Im not familiar with what best way works with me so i figured i try the trial run.
The lessons consisted of communicating with someone from Japan on a one lesson a week for 4 weeks. Sessons was about 30 min.
-Lessons were mostly meet and greet
-Learning how to say various forms of nouns in a formal manner.
- using follow up questions as in which item
-Counting and using different single digit numbers to form large numbers.
Its definitley some great feedback to learn as you go with responses from the teacher one in one over a zoom call.
- after the trial i was offered to continue through a plan but i stopped as I honestly couldnt afford another expense. If i do continue it id like to see how far self taught goes and maybe learning through a group class of some sort.
Mind you after classes i would go over the lessons on my own for about half hour a day. Consistency is pretty much the nature of the beast. I limited to 30 min because if i get to bored im not learning nothing.
Do i recommend 1v1 via online tutor, yes(if its in your budget) though find out if they will be giving you work material and the slides or a reference of what was learned in class. Im sure i wasnt given anything since it was a trial. I was typing it as the lesson was going on. Its real good for beginners and good to use to brush up since you are talking to someone who lives the language in that country.
Its a pretty dependent question.
Depending on your hardware, I'd say if you consider compatibility first.
Touchscreen is something you mentioned, I've used lenovo laptops that have built in touchscreen that work well on fedora.
They want something close to windows then I say Linux mint.
I have used Linux mint with various ages past 2 years. Very on levels from beginner to complete non tech users. On those that need compatibility with various applications close to windows. Regular Linux mint
On users that just require basic internet and document usage (aka a word like application) Linux mint debian edition (why? Less complicated, for non tech savy people). Less configuration means lower chances of issues popping up.
TLDR base your decision on peoples needs, and your ability to assist with what they have. Right tool for the job. Hope this helps.