Notes from: Fluent in 3 Months - Language Hacking
The priority in learning a language should always be on communication and not on intensively studying each part of the language to perfection and then going on to the next one.
    1) Speak from Day 1
    2) Get a phrasebook
    3) Immerse yourself using apps and sites to find speaking partners, and immerse yourself in media using books, movies, podcasts etc.
    4) Use memory skills to learn vocab. This includes "Visualize & Gnarlify," spaced repetition, and memory towns.
    5) Create your own personal phrasebook: basically tell your life story in your target language and learn it all.

Phrasebooks:
Benny Hill swears by phrasebooks to start learning a language when your end-goal is fluency. Grammar should be taken in very small doses when you are starting up, and these books avoid grammar almost entirely! You can learn the essential phrases as one block each (not necessarily understanding individual words) and you will get your point across. Thanks to phonetics under the phrase, you don't even have to get your head around the new spelling and pronunciation system yet!
    • You can get through it very quickly, and feel a great sense of achievement for the amount that you are able to say if you memorize it well enough
    • It covers all the basic conversation categories you want to know when starting off.
    • The dictionary at the back is very handy. It gathers the most frequent and useful 500 or so words; it is big enough to give you most of what you need in general situations, but small enough to actually study! While waiting for a bus, get through all of the letter A… when in the queue at the supermarket learn 3 new words etc. It's impossible (or at least crazy)  to study an actual dictionary, but dictionaries at the back of phrasebooks have been my key to getting the most important vocabulary quickly.
    • They are small enough to fit in your pocket. In the lift? Swoop it out, and learn one new word or phrase before the doors open and then back in your pocket it goes! All of these pieces of time add up quickly!
    • When you have gone through it enough, you will definitely have at least a somewhat basic overview of what the language looks like, and this makes the more serious studies ahead a lot easier.