in which I give unsolicited advice that you are free to ignore

Quick disclaimer: I don't have very much experience with learning Chinese as a second language, seeing as I picked the basics up when I went to kindergarten, as it is infinitely easier for a child that age to learn languages. However, here are my two cents on learning Chinese, which you should feel free to ignore, since I'm not a linguist, a Chinese expert, or anything of the kind, and the following information is merely based on my own experiences and observations. 

• If you want to learn Chinese in order to function in that language, i.e. be able to hold conversations of medium complexity, order food at a restaurant, read signs, maps and general announcements in Chinese etc., then I would suggest to begin with studying Chinese primary school curriculum (available here, but only if you read enough Chinese to navigate the website) with a Chinese speaker. Not only will studying a first-grade book humble you in the face of the great Chinese language, it will also give a certain unique appreciation for the Chinese culture. I don't know whether Xinhua Bookstore ships internationally or not, but if anyone comes across this and would like assistance in ordering books or would like me to forward them internationally, you can contact me at soggyspaghetti at gmail dot com. Just throwing that out there. 
• If you simply would like to become familiar with the language, i.e. have an intellectual understanding of the various linguistic elements of Chinese, I suggest you look for resources online or at a library. 
• If you are more interested in the Chinese culture, THIS PAGE is fantastically accurate in its representations. This also looks useful, but I can't say I've taken that long of a look at it. I'll probably also post some entries on Chinese culture (maybe in the not-so-near future), so you may want to look out for those.