instance, in Spanish, the conjugation system can be a bit overwhelming. Grammar exercise books might be useful. In Chinese, grammar is not so much the issue as pronunciation.

Although it is scary and hard, immersive practice is by far the most effective. When the person you're speaking with sees that you don't understand, they will automatically try to simplify what they communicate.

If you don't want to speak yet, you can also try reading or watching movies, until you have a high listening comprehension.

• Travel to a country that speaks the language.
• Get a phrasebook and learn a few basic expressions.
• Commit to only speaking in that language from the very beginning.
• Use a dictionary to translate when you feel stuck.
• Hire a local tutor.