Is there an easy way to learn a foreign language?

Is learning a foreign language on your to-do list?  If so, would you like to discover an easy way to learn that language?  Despite many claims that appear on the Internet, I am convinced there is no easy way to learn another language.  My apologies for the discouraging answer!

Some learning methods may be more pleasant than others, but easy, as in 'minimum effort required,' I don't think so.  Now if we could take a time machine back to our childhood and be raised in a multilingual environment...

But some of us are well over 21 years of age and want or need to learn a foreign language.  I discovered I was not the only person pondering this issue when I read a recent question posted on Quora. "What are the best ways to learn a language as an adult?" Quora is a question and answer website where creating, answering and editing are done by the Quora community. Quora has a wide range of topics and is available online and with apps for mobile devices.

A Quora participant,  David Bailey, wrote a detailed answer to the question of learning a language as an adult, describing how he achieved enough French fluency in 17 days to have a conversation with a French speaker in a Paris coffee shop and receive a compliment on his language skills.  David had racked up 700 upvotes on Quora.  I was intrigued and read on.

As I understand it, David, who was already a fluent speaker of Spanish, spent 17 days visiting a friend in a small village in France, during which time he carried out a self-imposed language learning regime. Here are some of the main components of his daily study plan.

(1) David immersed himself in French.  The friend he was visiting and her friends only spoke to him in French.

(2) He spent from 1.5 - 2 hours each morning writing out verb tables in longhand.

Amazing self-discipline!

(3)  He listened to a purchased language learning program on his mp3 player.

(4)  He ran every day and listened to French music on his run through the French countryside.  (Sound idyllic, doesn't it?)

(5) He participated in playful activities in French, like darts or Boules, with French friends.

(6) He read easy children's books in French.

(7) He spent about an hour every day writing essays about himself which he asked his friend to check for errors.  He commented that essays helped him have ready answers about himself when he was getting acquainted with others.

(8)  He memorized French filler words that gave him time to think about what he was going to say and increased his confidence.

I must admit I was impressed with David Bailey's language learning plan, especially because of the self-discipline required to carry it out. The inspiration I received was not about following David's specific activities (I'm getting a picture of me running through the French countryside!), but tailoring a language study plan to my own liking and then, the difficult part, sticking to it.  Life has so many distractions!

A responder to David Bailey, Philip Jones, wrote of his own language learning achievement, "In the end it was a case of getting down to some serious study and then going out and talking to people." And David, who now speaks five languages (all learned after age 21) and does business in three countries, says, ..."who says adults can't learn."

Encouraging words, n'est-ce pas? 

Please note:  Language Lover's blog will be on vacation until October 28th!