To ask how you learn a language?

Michel Thomas (or Paul Noble, but he's a knockoff of MT) + Anki. Spaced repetition is the only way!!

You can use Chat Gpt as a tutor. Upload the vocab/grammar concepts you do know and ask him to test you/converse with you as you learn more.

I think that’s an insane generalisation! We have a complicated relationship with the Irish language for historical reasons, but I don’t think that extends to other languages. I only had school Irish, but after living abroad for years, moved to Galway in a role which involved regular meetings in Irish, so I got much more fluent. And I speak three languages other than English fluently, plus I get by in Arabic. I don’t think that’s particularly unusual around here.

Real life interactions with native speakers. Go to the country where they speak the language you want to learn, it’s the only way. Failing that, meet ups with native speakers who don’t mind you practising.

Re Duolingo. I agree, it’s useless on its own as it’s too passive. Language skills need to be active and current, you need to learn to think on your feet.

What are you going to use it for? To watch films in the language, to visit and speak fluently with locals? To pass the visa requirements?

The problem with using apps is the lack of dialects and accents and colloquialisms and slang. I learnt more by watching general daytime French TV and working towards a structured qualification than any apps taught me as it doesn't stick in my head.

I recommend Paul Noble's CD course or audiobook. He knocked the rust off my dusty old French O Level so that I could hold a simple conversation when I went to France.
He has courses for other European languages too

I agree with the evening class suggestion as it will give structure but if you really want to learn you need to do more than just the one or two hour class a week.

what worked well for me learning a language as an adult was taking the sentence structures taught in class, then playing around outside of classes with replacing the noun or verb in the sentences taught to you in class. That way you widen your vocabulary and also are revising the sentences taught structures and depending on the grammar rules you will be practicing applying those to different words too.

once you’ve got decent learning hours under your belt, you could start talking to yourself when cooking/in the shower/ walking to work etc and making up little dialogues. If there are words you don’t know you can make a note of them and look them up later to add to your dialogues in future.

good luck!

I teach language. Duolingo is a complete waste of time, you will find people with streaks of hundreds of hours who couldn't produce a sentence of their own if their life depended on it.

Was listening to a lady who came over here (Ireland) and learned Irish. We are crap at languages in Ireland, and have very few fluent speakers. She said duolingo is a good start, but to learn it really you have to listen to people speaking it on YouTube and radio stations, read magazines and newspapers and use a dictionary as well as google translate. She went in then to do exams that go all the way up. She said everyone she talks to is very disappointed that you can’t just learn it quickly using duolingo. She’s fluent in Irish, German, French, Italian and Russian (she’s from Ukraine)

Do lots of different things simultaneously and you will learn quickly, especially as you have GCSE - Duolingo, text books, YouTube mini films on specific grammar points, Tik Tok, read online newspapers, keep a vocabulary note book, Telford yourself reading out loud, evening class, remote conversation group Good luck!

Definitely don’t follow ChatGPT’s advice! Start with Duolingo, join an in-person evening class and try to holiday in the country they speak they language if you can afford it.

Join an evening class.

Duolingo?