This has changed a lot since the internet has become so widespread, but from my past experience: What I think has helped me a lot learning English, is just how

This has changed a lot since the internet has become so widespread, but from my past experience: What I think has helped me a lot learning English, is just how ubiquitous it is and how easy it is to find resources that align with your other life interests to make it feel less like "learning". I probably learned half of my basic English as a kid, not trough school, but with Magic The Gathering cards (once I learned they are valued higher than the translated ones), MS-DOS, 80s/90s action movies and bit later Terry Pratchett books. Others learned trough reading English instruction manuals, watching NBA, music lyrics, etc. For other language it was much harder to find resources outside of traditional educational approaches. Which are useful and important as well, but they lack immersion.