How I learn a language in 3 Steps (by someone who struggled hard at first)

First let me say there is no such thing as "a language learning hack"—learning a language is tough and takes time for any normal person. I thought spending enough time in a foreign country would automatically make me "fluent", but then I struggled for a good year living in France until I developed a system that really allowed me progress. Learning in a classroom or from a text book didn't work for me at all. I needed a system I could follow to keep me focused and maximize results for the time I put into it, so I delved into researching how languages are learned by adult minds, and eventually made a 3-step approach for myself, which I have used to master French and get to an advanced level in Spanish. I hope it can be of help to other people who are learning a language and aren't having success with the conventional technique.

Step 1: Memorization

The first step for any language learner should be to study basic grammar and vocabulary. A myth exists that if someone spends enough time in a foreign country they will simply pick up the language over time. Without a basic knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, this would be extremely challenging for an adult learner. To prepare for your first social encounters in a foreign country, you should try to reach an elementary level in grammar and vocabulary. This means learning useful phrases, grasping conjugation of the present tense, and memorizing between 300 to 1000 vocabulary words.

I also recommend doing this before taking any language classes or putting yourself in an immersion environment. At the very beginning, your focus should be memorization; your time is best spent working on your own. It sounds boring but with the right tools, it doesn't have to be.

There are a ton of fun and effective apps and websites aimed at beginners. The best example is the free app Duolingo, which is available online or on your smartphone. Research into the effectiveness of Duolingo’s methods have shown that using the app for 34 hours is the equivalent to taking a first year university language class. You’re probably wondering how you’re supposed to stay motivated to study grammar for 34 hours, but the beauty of this app is that you don't study on it, you play it. You earn points through game-like activities that are actually fun, and you move up to progressively more difficult levels, with an option of competing with Facebook friends. This system allows you to memorize vocabulary faster than you thought possible. It also walks you through all of the essential grammar rules without making it obvious that you are actually studying it.

There are a handful of other apps similar to Duolingo (like Memrise and Brainscape), but Duolingo is far above the rest in the "free" category.
Of course if you prefer the old fashion method of pen on paper, there is nothing wrong with workbooks that teach beginner vocabulary and grammar to new learners. However, if you choose this approach, you are missing out on the valuable exercise of listening to the pronunciation of words and phrases by a native speaker, a feature that is included in apps like Duolingo.

If you are an absolute beginner, don't be discouraged by the thousands of vocabulary words that you need to learn. Set your sights on mastering basic vocab and you will see amazing results. The Pareto Principle explains how by learning just a hundred essential words, a language learner will be able to understand the majority of words he or she sees in a text. In some languages, the hundred most commonly used words account for over 50% of words found in published texts. This is even true in English, a language where the average native speaker knows around 40,000 words. It is hard to believe, but knowing the hundred most common English words allows a person to understand half as many words in a given text as someone who knows 400 times that many.

Step 2: Immersion

OK so you've taken advantage of Duolingo or another similar app. Now you have to put down the smartphone and focus on actually speaking the language. If you are in a foreign country, take every opportunity to chat with locals; if this means throwing back a few drinks at the bar first, all the better. This step really requires you to leave your comfort zone. It will be uncomfortable at the beginning and stay uncomfortable for an annoyingly long time. You will make mistakes constantly and probably say some stupid things you did not mean to say. When I first arrived in Nicaragua I accidentally called an elderly taxi driver an asshole (the word “cabrón can be used as a term of endearment but only among close males friends). I promise though, that for every enemy you make during this process, you'll make ten friends. People will admire your motivation to learn their language, or at the very least find you adorable for trying.

If you are too shy to approach strangers, you can find speakers of a foreign language through local language exchanges, or online via video chat. Alternatively you can pay for private conversational lessons with a tutor. If you're traveling, this can be quite cheap in some countries.

The beauty of forcing yourself to speak is that you quickly see yourself improving. Words that you studied during Step 1 become introduced into your everyday vocabulary. This is the transition of passive vocabulary (words you are able to recognize) to active vocabulary (words you can produce instantly in a sentence).
When you start speaking a new language, you will realize what you need to improve on. This will get you through step 3 of the process.

Step 3: Persistence
When you spend time speaking a foreign language, you start to notice an increased interest in learning new grammar. That's because you develop a desire to answer the questions you have been asking yourself: For example “what tense do I use when I want to say I was in the middle of doing something when something else happened?” Or “how do I say that I would have done some action if some other action didn't happen?” Learning anything is a different experience when you have a strong curiosity to uncover answers to your own questions. This is precisely the reason that high-school language classes are not effective. They teach the right material but it is too abstract for learners who have not been given sufficient opportunity to exercise their conversational skills. The process of learning grammar must be based on the learner’s own inquiry. For this reason, I recommend consistent practice with grammar and speaking throughout the learning process.
Along with improving your oral language skills, it is important to target your receptive skills as well—this refers to reading and listening.

I call this third step persistence because it corresponds with a plateau in the learning curve where many students become frustrated. Up to this point, you have memorized and practiced around a thousand vocabulary words along with the most important grammar concepts. This was the steepest portion of the learning curve, where every word or grammar structure you learned was essential in everyday conversation. After this point, progress becomes harder to measure and you become aware of the massive variety of vocabulary that exists, often to say the same thing.
You can consider the "plateau" a good problem to have because it means you're able to function in the language (which may have been your highest hope from the start). However if your goal is to become fully fluent, meaning you can participate in any conversation and express yourself comfortably, it is crucial that you continue to study and converse as much as possible. Learn new grammar and vocabulary progressively and make an effort to apply it immediately in real world situations so that it remains in your active vocabulary.

Keep on learning and keep on challenging yourself.

-Liam