Self-study

It takes longer than they tell you

Every guide here assumes you have twenty minutes a day, no class, and nobody to practise with. That is the normal case. It still works — it just takes the long way.

An open blank notebook, a stack of index cards and a cup of coffee on an oak desk in morning light

Pick your language

For a tripSpanish Phrases you actually use abroad, ordering without pointing, your first fifty words, and the five sounds that give you away.
On your ownFrench Starting without a class, the sounds English does not have, and a routine that survives month two.
From the songsKorean Hangul in one weekend, the grammar you need on day one, and real study from what you already play.
MethodAny language Routines, vocabulary systems, speaking practice and notebook layouts that work whatever you are learning.

600–750hours · Spanish

2,200 hours for Korean. Those are the US Foreign Service Institute's numbers, plus self-study on top. At twenty minutes a day, conversational Spanish is a two-to-three year project, not a three-month one. Plans built on the real number survive. Plans built on the marketing number do not.

Also here

Apartment lifeSmall dogs Barking, crate training, potty schedules and alone time — worked out for thin walls and no garden.

How these guides are written Every guide gives the steps in the order you would actually do them, says how long each stage usually takes, and says plainly when the answer is "this one needs a professional".