The preface is easily the easiest part to read, imo (aside from some individual smaller sections later). If you Google a few words you can probably get through it.

Edit: I think I understood most of the preface at some point, but now I only remember when he compares the history of intellectual development to the growth of a plant, which I found to be very helpful for appreciating the concept of historical progressiveness.

For Marxism, you also might be better off with just looking at the application by Marxist authors, particularly Marx, Engels, and Mao.

However, I think being interested in any philosophical writer is legitimate and shouldn't be discouraged, so I'll point out that there is a philosophy PhD on YouTube who made a 379 part series discussing all of the Phenomenology of Spirit in order, called "Half Hour Hegel." No, I'm not saying that you need to watch all 190+ hours, just that it could be worth checking out the first episode or two to see if that's helpful.

Also Jesus Christ that dude is such a poster. The sheer volume of videos is wild for what he does.