Hello,
langenscheidt has Basic Vocabulary books that have 2000 common basic vacabulary and another 2000 or something grouped by subject. They are written for german speakers trying to learn a foreign language but the principle is very effective. Very good starting points for me were also Easy Readers books. They have categories A to I think D that have a fixed number of vocabulary. e.G. 400 word only childrens tale. 800 word vocabulary tale. to 4000 words vocabulary who-done-it. I started using them when I was 7 years old to learn english, used them as a teen for french and in my twenties for spanish and russian. The next extreemly efficient thing is intrest and laughter. As a teen I read the lord of the rings which which made my vocabulary a bit oldfashioned. What really got me started to speak english though was the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. It is not the title itself but the laughter. Choose something in a foreign language that makes you laugh. You will feel as though you know every single sentence by heart. When you speak you just exchange a few nouns and verbs and you speak fluently. All of these involve reading and if it involves reading photoreading will speed it up and enhance understanding. So by all means DO photoread the dictionary. The effect is immense though different from what you probably expect (it will hit you a few months later). All of the above won't help with the accent though :-)
Have fun
