If you want to learn very badly then I recomend you get the Genki book series. Only two books, but they can help if you don't have an actual college class. Just the first book which is around 30$ will teach you a LOT.
I want to learn bad too go to www.google.com or www.dogpile.com
and shearch for Inu-Yasha which means dog-demon,Then you can download the Japanese version
Knowing a few simple kanji can help to verify that you haven't left any syllables out.
For instance こん(今） いち（にち) (日） 今日は in kanji form means 'today,'
In hiragana it's 'How are you' -- by the way, while it's true that は is technically more correct, わ has a more casual feel to it and gets used quite a bit as well in informal conversation.
げんき？（元気） is OK, おげんき？ is better for talking with friends,
save the "desu" （おげんきですか？) for acquaintances and basically anyone you need to keep on polite terms with.
As per what I was told by my Japanese teacher when we were learning greetings, お元気？ is used by women. If a man were to say that, he would be thought to be gay. Of course, お元気ですか is no problem.
ホントウ？ My boyfriend mentioned recently how much he liked it but wasn't able to use at work, without the desu. Maybe there are regional differences. Thanks, though, Glenn. Definately something I'll have to follow up on....