Most effective language learning tools/software/programs

l'afrique française est enfer

lurk in the generals

Immersion is incredibly overrated for levels lower than B2.

news articles, wikipedia etc + a dictionary

Cope

To the non-native english speakers in this thread, what prompted you to learn English? How did you do it?

I did Duolingo for 6 months before I studied in Italy. Thought it would help
It didn't

Immersion is very important, if you spend a lot of time reading news, listening to radio/podcasts and watching videos you will improve much faster than by just spamming anki, duolingo or whatever you're using

sounds like you just suck at retaining information

nothing really
I learned English in primary school by looking at memes and watching cringy youtube videos