language courses are garbage
all of them
online language courses have plagued learners trying to get a basic understanding of their target language. Promises of grammar, vocabulary, phrases, and travel essentials never deliver.
instead, use deepl, papago, or whatever other translator rated for high accuracy in your target language you can find.
the translator will give you an unnatural phrase. sentences rarely directly translate context between languages - especially those with different sentence structure than your base language. thing is, language courses provide the same level of unnatural phrasing.
translate common phrases you use in a day. if your translator has target language text along with your native lang, study the target language text. search the internet for anything you don't understand in it. listen to the tts. repeat after the tts. watch youtube videos specifically about that phrase or category of phrases (greetings, for example) and parrot them. the more specific your study time is, the more effective.
language courses aim to teach by memorization and familiarity. this approach is fine for some subjects where application is theory-centric. something like a math discipline would work. language is no different from learning an instrument. no matter how much time you spend watching theory videos, you need to play the instrument to internalize info. utilize resources and apply what you've learned even if you're scared.
nothing will help more than target language content you enjoy with TL subtitles. if you don't like what you're watching (and it has to be video) you will not learn anything.
have fun when learning. watch a show. read a book. anyone can cook. anyone can play guitar. anyone can speak another language. future posts will touch on this topic more.