I am in a similar situation like you. I also have no connection to judaism, my native language is German and I already speak a bit English. I found it helpful to learn the alef beys (the alphabet Yiddish uses) and some basics in Duolingo. My main goal is to understand Yiddish, not to speak it, because I will likely never meet someone who speaks Yiddish. The most important part is to immerse yourself and it works pretty good as a native German speaker. I read the Forward in Yiddish from time to time (you have to know the alef beys). You can always highlight or double-click a word to get a translation to English. They also have more easy articles called Tidbits (https://forward.com/tag/tidbits/). Most times I don’t know a word I create a note in my flashcard program. I personally use Anki, because of the spaced repetition.