Learning a language for a trip

I used duolingo and was able to learn how read French but never could speak it. Needed someone I could talk with and hear it plus practice saying it myself rather than repeating phrases.

My recommendations are varied from person to person, but generally, I like Duolingo for early phase, especially for someone starting from absolute 0 knowledge. It gives you a good base and simple enough understanding of grammar and syntax to enable personal learning by reading in later phases. Middle phase to me is listening/reading practice along with a big, difficult, structured vocab memorization plan. I like podcasts like “coffee break Spanish/German/French/etc” to practice listening, and for vocab memorization I recommend a spaced-repitition learning app like Anki (they basically hacked the brain and present you with vocab flash cards in a specific order/frequency to promote the best attainment of words). Late phase is speaking and more reading. This can be hard depending on the language because there may not be local speakers; you will have an easier time with Spanish than others of course. Good reading materials can be things like books you already know the gist of but that still will be fun and capture your attention (translated versions of Harry Potter are a learning tool for many).

Hope this helps

Besides Rosetta stone, Duolingo or Babbel, watch YouTube Videos.

This girl does great tutorials.

Link

At least develop some "go to phrases" to get you started. Write them down, or use some type of Notes app. I use Evernote to save my various "go to phrases" for the various countries I've been to. Nothing like being able to order rakia in Serbian to someone on a cruise that's from there at the bar. Their faces! You da man thereafter.

Nothing beats practicing. There are online tutors you can hire to talk to online. Check out Italki!

Seriously, if you want to learn you have to practice. And it's ok to drop some coin on some of these apps or sites if it's something you want to do. Free stuff only gets you so far.

Our housekeeper who speaks very little English has a translation app on her phone. She speaks into in Spanish and we get an English translation on the screen. (and visa versa)

Preply.com is helpful. You pick a tutor, each has a different price (affordable, $10-15/hour for the language I was learning) and FaceTime with an instructor. If you don’t like that instructor, you can always pick up with another. They all have reviews. I did really well with Duolingo, but as others have mentioned it’s difficult to speak it this way. I would def recommend Duolingo as adjunct; it’s free and helps with vocabulary.