My name is Charles. I am French (born that way), and speak fluent English and Spanish. I am currently learning Japanese. I am not going to teach you French, but I will teach you how to learn it. There are six simple rules to follow to learn French as fast as you are capable, which of course varies from one person to the next. “Whatever you dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” - Goethe

Practice 20 minutes a day instead of 2 hours a week on weekends. This works extremely well for several reasons.

- You assimilate what you've learned during a given day in your sleep. If you learn a little bit each day, you assimilate 7 times per week. Since there is little to assimilate, most of what you learn is effectively stored in your long term memory. If you learn a large chunk just once or twice a week, most of it is lost.
- By practicing a little each day, it becomes a habit (it takes up to three weeks for a habit to effectively form). If you practice just once a week, that habit never forms, and chances are you will practice once, and then forget. The best quality language course will not do any good in that case.
- Even if you feel like you aren't learning fast enough at first, you are!

This citation by one of France's most renowned authors essentially means the following: Don't try to go too fast, or too hard, and you will go faster.

Literally: Patience and lengths of time do more than strength, or rage.

It loses a lot in translation (citations always do) but it fits the subject at hand very well.

Language is not an academic subject, linguistics are. It is a practical matter, just as walking is. You didn't learn to walk with books, you learned by walking. You will need to learn some grammar, but it is secondary to speaking (which is enough to catch the vocabulary you need most).

If you try to build structure first, without any "matter" (some experience and vocabulary), it will fall apart and you will get discouraged. Start with some of that matter, then structure it to build a ground floor. Then get more matter, and structure that into a second floor. It is a lot more fun, and a lot more effective than using a book, which will never talk to you, and much less get you to talk.

5. Listen to enthusiastic voices.

Enthusiasm is communicative. An enthusiastic voice speaking to you in French will permeate your mind, make you enthusiastic about what you are doing, keep you commited to each day's lesson and ultimately make you learn faster.

I've seen language forums full of people discussing the progress they aren't making. I've read blog posts about learning languages very fast (as fast as 1 hour!). Blog post titles tend to be hyped up to attract readership, but they rarely live up to their promises (ever?).

If you look online for a bit of vocabulary, a few grammar rules, and some reading material, you will be using a non-structured approach. You need each training session to build on the previous, so that you continue using it instead of forgetting it entirely. People that try to learn languages typically enter an endless cycle of learn then forget because of this.

Invest a little money (wisely) in a program that makes you speak, and listen to native speakers. There are tons of free sources, but the money saved ultimately leads to a lot of lost time and effort.

Your options to learn French.

Tutoring has two major flaws.
- It costs 15-20€ an hour if you live in France. You'll need hundreds of hours to get the desired effect. That means thousands of hard-earned euros, usually for nothing. Why?
- Tutoring almost never takes place every day. Usually once, perhaps twice a week. It doesn't play by rule #1, which is the most important.
Granted, you can get tutoring once or twice a week, and practice every day. But you will mostly be learning thanks to that daily practice, so why spend the money for tutoring?

Immersion is almost perfect, but not quite.
Living in a francophone country (perhaps you already are) is the best way to practice speech, but you still need the structure (consistent grammar sessions) which expats rarely get.

Online courses can offer the best of all worlds.
A good online course will, on the long run, save you a lot of time and money... If you stick with it. No one is going to make you do that. But if you commit to just 20 minutes a day, you will form the habit. Once that is done, you are on your way to fluency.

I 100% recommend this service for French, because I am using it for Japanese. These people know how to build a language course. I am confident that it is the best road to learning French you'll ever find, and since the program is downloadable, it is also the cheapest way to start right away.

It follows all the rules, and makes it both easy and fun for you to follow along (language games, accoustic learning...).

Bon courage, et amusez-vous bien!

Charles

PS Start right away, the first step towards fluency in a new language is the hardest to take. Once that is behind you, you'll be there much faster than you think!