A number of answers here seem to agree on the same point, the gamification of the learning process. As a guy who tried this, I found using Anki’s spaced repetition flashcard app *much* less frustrating. I memorized about a thousand Spanish words, and can at least read at the first grade level, with about ten minutes study a night for a few months. Anki is free for Android and PC users. Apparently Mac users have cash ot blow, because there’s a cost to the Mac app.
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