Online or cheap software to learn German

[Mrs Pingu]

I was hoping to get a short summer German course in before we go away in September but the uni doesn't seem to do them anymore.

Can anyone recommend a good website or inexpensive software? - I don't need to be fluent, would just like to learn enough to be polite and preferably whatever I use will have wav files so I can hear the correct pronunciation....

[caz]

Have you tried the BBC website?  Or this one looks good, not that I've tried it.  I do French! 

Good luck!

[Mike r]

I'm learning german throught the language school I teach in. We have semi-private lessons twice a week and it is still difficult. Do you know anyone who can speak german, it is really helpful if you can have someone to talk to, especially for pronunciation. Oh and spend the time to learn how to pronounce the alphabet, it makes it much easier later on.

Good luck!

[kyuss]

Podcasts can be really good for this kind of thing and of course, they are free. I once subscribed to a French one that was at something like 120 episodes before I unsubscribed. Miles better than any of the cd or online tutorial things I've seen.

EDIT: A quick google comes up with this one which looks pretty good.

[andym]

One I had was Michel Thomas CD course.  CDs only, and nothing else.  Available on Amazon, or almost certainly available online c/o thepiratebay etc.
Gets you able to put more and more complex sentences together pretty quickly, but I think it's lacking a bit on the vocab side for the first CD pack.  But if you don't keep it up, everything you learn will fade away pretty quickly.
Spanish, French and Italian also available.

[gonzo]

As a complete OT moment, they've got a rather good Learning about the tour and bike stuff in French section here:
BBC - Languages - Ma France - Le Tour de France - Summary

[agagisgroovy]

Ja, der BBC ist gut!  
I've been studying German for 2 years at school, the BBC language courses are good, I learnt Gaelic that way. BBC stuff usually has sound.

[Valiant]

I love the AA Interactive DVDs. It gave me enough confidence to go to Italy first time and I got along fine, of course it's not perfect but it does a great job of getting you the grasp of it.

[Chris S]

BBC courses were good. Our kids lapped them up.

"Und Ich bin de Grossen Muzzy."

Sing along with me...

"Guten abend. Ich bin Norbert...."

Ahhh... memories.

[chalkieaus]

I have enjoyed learning German using the Deutch Direkt book and cd. I listen to the cd's in the car or on the train.
The series has probably been superceded - I am in Australia but not a criminal (well not proven anyway)