trying to get into the game

Been playing liiightly on and off since i got EE last year, played most of french campaign, but i never really went anywhere from there. The campaign is fun but it doesnt do much to really ingrain proper mechanics into the player, and playing bot matches has been an exercise in futility.

When I watch a strategy guide, they are all over really time specific build orders for the early game that require rote memorization and mechanical execution of a list of about 50 interwoven steps, to get a fast catle or whatever, and thats all cool but it hasnt helped too too much in learning to play. Even following the guides to the best of my ability, the AI seems to spit out units by the time I finish my "opening moves" and i just get overwhelmed. Should I just keep playing campaign, or is there something that somebody of my level could gleam from it at a casual level?