One powerful learning tool is simply noticing.
That means noticing words and constructions you have had explained to you before and recalling their function and meaning while using content.
As you engage with your content, previously unknown forms gradually will become clear to you.
Keep an eye out for new unknown forms or words as you read. Becoming curious, searching for a word, and learning its meaning is a very powerful way to learn.
Looking things up every time is usually not practical. Instead, try to be aware so that you can spot common forms, eventually looking them up once you encounter them enough you have an idea of how they are used.
A great source of language practice is simply doing the things you already enjoy doing in your native language but using your target language instead. This can be watching YouTube, TV shows, movies, browsing forums, or even gaming.
You can use this media for a focused study session, or you can just enjoy it. If your level is not yet high enough, it may be quite a steep learning curve, but that should hopefully give you the motivation to study even more.
As a beginner, finding good content can be hard, especially for people learning rare languages. You may have to compromise and choose something less interesting because it is nearer your level.
Your level +1
The ideal content is just a little bit challenging. Learning occurs when the brain struggles a bit before making a successful connection. The best way to ensure this happens is to choose content that is your level +1 (plus one), which means that the content is just a bit harder than you are comfortable with. It is still difficult, but also comprehensible.
When something is too difficult, a lack of context and meaningful connections create a barrier that results in a lot of tiring mental effort with relatively little payoff.
When something is too easy, there is no mental challenge, and you don’t learn anything.
When a resource is already mostly comprehensible, all the known words and forms surrounding something new provides useful context that reduces the barrier to understanding.
What precisely +1 means may depend on what you are aiming to study. As a general rule, 90-98% of words should already be familiar to you.
For listening, a clip with 100% known vocabulary might still count as +1 if you struggle with aural comprehension.
