For starters in any language, I have two words:
Michel Thomas.

Usually, he has an 8-CD set for beginning to learn a language (e.g. German, French, Spanish Italian). Available in Borders bookstores and on the web.

You will learn more from him in 8 hours than most other courses in triple the amount of time.

This is where you should start.

Hi Sally, I must confess that I do this at work (gasp!) and we've the requisite connection and the software. On my computer a "Windows Media" player pops up, so you may need to install this if you don't have it. It must be just Microsoft software.

I thought about purchasing the series and I'm glad that you can just get this online. They sell cassettes and videos and DVDs. Being able to listen without being able to watch the video is still useful though, I think. And I'm sure that you know that there's an accompanying text with the series.

Anyway, "French in Action" is definitely great, for those who don't know this series. Example: I learned the use of "Il vous va comme un gant." (It goes to (i.e. fits) you like a glove.) This must be completely idiomatic French and the series really tries to fit these phrases into interesting situations.

I've another problem, though, with the Radio France International and the BBC links. The Real Audio player here appears to be outdated so I can't play the .ram files.

>>I learned the use of "Il vous va comme un gant." (It goes to (i.e. fits) you like a glove.) This must be completely idiomatic French <<<

true, but did they teach you its complement ?

"Il vous va comme un gant à un poisson dans l'eau." (It goes to (i.e. fits) you like a glove on a fish into water.)

Nope, Florence. Perhaps in the next series? I wonder if Capretz (the one responsible for the series) is still around.

Another interesting idiom from the series: "Minute, papillon" (i.e., wait a minute, butterfly -- i.e., not so fast or don't get too excited). Many other interesting examples. The series definitely gives a sense of the wit and the beauty of French.

How about getting a French girlfriend? It would be very 'French' of you

As tutor, you might also find a foreign student, native speaker of the language (preferably someone who studied languages/grammar, so as he would have a clue about rules we use everyday without ever thinking about them and how they are applied). Besides, these people are often in dire need of some money.

That's what I'm doing now with spanish.

By the way, I never heard the second part of the "il vous va comme gant". that's a novelty to me. I suspect it isn't very commonly used...

More exactly, I heard both "il vous va comme un gant" and "etre comme un poisson dans l'eau" which both have a positive meaning, but never saw them being stringed together, which indeed result in a wholly different meaning.

Irrelevant but humorous:
My college used the French in Action series as a part of our French classes. The big rumour was that the actress who plays Mireille (the star) was a french porno star!

Learning French:
I've been brushing up by using the movie method; picking a couple of movies that I love to watch over and over with different combinations of language and subtitles. I find that French language with French subtitles works really well.

I use Amelie and my favorite movies about France, My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle, based on Marcel Pagnol's memoirs about his schoolteacher father and his beautiful mother at the turn of the century. The scenes at their country cottage in Provence are stunningly gorgeous, and both films are just so sweet and gently humorous. Any Francophile should give them a viewing.

Re Mireille as a porno actress -- I got curious and did some random Google searches. Here's a link that may interest you:

http://www.fancyrobot.com/2003/03/french_in_actio.html

Amazingly the series does indeed have an entry on imdb.com -- for those who don't know this resource on movies, you'll love this:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092356/

When we went to Italy I found the book,
Italian In Ten Minutes A Day very helpful. It comes with flash cards and little stickers that you put on your plates, knives, napkins etc.

These books come in different langauges including French. Coupled with a language tape and at least an hour or two a day you could be set to go.
Good luck.

Thank you so much for the advices, everyone. The response has been more bountiful than I expected.

As some of you deduced, I have some basic French skills, in the form of 2 classes in college over 10 years ago. The hope is that once I get started again, that old knowledge comes right back. We'll see!

Tutoring is most likely the best way to learn, but chances are the prices will be a bit high in this city. I'll look anyway.

As of now, though, I'm really leaning towards some language CDs (my wife's and my car do not have tape players). The Pimsleur series is beyond my budget, but the Language Dynamics "French behind the Wheel" 8-CD course may just be the ticket. The reviews at Amazon were very positive and Men's Health really liked it. Anyone here used them? I don't expect this series to make my wife and I proficient in conversations, but any improvement at this point would be welcomed by us and the Parisians we'll talk to, I'm sure.

I'll look into the "French in Action" series, too.

If you have any more thoughts on this, please keep them coming.

