What are the best tools for a small time Canadian like me to learn, and hoepfully master, the german language, or at least a similar language basis to go to other languages.

I want to do it cause half of family tree is english, and the other german.

Software?
Books?
Tapes?

volutneers?

I am german. But i don't know how to teach :-S

If you google "learning German" you'll get lots of results. But I'm sure you've done that. Audio-visual courses are usually good i.e. a tape with the book that comes with it. But the best way to learn a language is to speak it with the natives. Maybe the nearest German consul can give you some help. Lots of trips to Germany wouldn't be bad either

our school (For some reason) stopped offereing the German languange course, but we occasionally have a russian languange course.

Listen to millions of rammstein songs...
Then again that may only teach you offensive things like it did to me.

I don't know if the software Tell Me More German Premium is any good.

When my kids were little I taught them French from records. They learned to speak the sentences first, and then learned what they meant in English. It's easier to remember than the other way around. If you can get something you can listen to often, in the car, around the house, and start speaking the words and phrases whenever you can, it's easy then to step into writing and spelling.

So how come you speak French, Janie?

We lived 10 minutes from Canada, and I thought it was a good idea at the time!! I havn't used it for 15 years now, so it's really rusty.

Never take German classes while stoned. And especially dont take a German test after a wake and bake.