There is a cours for beginners without any knowledge starting at Deutsch im Quartier on 11th January (not more than 6 persons per course). More Information under www.diq.ch
read, write, speak and listen, every single chance you get. take helpful tips from those who offer them politely and ignore the pedants and linguistic experts. it can be frustrating but there is no magic bullet or shortcut to learning a language other than to wake up every day and hit the proverbial sled / put your nose to the grindstone / give it some elbow grease.
I went through a few teachers at my language school before I found the one that was right for me. I then took intensive classes with him for 5 months. It doesn't come fast, unfortunately.
And as the others have said, lots of TV and movies really worked (or is working) well for me.
I know how frustrating it can be. It just needs a lot of time. Best of Luck!
I find speaking the hardest due to the lack of opportunities to practice. You have to have/grow a very thick skin. Fortunately, the Swiss I've met have been very patient and forgiving when it comes to the grammatical errors.
Dont worry about not getting your cases right. I tend to mumble my der, die, das. Concentrate on getting the sentence structure correctly versus the cases.
I am currently on a break before B2 - keep putting it off but I try not to forget what I've learnt by picking a short article daily from either the NZZ or 20 Minuten to read and try to learn a new word to increase the vocabulary. Writing wise, I practice with short emails/text exchanges to German speaking friends just to keep on going. Personally, I find writing helps my speaking as I tend to remember new words, cases and sentence structures sink in better.
alternatively there are immersion courses where you can sign up for in Germany. Either a weekend or an entire week where you live with a host, where you communicate your learning objectives and go from there.
You'll breathe German - lessons in the morning, homework, meals and social interaction with the host, alles auf Deutsch
If you can spare an odd 30 min every day you can try audio lessons like Pimsleur. Just commit yourself to actually repeating the stuff they say and so on and I think you will improve. Not sure how it compares with other methods.
Audio lessons have the advantage of being mostly hands-free so you can do some other activities simultaneously. I would say it is a decent replacement for actual immersion, and Pimsleur in particular doesn't try to teach you grammar usually.
I went to Alpha Sprachschule and, although picky myself, was very pleased with their methods and programme. I know however that teachers there differ pretty much, so if you decide to go for it, make sure you land with Darja.
The german over skype that I have heard of is called "Learnship". You can try out a test lesson for free. I had planned to try this but haven't managed to yet, and in the meantime I've decided on private lessons in Inlingua as I am advanced level and want to do the Goethe Institut qualification, but I was definitely impressed with the price of the learnship which was around half the price of an inlingua lesson if I remember rightly. Worth a try if you have the time and inclination. I may even give it a go in the future depending on how it's going at Inlingua.
Weird idea, but my kids love the mickey/lucky luke etc graphic novels from Kiosk (or the Brocke). I often pick one up and read it aloud while asking them (or using translate) for words I don't know. The pictures really help with context. Since you have have had a year of German you should be able to pronounce everything ok.
It kind of gives you a two way conversation with one person
Someone on the For Sale board is selling their Pimsleur set. In a few months I will be selling mine, too. It has worked well, and it's especially good if you don't have much chance to get out and talk with native speakers.