Firs of all let me say, when you will see the full capabilities of maya you will probobly forget max, maya can model just as well (even better i think), it can also do game models, popular concept is that it can't, but it sure can.
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1. Can a new maya user go straight to animation (after getting to know the interface)
Yes, but you can try doing more stuff, you'll see it's kinda cool.
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2. Do i need to learn how to model, texture.... before going to animation?
Technically, you can animate without having modeling and texturing knowledge. BUT...practically its very important to have that knowledgeable (especially modeling). There are many reasons for that, one of them is that you simply can work smoother in a team, because you are aware what is happening, know how long stuff takes, and know what to ask from the modelers etcc... A simple example: Animating without knowing modeling, is like driving a car without knowing anything about cars, if you have a roadside breakdown you look stupid and can't do nothing about it. But you can still drive it;).