How to learn french?

Question:I really want to learn french fluently. I am 14 and I take in school as an elective but it is not teaching me much and obviosly i will not be fluent by grade 12. Is there any way for me to effectivley learn french at home? Please give examples of what you did and had to learn

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I really want to learn french fluently. I am 14 and I take in school as an elective but it is not teaching me much and obviosly i will not be fluent by grade 12. Is there any way for me to effectivley learn french at home? Please give examples of what you did and had to learn

what a good thing to do! i started at your age, didn't do well, took it up again in college, became a fr teacher...and now live in france!
advice: join a conversation group or club; listen to fr news, radio, etc even if you don't understand now; try private tutoring or ask yr teacher for help; try to do a summer w/a family in france or quebec; listen to tapes, books; read bilingual editions of short stories (these exist).; get a fr pen pal. good luck!

Have you tried to watch the French channels on cable.

That would be a good way to pick up words you know, and learn more.

Well, I took french last semister and im in 6th grade. and the teacher didnt teach much either....But ask ur teacher for special classes or something.

Practice practice practice.

You didnt learn English just from being spoken to alone did you. Well to learn another language you going to have to be in situations where you may have to speak it from time to time.
You may have to read in french and watch/listen to french media TV and radio or music.

If your serious about learning french you have to IMMERSE yourself in the language. You have to surround yourself with as much french as possible. Find a native french speaker if you can and ask him or her to speak to you in that languge. From time to time.

Get a french to english story book or if you really like a challenge just buy the french version of it,,so if you like Harry Potter then buy the one written in French. In my case I buy French DVD movies or I watch them in French with the subtitles turned off (that way i dont get distracted)

Find some french radio stations on the internet and listen to that you may not understand them at first but its a way to get your brain CONDITIONED. So rather than cramming through boring repetition on learning CD's your mind will actually start thinking in french.

well, if you were expecting to become fluent in a language by just taking it in school, you were extremely wrong. language classes in school are just meant to give you a semi-solid backround in the language. if you said its not teaching you much, you are probably right because its not designed to have you become fluent. however, as a student, you can take french class to another level if you apply yourself. read ahead in your textbook and know what is coming next. on exams (especially the writing portion, if there is one) use that to show off to the teacher and prove to her that you want to learn more. please make sure that you do not mess up though. it is pretty obvious that you will need to do some type of immersion class if you hope to become fluent, but at home just watch french TV, or listen to french radio. I have seen french radio (actually Canadian in french) on xm.

best of luck