Most likely you do have time. You are just not aware of it.
Take notice of all the time you do "nothing". Like waiting for the bus or riding an elevator. That's all time you have, but aren't using
Then take notice of all the things you do that are basically automatic. Like brushing your teeth or eating. You could do some studying at the same time. Just see that there is a book beside the sink, or toilet seat, or study notes or maybe some flashcards taped on the mirror.
Then take notice of all the things you do that you could do in another language. Like watching movies or listening to music. Do that in another language.
Get up when you wake up. Don't lie in the bed and snooze, just get up, and start doing your normal things. You are surprisingly more effective if you do this and find that you have a lot of extra time.
It is better if you get up an hour earlier, and go to bed an hour earlier. Most people do NOTHING after 10 P.M. You could as well be sleeping.
Get a habit of carrying a pack of flashcards with you where ever you are. Store a pack on your nightstand so it's the first thing you see in the morning and last thing you see when you go to bed. If you go through a couple of cards when you get up and when you go to bed, that's already some studying done, and no time used.
If you don't have time to make the flashcards - which would be beneficial for learning as well - there's plenty of apps you can download into your phone, where someone has already done the job.
You can compose the flashcards any which way you want. You can have vocabulary cards, grammar cards, sentence cards, anecdotes, jokes, cartoons, anything you want.
Put post-its all over your apartment. Mark the door with "door", "open the door", "close the door", "knock on door" "come in" and every other sentence you can imagine associated with the door. Do this with everything in your home, so that when you go to the kitchen to make your first cup of coffee, you will see what "coffee" is in your target language, what a cup is, what is "can I have a cup of coffee, please", "coffee with milk and sugar", "tea", "hot chocolate" and what ever you can think of. It doesn't take long to find out this information. You can write one post-it every day. After a year you will have 365 post-its with information around your home, and when the sentences are more complex, you will learn more words than 365, AND ALL OF IT IS RELEVANT.
Write your appointment calendar, bullet journal, diary, in the target language. It is not too hard to find out what "dentist appointment" is in your target language. If you have to do it anyway, do it in your target language.
Write your grocery lists in your target language.
When you have read your flashcards to gain a moderate vocabulary, start reading a book. Start it before you feel you are ready. Carry it with you wherever you go, and use all the dead time to read it. Also, carry a notepad and a pen, where you can write down all the unfamiliar words and formulations. In the beginning it will be a lot, but - as time goes pass, it will be less and less.
Listen to podcasts.
Speak to yourself. Imagine being in a situation where you can only communicate using the target language. You can carry a pocket dictionary to help you find necessary words to express what you need to express.
Name things you see around you. Make a note to find out what the name of the thing is, you couldn't name, when you get back home.
Sing. Especially children's songs and christmas carols are good. Simple melodies, simple lyrics, easy to remember.
(I love to sing Alouette :-D Lots of repetition and words like wings, beak, legs, head..)
Speak to your spouse in the target language. Speak to your children. Speak to your cat. Speak to an imaginary roommate if you don't have any real ones.
Read comics in target language.
Read a newspaper in target language
Find news in target language to watch
Change the language settings in your phone. But before you do that, learn how to quickly change back for emergencies :-D
Get a "word a day" calendar or something like that. It would be good if it was a poem, an aphorism, a quote or something similar. If you can't find one, create one. It doesn't take too long time, to find a collection, print it out, cut into slips and put in a bowl or jar, and then pick one every morning. Carry it with you and try to figure out what it means.
Take notice of all the time you do "nothing". Like waiting for the bus or riding an elevator. That's all time you have, but aren't using
Then take notice of all the things you do that are basically automatic. Like brushing your teeth or eating. You could do some studying at the same time. Just see that there is a book beside the sink, or toilet seat, or study notes or maybe some flashcards taped on the mirror.
Then take notice of all the things you do that you could do in another language. Like watching movies or listening to music. Do that in another language.
Get up when you wake up. Don't lie in the bed and snooze, just get up, and start doing your normal things. You are surprisingly more effective if you do this and find that you have a lot of extra time.
It is better if you get up an hour earlier, and go to bed an hour earlier. Most people do NOTHING after 10 P.M. You could as well be sleeping.
Get a habit of carrying a pack of flashcards with you where ever you are. Store a pack on your nightstand so it's the first thing you see in the morning and last thing you see when you go to bed. If you go through a couple of cards when you get up and when you go to bed, that's already some studying done, and no time used.
If you don't have time to make the flashcards - which would be beneficial for learning as well - there's plenty of apps you can download into your phone, where someone has already done the job.
You can compose the flashcards any which way you want. You can have vocabulary cards, grammar cards, sentence cards, anecdotes, jokes, cartoons, anything you want.
Put post-its all over your apartment. Mark the door with "door", "open the door", "close the door", "knock on door" "come in" and every other sentence you can imagine associated with the door. Do this with everything in your home, so that when you go to the kitchen to make your first cup of coffee, you will see what "coffee" is in your target language, what a cup is, what is "can I have a cup of coffee, please", "coffee with milk and sugar", "tea", "hot chocolate" and what ever you can think of. It doesn't take long to find out this information. You can write one post-it every day. After a year you will have 365 post-its with information around your home, and when the sentences are more complex, you will learn more words than 365, AND ALL OF IT IS RELEVANT.
Write your appointment calendar, bullet journal, diary, in the target language. It is not too hard to find out what "dentist appointment" is in your target language. If you have to do it anyway, do it in your target language.
Write your grocery lists in your target language.
When you have read your flashcards to gain a moderate vocabulary, start reading a book. Start it before you feel you are ready. Carry it with you wherever you go, and use all the dead time to read it. Also, carry a notepad and a pen, where you can write down all the unfamiliar words and formulations. In the beginning it will be a lot, but - as time goes pass, it will be less and less.
Listen to podcasts.
Speak to yourself. Imagine being in a situation where you can only communicate using the target language. You can carry a pocket dictionary to help you find necessary words to express what you need to express.
Name things you see around you. Make a note to find out what the name of the thing is, you couldn't name, when you get back home.
Sing. Especially children's songs and christmas carols are good. Simple melodies, simple lyrics, easy to remember.
(I love to sing Alouette :-D Lots of repetition and words like wings, beak, legs, head..)
Speak to your spouse in the target language. Speak to your children. Speak to your cat. Speak to an imaginary roommate if you don't have any real ones.
Read comics in target language.
Read a newspaper in target language
Find news in target language to watch
Change the language settings in your phone. But before you do that, learn how to quickly change back for emergencies :-D
Get a "word a day" calendar or something like that. It would be good if it was a poem, an aphorism, a quote or something similar. If you can't find one, create one. It doesn't take too long time, to find a collection, print it out, cut into slips and put in a bowl or jar, and then pick one every morning. Carry it with you and try to figure out what it means.
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