My story was back in school, and I had never spoken Spanish (but I'm french so they both have Latin origins). I started going out with this girl that was from t

My story was back in school, and I had never spoken Spanish (but I'm french so they both have Latin origins). I started going out with this girl that was from the Canary Islands, she was fluent in english se we could have just talked in that, but I decided to ask her: "Let's only ever speak in Spanish, and if I don't understand something, first try and explain in Spanish, and if I still don't get it, switch to English". It worked miraculously, within 1 month I could speak good enough spanish, and by the second month I could go to Madrid and speak with anyone on the street. It's surprising how effective it is, I even use to catch myself thinking in Spanish. I think the best strategy is total immersion, however you can achieve that. It takes effort and dedication, but not longer than a few months for a similar language to yours, probably 6months to a year for something harder like chinese or arabic.