We all have our ways of learning.
I speak English, French, Spanish, German, a little Italian and I studied Russian in college and can still understand it a bit, but have little interest now in Russian.
I take on a new language in the following way:
1. I get a phrase program for travelers (think Berlitz or something) and memorize all the phrases and the pronunciation. This can take a while, but gives immediate useful phrases as well as a sense of the language and how it flows.
2. I then move on to a basic textbook or summary textbook (like Schaum). I study that. Grammar (although studies show that isn't really important in language acquisition), more vocabulary, verbs, etc.
3. Next I move on to an intermediate vocabulary book.
4. Next I move on to reading online articles from Google News (sports, politics, culture, celebs, health,etc) with Google Translate, learning more vocabulary. Google Translate can read the article to you, which is nice. And I build and build vocabulary.
5. If you want to watch something on TV to learn the language, I suggest the news or children's shows. They are much easier to understand what people are saying due to context. Also, you can use subtitles in English if available, but I often find subtitles in the spoken language more useful, since I can read better than hear when it comes to a new language.
Everyone is different. This works for me. It is my past time. It may not be the best answer for others.
Also, mea culpa for Spanish. I grew up in a Mexican neighborhood. My French has always been better than my Spanish, though I speak Spanish way more than French here in California. I have been doing much more of steps 4 and 5 in Spanish the past couple of years, because I wanted to speak a cleaner, more sophisticated Spanish, particularly at work. It also helps that I can listen to Spanish language radio here in California. Love me some Enrique, Maluma, Yuridia and Sin Bandera.