Building up the vocabulary of the language you're trying to learn is probably the most time consuming part of the entire process. You can get orthography, spelling, pronunciation and grammar right after a few weeks of practice, but your vocabulary will take months, if not years to fully expand to a point where you can say that you talk fluently in that particular foreign language.
So seeing how this is a large, daunting task, where should you start? A lot of specialists assumed that each language uses a base vocabulary of very few words that can get you going through a conversation (a basic one of course). Your first step is learning the base 100 words, the core of any conversation, regardless of the language. These include greetings, goodbyes, emotions, common verbs (to have, to make, to be, to love, etc) and common nouns (people, place, time, etc). You can either learn these by hard as a start-up measure, or try to learn them naturally, by listening to basic conversations or reading translations. You can try an audio tape that covers them, or a free language lesson online, whichever suits you best.
Once you get these 100 core words right, try using them in short, basic structures. Then move on to the next step: the auxiliary base words, that form around 70% of a normal conversation. Most languages use around 1,000 auxiliary words, besides the 100 core ones, to express normal chit chat. These include mostly nouns (fruits, vegetables, animals, tools, etc), adjectives (colors, qualities) and more common verbs. The good thing is that if you already mastered the base 100 words of that language, you can now use the auxiliary ones in structures and sentences.
After you're familiar with these 1,000ish words, you can actually start learning whatever you like. These 1,000 words can get you a long long way when it comes to learning specific parts of the language. But one has to ask, how exactly are you going to learn all those words and memorize them to a point where you won't need a translation list for them.
Well for starters, you could try the Roman Room method. This technique is as effective as it is ancient and it involves picturing a room you're very familiar with (your own room, your classroom, living room and so forth) and associate images to the words you're learning, to objects in the room. For example, if you're learning how to say "ball" in Dutch, repeat the Dutch word and picture a ball on your living room's sofa. This way, by attributing an image to a word, the brain will have an easier time remembering the word since our brain is more used to storing images rather than simply strings of characters.
Flashcards are also a great method of improving vocabulary and if you can make them yourself, instead of buying them, they're even more efficient. Just cut up some 3x5 cardboard rectangles, write the word you're trying to learn on one side and the English word on the other (or, instead of English, write the word in your native language). Then along the learning process, as you obtain information about genders, plurals, tenses and cases, write them up on the "foreign" side. I know it's a more time consuming method of memorizing words, but it's also been proven as one of the best out there.
Lastly, you can use the phonebook method. Simply write down all those base words you're trying to learn on a sheet of paper and in a parallel column, write down their translation in English or your mother tongue. Read each foreign word down the column, repeat it (loudly, not just in your mind - it helps if you see how your brain handles pronunciation in relation to the written word) and move on to the next. Try learning in small chunks, of 20 words at a time. If you try learning 100 words at once, by the time you reach the middle point in the list, you will have already forgotten the first ones because your brain is not used to acquiring so much information in a single slurp.
Building up your vocabulary is arguably the most important part of a language learning process. If you don't have a base vocabulary to work with, you can't study grammar, you have absolutely no use for spelling or pronunciation exercises and writing or reading is definitely out of the question. That's why it's crucial to have a good vocabulary work-up at the beginning of your studies but also to keep building it up as you go. Here are a few ways to do this.
1. Translated texts
This is a great method to use in the beginning of your studies, when you can't handle reading (and understanding) a text solely in the foreign language you're emphasizing on. Translated texts act as a natural dictionary as they will involuntarily form connections as you read the two versions of the same text. The downside however is that if the texts are too ambiguous or too complicated, you risk misunderstanding entire phrases or mistakenly attributing meanings to certain words. That's why it's extremely important that the translated text you're working with is well written and doesn't have any slang, confusing words, words with different meanings and so forth. You should also look for the most basic translated texts at first. Don't worry if you find it silly to translate "It's hot during the summer", it's a starting point and you won't be better off skipping it.
2. Vocabulary games
Vocabulary games are a great way to enhance your word base, but they should usually be used only as an additional method for this purpose. The fact with vocabulary games is that they cannot teach you the same amount of new words as say translated texts or other methods that deal with improving your vocabulary, but they can be a fun alternative to take during those study breaks. Also, remember that everything we learn while relaxing and having fun is assimilated a lot easier and for a longer period of time.
3. Foreign language media
Media is obviously a strong source of vocabulary gain and the fun fact about it is that you won't be shedding a sweat learning the new words, as they will come naturally. Every bit of radio, TV, stationary ad, computer game or any other type of media you can watch or hear in the foreign language you're studying should be treated as an opportunity to improve vocabulary. Obviously, some languages will be harder to learn through this method, whereas others will be extremely easy (English/Spanish anyone?). If you find a good learning source, you could use foreign language media as a main method of vocabulary increase, but if these sources are scarce, you shouldn't rely solely on it.
Once you have a relatively good grasp on that language's vocabulary and you formed a solid word database with which you can work with, feel free to move on to more complex elements of the language, such as spelling, pronunciation, writing, grammar and so forth. As to where you can find translated texts, vocabulary games and even language-specific media, know that there are several language learning sites out there that provide such content for both novice and advanced students.
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