When I first came to Germany, I took a 2 week intensive course at Berlitz. It was brutally exhausting, but very helpful. It was also a huge luxury that few can afford. Other options do exist, but this is a great fast-track means of building a basis in the language.
Fortunately for me, my wife is German and we started speaking German together shortly after coming to Germany. Then when I started working here I insisted on speaking German, although everyone spoke much better English than I spoke German. The first 3 months were hard. Every evening I would fall asleep early and my tongue felt like it was swollen. This kind of immersion got me up to speed quickly.
Then I started taking classes at the Volkshochschule in Hamburg (www.vhs-hamburg.de). The "Deutsch als Fremdsprache (DaF)" courses were very helpful. The courses are affordable and you really feel like you are making progress there. The teachers all take their jobs very seriously and really do a wonderful job. I believe that most larger cities in Germany have these schools.
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I've lived here for 17 years now and took all my courses at the Volkshochschule in the early 90's, ending with Das Kleine Deutsche Sprachdiplom. The courses were pretty good and waaaaaay cheaper than Berlitz. My German husband and I also started speaking German together as soon as I arrived in Germany and that helped ALOT. I can highly recommend it.
I haven't read through all your posts, but are you familiar with the German Way site? Tons of information on life in Germany there.
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