My friend is sort of in the same boat and I think Kiteless gave good advice. If you're worried about struggling with primals and what not, give the Trial Roulette a whirl and make sure you're MT. That will give you a good warm up.

Another note: whenever my nub tank friend is tanking, I make sure to troll him with knock backs and other skills that make tanking harder so hes more prepared for the real world. . . find yourself a troll dps to run with!