[Quick rant: Let's just talk about this graphic real quick; the creator couldn't think of one African languages for the continent of Africa? Nothing better than English and French?? Not Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Xhosa, Wolof, Amharic, Zulu, SWAHILI? Ok...]
Learning a language shouldn't cost you a dime. This is my core belief. This is why I offer my friends free language lessons, why I am eager to share my language books, why I refuse to buy from scammers who say they can teach me French with just FIVE EASY INSTALLMENTS OF $69.99! I also believe that you CAN learn more than one language at the same time, and that you CAN learn a language (to the speaking-level) in two months. It's not about how many years you've studied a language but how many hours you can dedicate to learning in said amount of time.
Anyway, here's my language plan. This plan works extremely well for me, and if you have a specific learning style, pick out the best tips that will work for you. I have to learn from all learning styles or else I can't pick up the language fully, so hopefully my tips are of use to you.
For all languages:
Finish the Duolingo tree (I believe this tool to be underrated-- everyone has Duolingo downloaded but not many people finish their trees. Consistency is key. Decide on the amount of time you wanna spend learning this language, and split the number of lessons by the number of days/weeks. Also, on the online version, every Duolingo circle comes with a grammar lesson. READ THOSE! And take notes if you have to.)
Watch an episode of Netflix in the language a day (A few movies/shows that I've watched are linked below)
Learn all the lyrics to a song in the language (Artist recommendations for French, Arabic, German, Portuguese, and Spanish are listed below).
Watch grammar videos on YouTube or look up grammar sites online (And write examples sentences with grammar rules to see how the rules are used in context)
Review notes that you take so what you learn doesn't go in one ear and out the other
WRITE EVERYDAY (like a paragraph or so about how your day went, a dream you had, why you wanna learn the language, what your daily routine it, what your high school years were like, what you're going to do tomorrow, how the weather is outside, etc...)
Schedule a lesson once a week or so with any tutoring site (I'll link what I use below) so that you can converse with people in the language-- not exactly free, but my free alternatives are...
If you're on a college campus, talk with the international students who want to learn English and speak with them. Or talk to your local ELC (English Language Center) and see if they have any students who are interested in learning your native language in exchange for teaching you their's.
Hellotalk is a great app to find people to talk with if you don't have speakers of your target language in your community. There are other similar apps but I use this one. Here are my tips for Hellotalk: (1) If you're looking to learn a dialect of a language, be country-specific when searching for a conversation partner (2) Use the correction feature to correct their messages, and the other person may get the hint to correct your mistakes and you can both learn and grow! (3) If you find a conversation partner who is serious and committed to helping, possibly move your lessons/ conversations to Skype or Whatsapp where you can talk for longer periods of time.
Join Facebook groups titled "Learn____ (insert target language)." There are communities on Facebook of people learning about every language. Search a language and join a community
Watch motivational videos. Sometimes it helps me to see someone else learning the the target language I'm trying to learn because we're in the same boat together. If they have already learned the language, use that at inspiration (instead of jealousy).
DON'T BE AFRAID TO SOUND STUPID! In the beginning stages, it's practically unavoidable to sound a little silly. Embrace it, and you will have a much more fun time learning from your mistakes and moving on.
Language-specific tips:
Arabic
For the alphabet, take it slow. Do a few letters at a time and create words with those letters. Everyone thinks Arabic is one of the hardest languages in the world because of the letters, but English has 26 and Arabic has 28. It ain't that serious...
Duolingo just added Arabic to hop on it kids!
For the 5,000 ways to say "you" (there's really like eight, but they're not all used in daily speech!) start off with one way and work your way up. When conjugating, try learning I, you (singular masculine), he, she, we, you (plural masculine), and they (masculine).
If you're having the "OH NO! DO I LEARN STANDARD ARABIC OR DO I LEARN A DIALECT!?!?" dilemma, just take a deep breath, relax... Think about your goals for Arabic. If you wanna learn Arabic to listen to or read the news, learn Standard (I'll post resources below). If you wanna learn Arabic to talk to the Egyptians in your community, learn Egyptian (I'll link below resources but I am not personally learning Egyptian). If you wanna learn a few key phrases in Darija (Moroccan Arabic) to travel to Morocco, there are resources for this too (I'm linking the resources I use below). I am learning Standard Arabic and Darija because I really want Arabic to be apart of my future (I wanna travel to Arabic-speaking countries, get a job where I have to use Arabic, etc.).
Of course, if there are no Arabic-speakers in your community, use Hellotalk as I mentioned. Due to the internet, there are native speakers wanting to learn your language wherever you go...
Chinese
Write characters over and over and over again.
To help with character memorization, learn the radicals (the smaller symbols that make the bigger characters)
The great thing about Chinese is that there aren't verb conjugation nor are there verb tenses really. So learn verbs early on and start speaking as soon as possible!
Resources
Netflix shows/movies
Dark (German)
3% (Brazilian Portuguese)
El Clon (Spanish)
Todas as Razões para Esquecer (Brazilian Portuguese)
Jinn (Arabic)
Black Spot (French)
...
Youtube shows/movies
Extr@ German (a show where the characters speak German at a slow pace; it has subtitles and it's funny!)
Extr@ French (la même chose, mais en français)
Extr@ Spanish (same thing, but en español)
Happy Chinese (Chinese-learning show)
...
Youtube grammar/vocabulary videos
Painless Arabic (for Moroccan Arabic)
...
Apps
already mentioned: Duolingo, Hellotalk
Word Reference
Google translate
Quizlet
Drops
Memrise
ChinesePod
My music recommendations
FRENCH: Stromae, Maître Gims, Zaz, Indila, Aya Nakamura, Christine and the Queens, Orelsan, Yseult, Angèle, Booba, MC Solaar, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Oumou Sangare, a lot of Celine Dion, Amadou & Mariam, Diam's, Niska, Lartiste, Cheb Khaled, Magic System (1er Gaou :)), Black M
PORTUGUESE: Liniker e os Caramelows, Francisco El Hombre (triste louca ou ma), IZA, Paulo Vitar, MC Fioti, Natiruts, Chameleo, MC Kevinho, Luan Santana, Dani Russo, Anitta
ARABIC: Cheb Khaled, Cheb Hasni, Faudel, Rachid Taha, Elissa, FAIRUUUUZ!, Oum, Dalida, Marwan Khoury, Asma Lmnawar, Hoba Hoba Spirit, Saad Lamjarred, Chawki, Jamila
SPANISH: (this shouldn't be a problem for anyone to find, but if you just want my recommendations, here you go.) Aventura, Ozuna, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Nio Garcia, Nicky Jam, Bad Bunny, Maluma baby (lol), Selena (duh...), Daddy Yankee, Romeo Santos
Tutoring sites
Online textbooks
Grammar sites
Motivational videos
I hope this helps. (I'm constantly updating this)