Obviously, the best is to live in the target country. But assuming you don’t live there but still want to learn the language, or perhaps you do live there but want to learn faster, then I believe the techniques described herein are more effective than any paid product (Pimsleur, Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, etc). And what’s more, these techniques are free. I think they deliver superior results because they’re more natural, more closely matching the way we all acquire our first language. Here is the road map:

1: Learn the alphabet

There are tons of free tutorials online for any alphabet you’d care to learn.

• If you’re learning a Western European language like French or German that uses a Latin alphabet similar to English, this should be quick. A few extra letters to learn and a few special letter combinations for certain sounds (like “sh” in English produces a different sound than “s” or “h” alone).
• If you’re learning a language with a different alphabet like Greek, Hebrew, or Korean, then it’s a bit more work but still not too hard, as there’s only a small number of shapes and combos to memorize here. Just drill til you know them. One technique I’ve seen is to write and read English words phonetically using the foreign alphabet you’re trying to learn. Having that context helps your brain feel it is more worth remembering.
• If you’re learning a language without an alphabet like Chinese, then good luck, I can’t really help here! Maybe the other tips will still help, or maybe you could learn a musical instrument instead.

2: Install Google Translate app on your phone

In addition to quick word and phrase lookups, this free app lets you point your camera at any printed text for an instant translation.

3: Install Google Translate plugin in Chrome browser

This lets you highlight any text on any webpage for an instant translation

4: Consume simple content to build basic vocabulary

Use the Google Translate tools to start reading simple content online or in print to build up a rudimentary vocabulary. Children’s stories can be great if a bit boring. Newspapers are more interesting but of course a steep cliff to climb. Young Adult novels are somewhere in the middle, and Reddit is a great source of natural conversation the way people really speak.

When searching for foreign language content, it helps to write your google query in the target foreign language. Again, just use Google Translate tools to translate your query to the target language, then paste your translated query into the google search bar.

When consuming foreign language content, try to read out loud rather than just in your head, this helps engage more mechanisms in your brain and also preps your tongue for speaking the language.

Use your tools to figure out what each word in the sentence means. Don’t worry too much about grammar, just try to imitate the sentence constructions as you’ve seen them and it will come naturally with enough exposure – just like children naturally figure out basic grammar without needing to study it.

5: Watch TV with non-English subtitles

How great is this step? Find some shows and movies in the target language and watch them! But here’s the catch: you need to find content that includes closed caption subtitles, and NOT IN ENGLISH! The spoken dialog and the subtitles must BOTH be in the target language you’re trying to acquire. This sets up a learning trifecta:

1. Hearing the spoken language in natural settings
2. Having a written transcript to clarify what was actually said
3. Pointing your Google Translate app at the screen to learn any words or phrases you didn’t understand
4. Icing on the cake: unlimited pause and replay! If only the real world could be paused and replayed like this.

You’ll obviously be pausing and replaying a lot, but what a great setup. When you learn something, try to say it out loud as you’re learning it. Babies repeat words and phrases for a reason: it’s a great learning exercise.

Finding suitable content here can be tricky, but certainly it’s doable. Look for local TV channels and content sources that natives of the target country would themselves ordinarily consume.

A VPN can help a lot here. (OK, a VPN is not free but it’s pretty cheap, typically around $50 USD annually.) The VPN allows you to pretend to be in another country, so that your computer can access domestic content that might otherwise be geographically restricted. Such domestic content is more likely to include closed caption subtitles for domestic audiences who may be hearing impaired. The great thing is closed captioning also helps the linguistically impaired, in other words “newbs” like us.

Apart from using a VPN, you can sometimes find scattered content on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, or other international content providers, but that’s always hit-or-miss, especially when it comes to native language subtitles. Best is domestic content originating directly from the country of interest.

And that’s it! Do this daily for an hour and see the results! You’ll have rudimentary grasp within a year, and continued improvement every year thereafter. It’s a journey of a thousand steps, so get your steps in!