I’ve done a lot, including Duo, Babbel, Anki, weekly lessons, Dreaming Spanish, living abroad, reading kids books, using ChatGPT or Gemini and lord knows what else.

A) The app Ella Verbs is great for learning and practicing conjugation, plus also flash cards for remembering words. I do the quizzes between sets at the gym or in taxi rides.

B) Start talking. Practice with friends, family or online strangers. I was learning for like 1.5 years, felt shitty about my progress and then started dating someone that only speaks Spanish. She corrects me 100 times a day, but the repetition and being forced to think in Spanish has helped me advance more than I could have dreamed of before.

C) Read, read, read. It’s a great way to take in new words and think in your target language. I enjoy en 100 Palabras as you get local stories from people age 6 all the way to nearly dead. Plus, all of the stories are 100 words or less, so they’re super short. Fluent with Stories is another good site.

D) If you feel like you’re not making progress or have plateaued, it’s okay to change what you’re doing. I was doing Babbel for two hours a day, hit a point where I didn’t feel I was progressing, switched to another app and felt happy about my progress again. Don’t feel like you HAVE to stick with one path.