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See if there are evening classes you can sign up for in your area. This has a couple of benefits over pure self-study: firstly, if you don't really know any other languages yet, having a teacher to explain new concepts for you will be a big help. Secondly, it keeps you accountable if you need external motivation to keep at something. It can also be a good way to meet new people!
If you're going with self-study, look up what textbooks people recommend using for self-study for your target language (i.e. not one that relies heavily on having a teacher explain things for you). Obviously a textbook alone is not enough to learn a language, but imo it's the best way to get to grips with the basics of grammar before you move on to more advanced stages. There are also plenty of online communities to help you out with any questions, especially for more popular languages.
Finally, do NOT expect to make worthwhile progress with Duolingo or apps like that. They are not designed to help you master a language. You might learn some useful vocab from them, but if you're serious about learning a language, don't waste your valuable time.
I 100% agree with your advice.
I tried learning Portuguese with Duolingo, in a couple of months I only managed to learn words, but no grammar. I fared better with Babel, which has more structured courses, but since there was no accountability, I wasn't diligent and did not progress much. Finally, I enrolled in an evening class and in the span of 4 months my level went from "I barely know the basics" to A1.2
Also, as others mentioned, consuming content in said language and conversing (even online) helps a lot (that's how I honed my English), having a pen pal is even better.