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Beginning from literally zero doesn't mean starting the journey by opening a textbook of grammar on page one, it means being exposed to the language…
Beginning from literally zero doesn't mean starting the journey by opening a textbook of grammar on page one, it means being exposed to the language in such a form that it becomes understandable, and only after building from there. It would be rather difficult to learn the rules of grammar before having a minimum of vocabulary to apply them, because rules tend to stick much better when the pattern has been already noticed in actual sentences. The first real aim is not perfection in speaking, but just having a small working vocabulary and a bit of knowledge of how the language sounds.
It turns out that the smallest set of the most frequent words in English covers a surprisingly big amount of everyday spoken and written language, which makes the former method of learning far more effective than just studying a random vocabulary. Basic verbs, pronouns, connecting words and other similar words pop up all the time and across any topic, while a rare and specific word may show up once in months of normal conversations. Prioritizing frequency over completeness in the first weeks means giving real work to every single word that you learn.
Hearing understandable audio content, matching your current level rather than native-speed conversations, trains your ear to recognize sounds and rhythms long before you start producing them. Listening in this way gives you an intuitive feeling of the language flow which cannot be achieved solely with explanations of grammar, because you learn the real patterns of language rather than just memorizing the rules. It is more important to choose some material that you can understand with efforts rather than some material that is not understandable at all.
The few core patterns, basic sentence structure, present tense, questions, cover almost all of what you need to communicate in your first months, long before the advanced tenses and exceptions become important. Studying all grammar rules before you actually try to use them to speak is one of the most common reasons why beginners never begin to speak because of unnecessary fear of mistakes and incorrectness. It is easier to learn the grammar rules in real sentences rather than as an isolated subject.
Waiting until you feel "ready" to speak usually means waiting forever, because this feeling never comes before you actually speak and make mistakes for a while. Mistakes while speaking are a natural part of the process, not a sign that you are doing something wrong, and most people will be interested in what you say, not in whether you make mistakes in grammar. Even the shortest and simplest sentences which you can make at the very beginning give you the biggest help in speaking than any silent studying.
Jumping into the books, news, movies in English on the native speed level before you are ready to do it leads to frustration rather than learning, because constantly stopping to translate all words breaks any continuity and destroys the joy. Simplified or graded literature written specifically for learners of your current level allows you to really understand the story or the idea and see new words in real contexts. Moving to slightly more difficult material when the easier level has become comfortable, not jumping ahead due to your impatience, helps you to learn faster.
A short and regular practice each day leads to real progress much more effectively than the occasional sessions of several hours, because learning languages requires constant exposure to them rather than hours spent on studying. Even 15 or 20 minutes of listening to something, remembering new words, having a short conversation each day is much more productive in months than sporadic sessions that are hard to find the time for and easy to ignore. Making this practice a part of your everyday routine, connected with something that you do regularly, is a good way to protect this habit.
The free apps for remembering vocabulary through spaced repetitions, free podcasts and videos aimed at language learners and free communities for language exchange can really take you from zero to a conversational level without spending money. Paid materials, courses or tutoring mainly give the additional motivation and personal feedback, which means that they are worth the money only for those who know that they need the external structure to practice consistently. Any route is fine as long as you regularly practice.
The first period of learning any language from zero often seems extremely slow, because you need to remember vocabulary and patterns from zero before something starts coming together. The speed of learning increases noticeably after you have a working vocabulary and an understanding of the sentence structure, because new material becomes connected to the things that you already know and not learned from scratch. Realizing this helps to continue learning during this early period.