The article mentions some building blocks like microlearning, explains how researchers test people with, for example, fictional words and shapes to avoid that you draw on prior knowledge, states that "experts make a case for human instruction" (but not which case or how that human instruction should be shaped or structured), and shares shards of how well the author did on the different tests. There's a lot of links, which is nice, so I can dive deeper into the things mentioned (I've read a bit about 'statistical learning' and plan to read the linked paper on microlearning which is new to me), but I am not a step further in what (combination of) method(s) is the "best way" up learn a new language. Did I overlook it or fail to put some pieces together?

Edit: that microlearning paper (10.22034/meb.2022.355659.1066) is a waste of time if you've read the submission whence it was linked and know about spaced repetition. The paper makes a case that society has become more fast-paced since Charles Babbage made the difference engine in the 1800s and so microlearning can help us by breaking down lessons to fit into our day, lowers costs per lesson etc., but might also fragment the learning (and other obvious pros and cons). The most interesting part was a forgetting curve cited from another paper

1. I get new sentences from Glossika (they've thought through which sentences to present, and in what order — i.e., the curriculum). I get a few at a time — between 5 and 50, depending on how difficult the target language is / how close it is to one I already know.

2. I put those sentences into Mochi, with a template that automatically creates and embeds audio files of the target language.

3. I do the learning, memorizing, and reviewing of the sentences in Mochi using FSRS. I practice writing and pronunciation as I go along with the cards. (Using Mochi also helps me maintain languages I've learned in the same place.)

4. I return to Glossika and occasionally cram pronunciation practice from the human-generated audio there (Mochi is TTS, after all).

5. I supplement with TV and radio for immersion. When I reach a higher level, I start reading books.

6. Travel or living abroad, when I can.

The real trick is getting a couple new sentences and using SRS every day. Consistency moves mountains!

After several years away from Spanish I picked it back up in college and began traveling and living off and on in Latin America

I remember the first times I started dreaming in Spanish, or the first time I had a screaming match with someone trying to steal money from me. I would unconsciously think of a phrase in English and constantly be trying to convert it to Spanish all day long. It was the most fluent I’ve ever felt

A few months ago I went on a trip to Central America and was worried my Spanish would have been lost after over a decade away. Turns out that quite a bit is still there

Folks regularly compliment me on my pronunciation(which is hugely important and shows that you’re trying, folks give you so much grace if you don’t know the words but are trying)

I also find that I can speak far better than I can listen. I regularly have to ask people to repeat themselves or slow down, which is frustrating to me but what can you expect after not staying sharp?

Last thing: I’ll echo another commenter who said to listen to music. My high school Spanish teacher had us listening and singing shakira. She’d print off the lyrics and we’d sing along. This was hugely valuable for pronunciation and flow. Also, old Shakira stuff is great

Nothing beats the pressure of using a language all day in a place where they don’t speak your language.

I remember meeting a backpacker from another country who spoke English but would only speak Spanish to when we traveled and would pull out her dictionary regularly and make notes in her notebook. I learned that Germans are crazy disciplined and that that discipline pays off. Her Spanish was amazing after only a few months in the country

I'm guessing the answer is making small things, but what exactly? I've made so many to do list apps I don't know what to do with them

For me, learning Spanish required flash cards (https://calcubest.com/languages/spanish/tenses) to actually memorize which conjugation rule applies to which tense. But Language Transfer was definitely what made the rules click.

Get a native speaker, ask them to teach you the very basics, get them to keep speaking the language to you and correct you as you go. It doesn't matter how laborious it is as long as you're _active_.

At the point you can get a basic conversation going you can start actually looking at the grammar and the written language.

As a human being, your brain is made for spoken language first. Writing is still new and cognitively less important.

For me, doing something everyday[Duolingo], and one on one tutorial instruction[1] have had the biggest payoff. The first for rote memorization, vocab, and exposure to grammar. The second for listening, speaking, and filling in grammar gaps. For Americans, the price of international individual instruction is surprisingly inexpensive due to the dollar being the reserve currency. That translates to about €135/month for to learn French. The workload and cost are both sustainable and my weekly session has become one of my most looked forward to things I do each week.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_sigma_problem

Her reason for why: Context and various slang words are grasped much quicker compared to the cumbersome process of repeating of words and phrases (She did not omit the need of the latter though).

She was great, 60 years old at the time and had us repeat the lyrics of Rammstein songs in class, her favorite band.

BBC made a documentary about him where he teaches a French gcse to the 6 worst kids in the school, in I think 2 weeks. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94A517B00A16C187&si=4eAv...

He was also in the French resistance, survived concentration camps and is generally a very interesting person.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Thomas

- sing songs with lyrics and a dictionary at hand (listening and pronunciation)

- get a native speaker girlfriend/boyfriend (slangs and chit chat)

- practice role-playing scenarios like restaurants, movies, cabs, etc. (daily routine)

- finally, read the news and comment with your partner (conversation)

One last tip, always use wikipedia in the language you want to learn (vocabulary)

I mostly just focused on real, practical vocab. And the verb conjugation came with time.

I ignored verb conjugations at first - eg "He eat food."

Then learned present tense and used tricks to speak past and future tense "Tomorrow he eats food" (but you don't even need present tense for that!)

Then learned the simpler of the two ways to speak in the future - it's equivalent to "I am going to __" rather than "I will __" (in Spanish each verb needs conjugation when saying I will, but you use infinitive when saying going to.

Likewise I picked one of the past tenses (one refers to specific point in time, other is just "in the past"). Doesn't matter, in practical usage.

The rest - progressive, imperative, etc all comes with time. You don't really "need" them though. I still don't know the subjunctive tenses (which are sort of hypothetical, feeling etc) and effectively communicate with people about literally anything.

Most important of all, you just have to be humble, get rid of your pride/shame, and be willing and eager to make mistakes. I've spoken with thousands of native speakers and never had a bad experience due to lack of proficiency, even when I knew nothing. This is what most learners of language (or anything) lack, and they therefore are too afraid to ever actually practice. They need a psychologist more than a language teacher.

There is NO replacement for starting young.

Then learn (in all tenses) the below verbs that are (usually) followed by infinitives

Can / am able Must/ to have to To want to

Then, 'to be' and 'to have' (to go with the above).

Vocabulary...including a boatload of infinitives.