It's easier to do with video games or movies. I've met so many people who spoke English as a second language and they've sworn that watching movies in English (with subtitles in their own language to make the connections) was the best way to learn. It also helps because you become accustomed to the verbal rhythms of the language as well as colloquial speech (which is more realistic to what you would encounter).
I want to be able to improve reading and writing comprehension. Basically, if I didn't know English, I would want to be able to read and type English without sounding like a foreigner. For that, I would need to learn the vocabulary, and lots of it. In a lot of languages, what we say and what we write tends to be markedly different. So I am willing to start with how one read and types and gradually move towards speech as my reading and writing vocabulary increases. Possibly buy then, I can read and type the language online with people who know the language. From what I remember, there are a few members of TypoC where English isn't their primary language?
Although I do watch films in said language, having translations at the bottom of the film is distracting for me.
I tend to focus more on the translated words than the actual speech.
Yes, I've done it. More than once. As you suggested, it's best to have at least some kind of minimal familiarity with the language to start with. Then you can read the book with a dictionary at your side; I also like to xerox some charts of basic verb conjugations from a grammar book (and declensional conjugations, if that's appropriate) and have them with me as well in order to help with oblique forms.
But to be honest, that's a pretty slow and labor-intensive way to read a book or learn a language. (ETA: Also, if the book has a lot of colloquial speech or slang or jargon, that's all going to make the book a lot harder to read and understand.)
Across the years, I've found dual-language books much more accessible: The ones with a foreign language on one page and the English translation on the opposing page. Then you can read along and learn the words without having to look up each and every one in a separate dictionary. You read and learn much more quickly; and the one book is much more portable for purposes of reading while on the subway or whatever.
Go ahead and do it your way to start with; but when you get tired of screwing around with dictionaries and verb charts, try a dual-language book. And if you can't find a dual-language book for your language (if it's one of the more exotic languages), then special-order a Harry Potter book in that language and read it side-by-side with the same Harry Potter book in English. (Harry Potter books have been translated into nearly every language in the world.)
I just feel that is is easier to retain information when I am immersed with just the language, and that, if there is something I don't understand, I look through a dictionary to find out.
I plan to translate a page or a few and post it on language learning forums of some sort and have people check to see if I made any sense. My hope is that I get better and faster at reading and somewhere along the way of reading the novel, the frequency of using a dictionary or someone else translation diminishes as time goes on (because I'm looking at similar words or phrases being used.) Presumably, after a few books, the need for translation would become rare. I'd assume it will take me about a year or so to just get through two books.
I do know that it is a slow and arduous task, however, but I think it would be rewarding when a translation is no longer needed.
