Well, I'm taking a German class next year, but I really want to get some of the basic concepts down, and hopefully a lot of vocabulary, so I'm going to try and independently learn as much of it as I can this summer (what a geek I am lol). I wanted to know, for those of you who either already learned German or used some kind of German book, CD, etc. to learn it, could you give me advice on the language (pointers, things to look out for, nothing specific, really)? Also, for those of you who used a really good system to teach yourself German independently, could you give me advice on which products to buy for it? Thanks! :D

P.S. Not to be rude, but this forum isn't about how much you hate the German language or how boring it is, I just want advice and not your opinon on the language unless it's somehow relevant to the topic =P