Obligatory introductory post

[ex-la-pistol326.livejournal.com]

¡Hola amigos!

No, wait, don't be frightened off... I am first & foremost a speaker of English :)

I am half-Russian by blood and have recently began to take up a pretty active interest in my heritage. Somewhere along the way, I decided that I would really like to learn the Russian language at some point.

Anyways, I was wondering if you kind folks had any suggestions for very beginner-type students... books, online resources, whatnot. I am a college kid, but my school rarely offers a "beginning Russian" course, so I'm in a rut there...

I'd really appreciate any help you could offer. Thanks very much :)