Learning a new language is not that difficult, but it does require a significant level of devotion. The best way to learn a new language is to surround yourself by it every day. If you're trying to learn Spanish or French, Rosetta Stone is a good piece of software but very pricey. It won't teach you verb tenses which is a very vital part of understanding the language. Here is what I did to learn Spanish on my own:

1) Rosetta Stone
2) Books! You can buy books at Barnes & Nobles or wherever that are entirely in Spanish. They will be very difficult to read until you're quite proficient at the language, but try to read with a Spanish/English dictionary in your hands and write down the words you don't know.
3) Daily calender with a "Spanish Word of the Day" and it used in a sentence.
4) Get "Learn Spanish Behind the Wheel" tapes, listen to them while you drive and do the exercises.
5) Workbooks -- study the material and do the exercises. This may seem a lot like school but hey, you're learning a language.
6) Download Spanish songs and put them on your Ipod. Download the lyrics and translate them. Sing along in your car or whatever.
7) Google desktop! I have an RSS feed setup so I get daily news in Spanish as well as an RSS feed to a "Spanish Lesson of the Day." Spend 5 minutes a day reading these.
8) When in class, take notes in the language. This is harder when you're just starting out. I had a cheat sheet in one of my science classes that I made entirely in Spanish. It forced me to know the words cold otherwise the cheat sheet wasn't going to be of much use.
9) Watch movies with Spanish subtitles (this is actually a big help). Be careful of places where the translation was wrong or had a different meaning.
10) If your telephone has a "Spanish" setting, switch it over. Navigate and use your phone entirely in Spanish.
11) Expose yourself to foreigners who speak your language of choice. Sit back and listen to them talk and try to understand what they are saying.
12) Find a cute foreigner and date her (this is probably the toughest to do!) Write each other notes in Spanish. Talk in Spanish. Etc.
13) Go to a Spanish speaking country, but only speak Spanish. Do not fall into the temptation to speak English. Do not be afraid to make mistakes or embarrass yourself. Try to talk to people who don't speak English at all.
14) Lastly, just try to practice every chance you can. Try to learn the names of objects you see or use every day. Practice practice practice!

If you keep it up, I guarantee you will learn the language very quickly. You'll reach a point where the learning curve starts to flatten out a bit, but you have to keep pushing forward. It will be very fun at first as you can improve vastly in a matter of a week. Don't neglect vocabulary and try to vary the words you use. Take risks with complex sentences. You need to keep up a "can do" attitude and make sure learning the language is fun, otherwise you will burn out. Things will stick a lot better if you actually want to learn as well!

Suerte!

Goodluck and keep at it!

Patience, and devotion will help you master the language. I had to go to a foreign language school every wednesday for 14 years. And I spoke it at home as well with my mother. I even went to the country a few times. And I still SUCK at writing it. Any method is good, but if you don't have the interest and the patience, it's pointless to study.

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I want to work now! No, really. I want those 100+ hours/week.
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You could try "Muffy", it's this cartoon character thing that PBS has, except that it's really good and if you get bored easily it's fun!

My daughter is three and she already is speaking in tongues. Wait, I mean she can speak a little Spanish. I took two years in undergrad, so I teach her here and there. My wife and I spent three months in Puerto Vallarta for our honeymoon just after undergrad, and that definitely enhanced my skillset, even though everyone there spoke enough English that one didn't really need to learn Spanish.

I second the girlfriend idea. I also took a year of Mandarin in undergrad, and nearly everyone in my class was Korean (still not sure about the correlation there), although there were three other white guys in there who had Chinese girlfriends and wanted to learn the language. I never quite got it, though that was probably the hardest class I ever had. I am re-thinking it now, and plan on starting Mandarin classes again in a year or so - but just at the community college level. CC classes are relatively cheap, and the campus is practically across the street from my office.

Good luck!

hey checbk, learn to write english first before you bother with your next language.

The more languages you master the easier it gets to learn new ones (even if they are unrelated languages)

It is shocking how in UK/USA most university Students are fluent in ONLY ONE language... Even Oxbridge and Ivy.

In that case you need learn more language so you must be as versatile as per other so keep it up and learn more languages in this world.