What is the best way to learn a new language?

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I am 21 and I have only taken Spanish courses in my High School year. I wish to increase my language learning capacity by learning various non English languages. I would like to know French, Latin, and German. Does anyone know any way I could learn via the internet?

1. Read foreign newspapers

2. Read websites in another language that match your interests

3. Listen to music in another language and read the translations

4. Foreign audio books

5. Think in another language and avoid thinking of English equivalent

6. Watch your favorite movie in another language.

7. Youtube

Learn the grammatical rules! And you can learn vocabulary from the sources that Sherlock03 mentinoned.

You will only be able to learn very little via the Internet if you are a beginner.

You can try livemocha.com. Also, if you want to learn via English translation (which I do not suggest), foreign language courses that were used by the military (extensive dialog and audio materials) can be found at http://fsi-language-courses.org.

The best way to learn a foreign language is with as little English translation as possible. This makes it easier to think and read in the language (because your mind doesn't have to translate the word into English), and you gain a more fluent "feel" for the language (its grammatical structure and meaning of idioms) because you view it as it is, not through the lens of English. On the other hand, you may not progress as quickly as other beginning language learners, and it can be frustrating as you encounter words that you cannot figure out. This is how I learn, from beginner to advanced:

1. Start off with a Look and Learn series book (try amazon.com, they are usually cheap) and Rosetta Stone (expensive, I know, but, cough, ahem, there are ways around that) to build up your basic vocabulary.

2. Download Anki (free software, ankisrs.net) and create flashcards for each new word you learn. Instead of the putting the English translations of the words on your cards, USE A PICTURE. Get the foreign language equivalent of your search engine (for example, google.fr for french), use the image search option, type in the word in the language you are learning (this facilitates familiarity with the word), pick the image you like, save it, add it to the flashcard according to Anki's documentation. This is indeed a time-consuming process, but can be facilitated by adding the search engine to your search bar (on Firefox, at least).

3. Find an online verb conjugator or buy some sort of monolingual verb conjugation book.

4. Get yourself a visual, monolingual dictionary. If you can't find one, look for dictionaries that are tailored towards children who speak the language. The definitions will be in your target language, but you make up for your inability to read them by using the pictures to help you understand meaning. As a beginner, you can understand many words just by looking up pictures of them on the Internet.

5. Move up to reading children's books in the target language, especially the kind that come with audio material. Take the brute force approach and look up every word you don't know because your goal at this point is to rapidly increase vocabulary. As you increase your vocabulary, attempt to look up words in an adult's monolingual dictionary (which you can find online). Even if you only understand a few of the words in the definition, sometimes you are still able to figure out the meaning. Sometimes, not. Leave it. You'll eventually figure it out.

6. Move up to books for young adults. Try out some monolingual podcasts.

7. Move up to books for adults. Your first adult book can be brutal. Use brute force approach; the next will be easier. Use a monolingual dictionary at all times.

A big help when I was learning one foreign language was reading the first Harry Potter book in translation. The first book is written for young readers - 9-12 year olds - and is available in most major languages - even Latin and Ancient Greek I believe. I was familiar with the book in English, so I could guess the meaning of some words in the translation just from context. I found it hard work at first, but it got easier and easier until I was able to dispense with the dictionary and rely on my intuition. It got to the point where I could read an entire sentence without translating it in my head - and I understood it. I am still not fluent, but I am much better at the language than I would have been without it.

There are many factors in deciding which is the best way for you to learn a language. No matter what you do, the key is engagement. Learning happens best if we are engaged in what we are doing. That is we can't get enough of what we are doing. For some people, that maybe watching movies and learning from them, or speaking on Skype, etc .

Mind you don't get engaged in studying grammar... It unlikely to lead to fluency!

I wrote a whole lot more about engagement, if you want to follow that up ... in a book called Language Learning Unlocked

Duolingo is really good, it`s free and makes learning language like a game. You can also get an app for your Android and (I think) iPhone. I was doing French for a bit before getting overwhelmed with university, they also have Spanish, maybe German (not too sure), and a few other languages.

http://www.duolingo.com/

Look for online courses. To learn a language you should practice speaking it as well. Couchsurfing has a lot of members that are interested in language exchange, maybe you can talk and e-mail with someone there. Or start a thread here! "Your french for my english", for example.

Duolingo is very much like Rosetta stone and much cheaper. The big thing for me is just doing it. Everyday.

It does get better when you progress to the point where you can actually read things you are interested in... Luckily, Atomic Robo has a spanish edition...

The others have given good tips for getting started. For me, immersion is the absolute best way to learn. I was never able to travel, but luckily there are people in my life who are native speakers I could communicate with daily. If you try to express yourself strictly in the other language, even when it's hard, you will have better results. I would imagine that traveling to a country or place in which the language you want to learn is spoken by most people would be the best thing to do. If you can find like-minded people who wish to learn the language with you or practice their fluency with you, regardless of their level in comparison to yours, you will likely be more successful. I personally find I am more social when speaking in my second language than in my first (English), which is amazing. Good luck.