What are some tips for someone just starting to learn Hebrew?
I recommend this book for all English speakers who are beginning to learn Hebrew: How the Hebrew Language Grew.
Learning grammar and vocabulary is typically about memorizing rules. Often there are tricks or shortcuts to make it easier, but for the most part it's about memorization. Horowitz demonstrates how Hebrew sounds and letters and words came to mean what they mean. Some of his explanations may be simplistic (and a few may not be correct at all) but the book makes things make sense in a really powerful way. I've never encountered any book like it.
I also recommend Rav Milon (this is the version for English speakers learning Hebrew, but I believe there may also be versions for Russian and French or Spanish). This is a lot of money to spend on a dictionary, but Rav Milon is not your ordinary dictionary. It's packed with useful advice that clarifies a lot of questions and prepares someone learning Hebrew for a host of different situations.