to add to the following posts... minna no nihongo I and II (get the Japanese version, translated version, and CDs) and www.guidetojapanese.com www.japanesepod101.com one more, this one is awesome! www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/ Good luck and keep your ears open and a good attitude!!

"New Intensive Japanese" by Kenji Ogawa. Really old-fashioned, but simple. Also, the beginning part is written in romaji. It started me on the path to learning Japanese!

This is the textbook we use in class, being as it's a college textbook it might be a bit expensive though. ^^ Yookoso!: An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese It has a matching workbook for exercises which should come with a CD for listening exercises. (I'm not sure about the CD, I've always had to go online to do the listening activities, but I think that has to do with my University rather than the book).