1st of all everyone on this site is amazing. thank you for all your input thus far. 2 months ago i picked up fodor's cd on learning german. it's great for phrases to get basic information to and from people. does anybody have a recomendation on a good book for actually learning the language. there seems to be so many to choose from. i would take a college course in it but i would have to drive almost an hour and a half for the nearest class (north central ohio. right by the lake kinda north). once again thanks everyone for your advice and photos.

Try to find a "Basic Spoken German" class, either at a nearby junior college or even high school. This is less rigourous than a traditional language course but would give you the opportunity to learn the most important info for travel or work. Usually meets only once weekly.

You could go to a local college bookstore and pick up the text and tapes (OK, probably CDs these days) for a beginner class even if you don't have the opportunity to actually go to the class. Or do a search for some online tutorials.

I've been using this site for French -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

Not sure if it fits your needs but it has been pretty good for me.

I don't know where you live, but check if there is a Goethe Institute nearby. That's the German government supported organisation to teach German to foreigners here in the US and other countries.

Check them out on their website.

Here's another website that you might find helpful:
http://www.learner.org/resources/series104.html

once again thanks everyone. you guys/gals are great.