I could write several pages about this topic, but to keep it short and simple, let's focus on just a few very important points:
(1) German tends to be super complicated from day one, and it takes quite a while to get through a lot of complex grammar before you feel comfortable making sentences and speaking freely. Don't give up! The initial effort is well worth it. It gets easier later.
(2) The most essential thing is to learn nouns with their grammatical gender and plural and to accept this as is. Don't question grammatical gender or try to find a reason why; just embrace it as a lovable oddity. In order to memorize grammatical gender use colors, tastes, or scents (e.g. DER words are blue, DIE words are red, and DAS words are yellow, or DER words taste of coffee, DIE words taste fruit, and DAS words taste of vegetables, etc.). If you do not learn nouns with their correct grammatical gender right from the start, you will never achieve grammatical accuracy, because a lot of grammar revolves around grammatical gender, and if you don't study that from the very beginning, you'll never get it right.
(3) German conjugates verbs, i.e. you have to learn which form goes with which pronoun before you can even make the simplest sentence. German is not as easy as English in terms of saying "I go, you go, we go", but has different verb forms such as "ich gehe, du gehst, wir gehen",
Therefore, a lot of memorizing and drilling is indispensable at the beginning, but the hard initial work is well worth it. And finally, just a word of advice: spend some time on pronunciation! There is nothing worse for a native speaker (of any language) to hear the sound of their language butchered. There are a lot of sounds in German that native English speakers have never been exposed to. Far too often, learners think they can get away with approximating a similar sound, but this is torture to German ears. So if you really want to learn the language, listen to native speakers and practice German pronunciation as often as you can.
Good luck - viel Erfolg!
