[filiadragongurl]

I personally think Genki is silly, but I guess it's okay if you want to learn teenager Japanese... I just think it's a bad way to *start* learning as once you're grown up, if you want a job in Japan or doing anything professionally with Japanese, sounding like a teenager is *NOT* going to help. Plus, Genki seems more like... random situations that you probably aren't going to end up in often... I mean how many times can you give John a sweater for Valentine's Day! ^_^;

I started Japanese with a textbook called "Japanese The Spoken Language" by Mari Noda and Eleanor Jordan. This starts you out with formal Japanese and things you would need in situations that will often occur in regular life and in the work place.

Even if that particular book is not what you want to start with, I do suggest starting with more formal Japanese and something with a good grammer basis. Good luck^_^