After you learn 3000 words just go for 5-10 words per day your main motive should be understanding those words in different context. Write those words on a paper and find topics so that you can use these words or learn words according to a topic and find people to talk about that topic. Read those words everyday for next two weeks for deep learning.

I have two suggestions: 1 look at a thesaurus to see synonyms of the word you are learning, 2 use a search engine, such as Google and use the search terms " [the word] used in an English sentence". This may help you understand when and how to use the word in the future.

I'm completely new to mandarin. I'm hoping to learn some to friends

Oh hey, I face the same problem with Chinese too 😅 Does the app provide example sentences with the new word you're learning? I'm not sure what kind of words the app is teaching you, but do take note that sometimes the app might be teaching you words that are rarely used or used more commonly in literature, which may explain why you might be struggling to use it in daily conversations. I'd suggest you to learn new words by reading English articles that are related to your interest or your work. That way, throughout your day, you can try translating what you think in Chinese into English, which will end up using these new vocabulary you have picked up in these articles. You can consider mastering one word by learning how to use that word in its base form with prefixes and suffixes. E.g. actual, actually, actuality, actualisation, etc... person, persona, personal, personality, personalisation, etc... Another important thing to note is that one English word can have multiple meanings. So you may need to look up the dictionary to learn all the alternative meanings so that you will be more likely able to use them in your daily conversations.