Thanks for the info, quark. I didn't realize there was an independent-pace option for the OSU courses, though I'm not sure we'd choose that.
I had been thinking that a simple intro was a good idea, but all the negative feedback on powerspeak gives me pause. I think the OSU course is probably what we want.
Kai, regarding college level courses, I took introductory German courses at Yale just a couple years ago. To me, the oldest person in the room :), the material seemed noticeably directed to the interests of a twenty-something. (This was much better than the adult ed course I tried beforehand, which was WAY, WAY, WAY too slow and directed at people on vacation.) The class at Yale was a great course and a great experience for me, but I'm not sure college-level is the right thing for DS11 yet. Especially since I think of college courses as at least 2x the work of high school courses, and high school as roughly 2x middle school, and I don't want DS to be doing so much work that he decides to stop taking the class. But - good to know of the option & I hope someone tries it out & reports back too!