Dear learners of any language, I've made you my personal guide that I've used in the past years, hope you'll find it useful!

GENERAL GUIDE TO LEARN ANY LANGUAGE (and basically anything else, in my opinion)

TAKE A TEST.
Better if online and better to do more than one, but try to figure out what level you are at, to scale the problem and to give you a hand. The goal in a language is NEVER perfection, that is unattainable, and everyone has different goals. Maybe you want to know two sentences, have a few conversations, or be able to pass a native speaker exam, but until you get an idea of your level you will always think you are not good enough.

SERIES, MOVIES, BOOKS
The world is full of tools, the Internet in particular, so use them!
Maybe there's a show you've seen twenty times, why not watch it again in the language you're studying? Maybe even without subtitles. And don't be scared off by the lack of subtitles, at this stage the important thing is to cover yourself with information, better if it is understood, but not necessarily.
A lot of content is dubbed and subbed in many languages, so try it out for yourself!
Books are also very useful, but I realize they can be more difficult to deal with.

MUSIC
Songs occupy a special section of the brain, a melody always helps to remember, of course it is better if you consider it appreciable, but it is impossible not to find any, even when learning the most obscure language out there.

RadioGarden is perfect, though perhaps not most suitable for the latest generations.

ADDITIONAL LESSONS
You may not have the budget or the time, but consider an investment in this area and you will not regret it, even if only online. Some apps help but only if you have an average level in the language, like HelloTalk, but having private lessons is an incredible boost in self-esteem and motivation.

MORE
- YouTube channels
- The entirety of Reddit
- Learning apps, such as Duolinguo, Pimsleur, Babbel, Anki, or others of a different kind such as RadioGarden, and many others (the first and second-to-last are free)
- VPN

A BUNCH OF KEYWORDS:
- Immersion: drown in the language, submerge yourself in continuous stimuli, even if you don't fully understand them. Chew the language, repeat the same things, change the language of your electronic devices to English, in short, increase the input of information.

- Fun: especially if you are learning a language because you have to and not because you want to, why not make it interesting? Of course not everything can be, but it doesn't hurt to try, what have you got to lose?

- Routine: decide on a time of day or amount of time and stick to it, better five minutes a day for six months than six hours a day for two weeks. Don't shoot too high or too low; find what works best for you.

- Customize: no one method fits all, so look for others', create your own, or both. Adapt the material to your needs, modify, experiment. While it is true that no tool is perfect, you can create one that is perfect for you.

- Usage: The Internet is an infinite resource, use it as much as possible. Research, discover, get interested, tour corners you had never been to, and maybe you might find something genuinely fascinating. You also have at your disposal some of the most powerful tools ever invented by mankind, so manipulate them in your favor. Strive to get the algorithms of each social to recommend more and more things in that language, and in no time they will figure out what you want to do, coordinating.

- Kindness: Treat yourself well, learning a language, even a relatively simple one like English, is not an easy task, it is very normal to take time. And don't get down on yourself if someone is a hundred times better than you, surely you're better at other things, you haven't tried hard enough, or they're bragging in vain. You are not learning a language for them, but for you.
Apart from the certainty that you have other qualities (which they may not have, and maybe who knows already they envy you), it is absolutely not true that "you suck at learning languages," the great thing is that there is nothing against you but yourself!
What's more, how do you know if you are good if you don't even try ? Maybe if you put your mind to it you would learn Indonesian in a day, but with German you just can't. What do you have to lose? A few more days of useful information? It's a project for you by yourself, it's only you that's stopping you! So get a move on!

- Help: Ask other people, they will be happy to help you, no matter how counter-intuitive it may seem, especially native speakers, if you are lucky enough to know any. Put yourself in their shoes, wouldn't you like to teach your language or one of your languages to friends/relatives if they didn't know it?

- Distinguish: Make your difficulties clear and deal with them, but above all, don't bang your head against the wall if you see it doesn't help, take shortcuts rather, go around it, jump over it, find a way to solve it. Another thing to keep in mind is to absorb things appropriate to your level, after a certain point the absorption phase ends and the practice phase begins, although it may take months.

- Addiction: As scary as the term may be, why not try to make it something that keeps you glued? This is very personal and may be a bit extreme, but it undoubtedly works. I am of course talking about finding something very exciting, so that you are constantly drawn to the language.

- Brain change: Nothing is more satisfying than realizing after some time that you know what something means, and at some point you start thinking, dreaming and swapping languages in your mind. It is proven that learning a new language radically changes the brain and opens up new perspectives and opportunities, in addition to the job opportunities it already opens up.

- Comprehension: What does it mean to be able to speak make normal conversation? Just asking for directions? Being able to give an international lecture? Knowing 15 words to impress someone? These are all levels of the same thing; explore further and fully understand where you want to go from here.

CONCLUSIONS AND EXTRAS
- You definitely know more about that language than you think, words you've heard twice in ten years, similar sections to other languages, easy grammar, in short, you have no reason not to learn a new language!

- Don't get down on yourself if you need a break, but remember why you are doing this and relax so you can get off to a good start.

- You can't expect to study two hours a day for six months and not feel a little burned out or a little unmotivated, the important thing is to realize that, and not feel guilty about it!
"I didn't do anything today," but what about yesterday? What about the day before? It takes so little to bring yourself down, but if you hang in there, it's worth it.

-Combat embarrassment, while you might make mistakes, one thing is certain, you can't get worse. So jump in, not necessarily with words.

- There are no universal methods.

- The best thing is to set a roughly fixed schedule, and you will see that after only a few days your brain will start working for you.

- Instead of looking for tutorials in your own language to learn another one (fluffing necessary here), look for tutorials on how to learn your language in the one you are learning! Not only will you find it interesting, but they will be topics you already know something about, and seeing it from a foreigner's perspective will be truly fascinating, I promise.

- There are many ways to work, but the best way is to get started.

- If you don't know what to look for on the Internet or feel silly looking for something like "top 5 apps for learning..." then start with what you prefer. What are your personal interests? Your already ingrained passions? What do you search for most often online and off? Those are the topics you want to look up in other languages as well, it's like giving your brain candy of the same flavor but with a different packaging, you'll love it, even though you may not quite understand what you're eating.

- Don't be frightened by the vastness of a language, all its ramifications, dialects, things you may have learned wrong, things you could have done better, known earlier, enjoy the journey instead of
thinking about the destination.

- Small goals, path in stages. You are not able to sustain a task like "rewrite the Iliad by hand on stone." You panic, do something else, and then feel guilty.
Instead, if you think, "Today I'm writing the first page of the Iliad, but not on rock, on paper. In fact, the first paragraph."
Easier and less terrifying, right?

I hope this was helpful to you kind stranger, though I doubt you've put up with me this far.

Please remember all of these are my opinion on how to learn a language and that I didn't discover them first, let me know if you would like me to translate this into other languages (my first language is actually Italian), and remember to not put too much stress on your shoulders, you can do it!

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