Self-study Despite there being tens of so-called magic methods that promise to teach you English in 6 weeks, or 6 months for that matter, I regret to say that this is just very unrealistic. That’s why we’ve compiled some tips and recommendations to help you make the most of your self-studying, in a realistic way. Provided you are self-driven, motivated and disciplined, you should be reaping the rewards soon. Expect no miracles but reward guaranteed!I am sure you’ve heard and seen all over the notion that in order to master anything, you need around 10,000 hours of doing it, failing at it even!. For some people it’ll be more and for other a bit less, but that seems to be a fairly accurate number, according to experts. That means you’ll get much better results if you  “practice” a few minutes every day than if you do it for three solid hours on the weekend. This would prove that there are no quick methods. However, progress also depends on your goals. When it comes to learning English, let’s first think a couple of things through:
-       Do you want to be accurate and fluent? Accurate meaning: few grammar mistakes and fluent meaning that you aim at making yourself understood despite grammar mistakes
-       Who will you be communicating with? a. native speakers who are not used to speaking to non-native speakers, b. native speakers who usually deal with non-native speakers, or c. non-native speakers of various levels of command of command of the language?
-        How much of my time am I willing to spend time exposed to English, with an active approach to learning out of this exposure? Watching a film in English for the sake of learning English won’t be very productive unless you are active in your learning (I’ll expand on this later)-       How different is your mother tongue from English? What bad habits you have when it comes to communicating in English? – it’s often essential to unlearn what you think you know. Break habits by bombarding the brain with the right expression / grammar structure / whatever you want to learn/... and with repetition you’ll get there!
-       What skills do you want to focus on? Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, understanding native speakers of different nationalities?
 -       Why do I want to or need to learn English?-       How can I beat procrastination and time-wasting? How can I find a time and a place to learn?
-        Depending on your answers you can choose the material and resources available and set your objectives and be realistic about them.It’s never been easier to learn than now. With opportunities to spend time in countries where the target language is spoken, with mobile learning (apps, the ubiquitous availability of Wi-Fi, photo cameras to take photos of material and sheets and handouts, free online courses, free language exchanges online, online magazines, radios in English online and a host of other options). Therefore, provided you’re motivated and disciplined, learning is at the palm of your hand and just one or two clicks away.The way I interpret language learning is holistic. What does holistic mean? That means that, ideally, when you’re learning a new vocabulary item, a new structure, it’s good to learn it as a whole, as a chunk (two or three  words together) and focus on pronunciation, on connecting the words if they have to be connected, learning the words it usually is combined with. Like this, you’ll find it easier to understand and you’ll understand others far more easily too, you’ll be more efficient and gain fluency, “speed”, so to speak. After all, learning a language is a two-way street, as we say in English (you learn to be understood and to understand). Knowing the grammar will help you be accurate, and connecting these words will make you sound more natural, so easier to be understood and it’s more efficient because your brain doesn’t have to search words one by one. ...English is complex in ways that you may never have been shown or told or imagined. That shouldn’t be a problem or put you off studying it (put you off= quitarte las ganas de) , however, it’s good to be aware of that.  Yet again, this depends on your mother tongue in many ways and how you’ve learned English before.The problem for many is that nowadays most people have learned a bit of English, most can perform at work with varying levels of fluency or accuracy but if you really want to improve and ... that’s hard work, when you can already communicate, ...it’s discipline, it’s a process. Failure to see that you learn a language not only to speak but also to be spoken in, to understand others is crucial, too. It’s a two way thing, as I said above. Don’t just set your goals like : I want to speak better English. Speaking is just one area you want to learn. To speak better English, we need to know what exactly you’ll be speaking about, you need vocabulary, this vocabulary maybe associated to a certain grammar and register, etc.  Learning a foreign language involves speaking and being spoken to, so understanding and being understood. Also, be specific and realistic and put in time in gaining a good command of the basics as this will make it easier for you to pick up a bit more complex grammar. It’s key to understand the have as an auxiliary verb for example, to succeed at higher levels.It’s also a good idea to search online for the main differences between your native language and English. This will shift your focus on how to study. And remember, repeat repeat repeat. Do, write, pronounce, listen to words and sentences etc more than once.  Old school exercises with real life communication, and listening to how words are pronounced and spelled so you can understand them, say them intelligibly and write them properly and associate the sound to a spelling.Also, notice the punctuation. Some learners seem to neglect punctuation altogether. Learn about the false friends in your language, about varieties and accents in English, how “flexible” pronunciation can be, unlike other languages.Some people focus their teaching/learning on specific subjects, “work, neighbours, art, food, etc , as it has often been done in textbooks, the way I see it this method has pros and cons, ..Others use what we call “functional language”, that is, “how to” agree and disagree, to start or close a conversation, suggest, etc. Experiment and find a way that resonates with you, that you identify that you learn the best. There is not perfect way to learn a foreign language.  Repetition is key, go over exercises, videos, podcasts, a few times. You’re learning English, learning is exposure, you learn a word when you’ve seen it a meaningful, relevant context a number of times. Meaningful, relevant to you. You’re brain is lazy, help it learn by exposing yourself to what you want to learn. And yes, there will always be an awful lot that you still don't know. Just come to terms with it.
The only thing I can recommend to make progress is to fully believe in your objective. Use traditional methods, find whatever method and whatever websites/books work for you, be open to unlearning and relearning and accepting weird twists of the English languages compared to your mother tongue. Learning English is a fascinating journey if you give yourself time to understand why it can be hard to master, as an adult.

Is this useful? please feel free to share your experience learning English as an adult
specially if you've tried to learn English when younger, not very successfully. This is the profile of learners I have.