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results than others, so don't be afraid to experiment a little.

Some More Advice

Don't just wait for the "right time," to get started, because it won't come. The right time is here and now. If you have time to use your native language every day, then you have time to learn a new language too. Don't just try to set aside a time for it, make it a part of your day. Start small, slowly introducing more and more foreign language elements into the things you already do. It doesn't need to always be active stuff either. While buckling down and studying some material important, so is just passively listening to a radio program or having a movie on in your target language. Multitasking by doing an active activity while doing a passive one in your target language, or you can even double your intake of the language by doing both a passive and active activity in your target language! Don't be afraid to sleep on it either. Your mind is quite remarkable at sorting things out overnight. Sometimes I think that I just can't learn something, only to try again the next day and find that I understand it completely.

You don't need to give up the things you like doing, just change the language of it. If everyone's playing that hot new game and you really wish you could play it, yet still keep up your environment, no problem! Play in in the language you want to learn in. This can be a good way to start off anyways, choose translations of materials that you're already familiar with. Use various resources too, because no matter what, assume that your materials will have errors in them sometimes. It's perfectly normal for anything from a comic book to a subtitle to have a typo or some such thing in it. But by having a combination of different sources, you can pick up on these things and find your answers.

If you get easily distracted like me, here's a trick to avoid distractions without letting responsibilities go to pot. Always have a place to write down notes readily available. This could be as simple as a pen and notepad, or if your studies are mostly computer-based, you can use that too. When something comes to mind that you need to deal with afterwards, write it down. Then it's off your mind, but not forgotten. You can tend to it now and concentrate on what's at hand.

Mnemonics are a great thing-small tricks, whether it be a rhyme or a visual image or what have you-to remember words, characters, etc. It doesn't really matter how you remember it, it can be by the most absurd

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