Recommendations for learning a language

Note: although links often reference Spanish, this should apply to learning other languages too.

Overview
What is frustrating about learning another language is that everyone learns differently. Language classes try to address the visual, audio, and interactive learner but often fail. The best approach is therefore every approach, or the Shotgun method. Try to shoot for the widest possible area and different methods. Even unconventional or silly ones. These may end up being the best way for you to learn.

As such, go to a used bookstore and pick up various items that teach your language. Write out defintions or try flash cards. Read newspapers, read books, find someone to talk to.

How not to learn
The way to forget is very universal: not practicing. As such, working on the language of choice everyday for at least 15 minutes is key to learning it. Even if you just listen to an audio book or radio program for 15 minutes. When it happens every day it stays in your short term memory and improves comprehension. Make it part of your routine.

Recommended tools

• Pimsleur - comes highly recommended - very conversational and interactive
  
• Oxford Language Dictionaries
  

Ways to make it fun
If doing something isn't painful or annoying, you're much more likely to keep up with it. So if you like music, try to find music you enjoy. For example, I fell in love with Mana's Amar es Combatir. If you like movies, try watching nothing but movies in the language you are trying to learn. I like indie film and found a lot of enjoyment in the films of Pedro Almodóvar and Alfonso Cuarón. You can watch regular movies with foreign language subtitles but I've had mixed success with this.

Ways to make it useful
If you find a reason to learn your language. If you know you're going to travel to Europe in a year, you might feel a real push to learn a language to prepare you for your visit. If you volunteer somewhere and a lot of people there speak another language, you can get real feedback on your learning process. If you are single and can talk to people of the opposite sex who don't speak English, that's a huge draw. Realize that people with accents are always automatically more sexy.

(part 2)