I mean you have a point but I still think a language with very different grammar but similar vocabulary is going to be miles easier than one with similar grammar but a small shared vocabulary.

And in my experience learning Spanish through basically just listening to it (a bit oversimplified, but I never have studied grammar nor have been explicitly taught vocab nor had translation) I picked up on the meaning through words way before I had any confidence in grammar. Of course I was getting a feel for the grammar the whole way little by little though.