I recently achieved B2 Hungarian in 24 months. It usually takes English speakers 5+ years to learn. This article is pretty good advice and mostly what I do when

I recently achieved B2 Hungarian in 24 months. It usually takes English speakers 5+ years to learn. This article is pretty good advice and mostly what I do when learning a language. The main thing I'd emphasize is to use, use, use the language, as soon as possible, and as much as possible. People spend years in a classroom studying languages and making no progress. But if you use a language, your brain will start to soak it up like a sponge. Common barriers to using a new language are that people don't feel they know enough to start using it, and that people are afraid to sound like an idiot. You only need 5-10 words to start using a language. Pick a scenario you do every day (for me, ordering coffee), learn the words for it in your target language, and then start doing that every day. Each time you do it, your language abilities will strengthen. As far as sounding like an idiot, I struggle with that more. First, I'd say, get comfortable with the fact that you're going to make mistakes, and stop giving a fuck. Then, surround yourself with people who are friendly and will encourage you when you make mistakes instead of judging you. If you're using a language daily, I think you can cut time estimates for learning it in school in half.