It doesn't matter how poor ur English was. I had pretty poor English just two years ago.
My experience is u'd better to know how to pronounce each vowel and consonant in the beginning. It is able to help u easily remember the vocabularies. Do not just follow the International Phonetic Alphabet, actually it is harmful for learning English.
Then u have to understand the meanings on the deeper level of English. Do not just remember the sentences on ur textbook. U have to know how to make sentences by yourself. Just change them to ur own things.
And, if there are any mistakes in this paragraph, please let me know. Thanks, I'm still leaning it.