8. Use technology for a boost

While people are your best resource, when you are stuck waiting somewhere take out your smartphone and use apps like Duolingo (free courses in many languages), Anki (flashcards that space out their repetition in the best way to remember), or an app to play a podcast in your language (these are my favourite to subscribe to), and practise!

Use every second of 'dead time' to your advantage. Even if you must play around on Facebook, you can change the settings to present certain questions in the interface to you in your target language (people's updates themselves remain in English of course). Set up your 'virtual immersion' environment, and you'll get exposure to the language at every turn!

Being confident and 'giving it a go' will see learning accelerate, according to author Benny Lewis  

9. Make specific goals

Vague goals like 'Learn Spanish' don't work - that's a bottomless pit you can shovel more and more vocab and grammar into, and it will never get filled up. You need to have a specific goal and a specific timeline.

When I have an intensive project, I like to aim for Fluent in 3 Months, but in most cases if you can spare at least an hour a day try to have a real target like 'be a respectable tourist within two weeks' or 'have a basic conversation by the end of the month'. Pace yourself for this goal and always keep it in mind.

10. Have fun!

Don't make this all about studying. You can watch silly videos of cats in your target language, as well as reading comic books, hanging out with fun people, doing simple crossword puzzles, playing your favourite computer game with the interface in your target language, and so much more!

And when you make time with people to be your focus, then things get especially fun. Don't do this alone – use your language to communicate with others, and your progress will fly.

Enjoy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR...

Lewis' book, Fluent in 3 Months explains the fundamentals of his approach to language learning. It was published in 2014 by HarperCollins, and was an immediate number one bestseller in several categories on Amazon US, Canada and UK.

Lewis has been featured in numerous national media outlets, including The New York Times, Business Insider, Forbes, lifehacker, National Geographic and the BBC.

He has spoken at two TEDx conferences, and in 2013 was named National Geographic's Traveler of the Year.

He encourages language learners for free on his blog Fluent in 3 Months, which receives one million monthly visitors.