My suggestion for a fun way to start is do the daily tournaments that most casinos that have a poker room do. Generally for $60-$120 you can play for hours and I found the level of competition to be not all that good if you go to a place that caters to tourists rather than locals. When I use to play regularly often I'd finish in the money. Usually nothing big mind you, but for getting to play for 4-6 hours and walking out ahead +$300 or so it was always a good feeling. The biggest win I got was $2,2xx. I found that 3 volume Harrington Poker Tournament Series Strategy really helpful when I started.
The tighter style of play he coaches works really well against the touristy type players that always want to play loose/aggressive. It also works better against more experienced players as a beginner. I can remember many tournaments where I don't think I played a hand until after the first break.
When people in the U.S. could still play at Pokerstars I used to do a lot of low level tournaments there, and it was great training.
