Veruca i'm mexican and i speak german, not as native speaker does, but enough to help
See, i lived in Germany for a year, and i did it for love (long story) etc, etc, the first 6 months i was really alone, because i barely had contact with some people, mostly older people, and my popular university mates, no one from an hispanic country, i experienced a lot of bitter situations, i even faced the police (thanks to someonelse who lied and put me in that situation, i was almost paying for this person's mistake), but all this awful things i went thru, at least helped me for 1 **** good thing: i learnt german in just 6 months!, i went from almost none, to pre-advanced level.
I don't mean you or everyone else should do the same, every person is different, we learn different, we all have our own time and we learn under different circumstances. In my personal case, during those 6 months if i wanted to survive, i had to communicate myself in german, my only choice was to speak, write, read and hear german, besides the 2nd purpose of my year there was the language. Somehow i managed it and did it unthinkable greater than expected, germans ended up asking me why on earth i don't have a foreign accent and why i speak better than german teens, hehe!. Later my situation changed, or at least it was less tragic, i met the mexican community in the city where i was living, and i finally speaked and heared spanish (my native language) after half year of just german, finally some familiar faces and words arrived. Of course, the horrible situations and things that made me learnt it so fast, are by no means advisable for you nor anyone else, i would have preferred to learn it the long way, but it's already in my past, the thing is i did it!
My best tips for you would be to have contact with german people in your country, some language-exchange club or group, make german friends if possible, go to those german grocery stores if available in ur city or any german-speaking place you can go, chat or skype in this language, etc., i mean try to "immerse" yourself totally into the language, as if you actually lived in a german-speaking country, no matter that you don't understang a thing at the beginning, it will get better that i can promise, this is basically how i did it, but in my case i was in Germany and was forced to because of my situation, you can do it freely and actually enjoy the process, no matter you're at home.
Listen to german radio stations online, here in Mexico i listen everyday to "Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg" and "WDR2 Rheinland", Wdr also have podcasts and streaming media available for free on its website, you can watch different shows, reports, interviews, etc. Also watch german movies, try those with german closed caption available, this will enormously improve your understanding and listening within a short time, compared to the traditional techniques and almost without using a dictionary, i barely did, i got the concepts and meanings alone and automatically in my head, as if it was spanish.
Read children's books, just remember how you learn your own native language, you never went to school to do that in the 1st place, you simply started talking when you were a toddler, saying basic words and sentences, using basic grammar, so that's exactly what children's books are about, see yourself as a german toddler acquiring your native language, it can make you feel silly to read about a happy bee, a sunny day, green hills, apple trees, etc but it helps quite a lot. There are also language magazines available online, you choose your level and you read texts according to your german knowledge.
Watch little children's movies/music videos/tv shows because they talk very basic stuff, without complicated rules or subjects. In this case i can recommend "Der Sendung mit dem Elefant" (you can learn for example: body parts, colors, days, months, city places, etc) and "KiKa Tanz Alarm" songs, believe me i'm 30 and i enjoy watching all this shows, and i also can tell you this because i'm teaching german to my 3 y.o. little nephew, he already speaks basic sentences, knows numbers, the days of the week, colors, and sings several children's songs, his fave one is Warum bin ich so fröhlich? with a sweet duck on it, people listen him singing it and they are amazed, he also learns and speaks some english cuz he attends a Montessori Children House, which has a bilingual education program.
If you have a smartphone i can recommend you some language apps, or others according to your interests. Me being a woman who completely lacks of outfits and make-up knowledge, to use them properly to attend social events, job interviews, family reunions, etc., i downloaded some german fashion magazines apps, such as Jolie and Mädchen, they're helpful plus! i practice my german reading skills. I'm sure i'm forgetting some other info and tips, but feel free to contact me at any time, PM, email, skype, whatever you might want to use.
And Rule #1 forget that german is difficult, or is this and that, forget all the negative stuff people say. It's just a new amazing language you're learning to speak, period!.
Regards!