Thanks!

Bonjour Clairobscur,

I deduct from your ignorance of the (mis)use of French metaphors that you haven't seen many films with dialogues by Michel Audiard ;-)

I studied French for 10 years and get along in it just fine, but French and English are the only languages in which I can really function.

I am using the Primsleur Russian 1 series now. I bought the 8 CD set from Amazon. There was a sticky on the box if you wanted the 16 CD set. You call Simon & Schuster and pay $135 or so. It was worth that. So, buying the set of 8 and then the full 16 CD's I paid about $170 altogether. Shop around.

I had a year of Russian in high school in the Late Middle Ages and do not remember much. Of course, having a little background helps but I had no idea I'd rip through the first set of 8 CD's in a flash.

I am going to Russia in June and did not want to buy more CD's than I would finish. That is why I ended up with 8 CD's and then buying the full Russian 1. If I had it to do over again, I would just buy the full Russian 1.

I play the CD's religiously every time I am in the car--whether it is 5 minutes or 45 minutes and am now on less 18 after about 4-5 weeks. While a lot of old knowledge has come back, I have learned more vocabulary as well. I am also using an old Russian 1 textbook and a dictionary. The one weakness with Primsleur is not having the dialogues written out. That would really help.

By the time I go to Russia, I am certainly not going to be able to discuss Puskin but I will know the numbers (important for bargaining) and to ask simple questions such as "Where are the toilets?" (also very important).

I would not advise buying Primsleur unless you really commit to using the CD's. There is no fast way to learning a foreign language. It takes a lot of time--and repetition.

By the way, I play each CD lesson 3-4 times before moving on. You do not get it all on the first playing.

By the way, if anyone wants either the 8 CD or 16 CD Primsleur series when I am done, email me. The price would be half of what I paid.

I studied French MANY years ago in high school and 1 year in college. Of course, it was all grammar then. About 3 years ago, I decided to brush up and learn how to speak some French. I first bought a Berlitz "Basic French Conversation Course", (tapes) and it was great, and not very expensive.
Then I took some classes at Alliance Francaise - the regular classes stress grammar. At this point I could read pretty well in French, but had much trouble structuring a conversation.

VOILA! I bought the whole series of PIMSLEUR (expensive, but well worth it),
and by RELIGIOUSLY working with these tapes (every morning) with my coffee, I can actually get along very well in France. Those tapes just seemed to bring it all together for me, and are so easy to do. I also bought the Berlitz Advanced French set, which is a combination of tapes and book with workbook. It is very good, but takes alot more effort (and discipline) than the Pimsleur tapes, because you have to study more.
I've only gotten through about half of that program. And yes, I also watched most of the "French In Action" series, which I got at the Library.

Anyway, it takes a combination of methods, but I love it, and am going to continue to work with it. My next trip to France (in May), I'm staying at a couple of B&B's where they don't speak English, and am looking forward to that!

Austai:

I want to second the Riffic's suggestion: MICHEL THOMAS French, 8 CD's. I had some grounding in Spanish and Latin, but none in French. I used the Michel Thomas CD's for 3 months before our trip. (I played the same tape at least twice before moving on to the next.) I supplemented with other CD's from the library. I also knew we would be driving thru the countryside, so I used a study guide to learn phrases about buying gas, driving and traveling in general.

Keep in mind, I knew I didn't have time for verb conjugation and writing skills. I simply wanted to be able to communicate. And I was very pleased with the results. Whether in Paris or a small village, I was able to carry on basic conversations in French, enough to discuss where we'd been and what we saw. (I always apologized for my poor French, though!)

The Michel Thomas series begins with basic phrases: I am..., he is..., she goes..., I would like..., etc. All in conversational form. Then he builds on those basics until you're amazed at how much you've learned. My sister majored in French and was totally blown away with my French by the time I left for Paris. I highly recommend the Thomas course. I immersed myself in it...to good results.

First lesson (basic French):
If you repeat a lot of times "Oulala" and "Ah bon!", everybody will assume you are fluent in French, even if you don't understand a word.
Second lesson (advanced French):
When asked a question, learn to blow air between your lips, looking for nowhere and just afterwards say OK (not really Okay, but something like O'Ke, "e" closed like "e" in French or fence).

sorry for the re-reply, but I remembered that the blond girl in MadTV used to repeat all the time the French OK.