So many of you are curious on how to get started learning a language. Do you start speaking from day 1? Do you learn grammar? Do you do drills from a textbook?
Well, the best way is just to start jumping into it. Start watching content in your target language. Watch content made by natives, for natives. But what about grammar and all that stuff? Well there is a place for it, but it takes a backseat to the number one thing: immersion
Bottom line is: focus on input.
Don't believe me? Watch the first five minutes of this video and you'll see what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnUc_W3xE1w (feel free to watch the whole thing but all I'm asking is the first five minutes. )
I'd also highly recommend watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LIz-Wbt4us.
Now you probably want a more concrete guide on how to do this. Start here: refold.la. It lays out concrete steps that you can take.
If you find all the steps and sub-steps overwhelming, I recommend checking out this Japanese quick-start guide (just ignore the Japanese specific parts if you're learning another language, the advice is still good): https://massimmersionapproach.com/table-of-contents/stage-1/jp-quickstart-guide/
It's okay to grind some vocab early on and of course grammar does play a role. But these things are there to aid in understanding messages. So use these things to help understand your input, not to "create" output. With enough input, you'll start feeling the urge to output.
TL;DR: Focus on input (listening, watching, reading) even if you can't understand anything. Things like grammar and vocab study are merely means to an end for the ultimate goal of understanding your immersion.
PS: Remember, language isn't math: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8JK8W8dBxk
Have fun and think of it as something you can achieve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xG-WwqhHBc
This kind of approach has been working out really well for me. It makes a lot of sense to do listening practice early, because you gain the ability to actually hear your target language. It goes from being an incomprehensible wall of sound to actual words that you can attach a meaning to. Trying to memorize words on paper before you can even recognize them in a spoken sentence is a bit backwards when you think about it.
As for my method, I've basically just been watching YouTube and Netflix in my target language without subtitles (because they are distracting and you have to listen very carefully for this method to work well) and putting audio clips into Anki for repetition (sentences that only contain one or two words you don't know are best).
If you're a complete beginner, it might help to do some sort of intro course alongside the listening practice. I did half the Duolingo tree before starting listening practice, but that was probably not the fastest way to learn.
Yea, I started speaking early (out of necessity because I moved to the country where the language is spoken), and now I have to unlearn some of my bad pronunciation habits. Wish I hadn't pressured myself to start speaking so early.