How did you learn French? I have a very extensive background in Spanish and enough German to get by, but I've never taken French.

Are there any online programs or tapes someone could recommend?

I didn't use tapes or anything... when I got here, not able to speak a work of French, I did an intensive course. It was 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, during 4 weeks. It didn't teach me everything I needed to know, but it gave me a good base of French to build on. From there, I watched TV and tried to listen and pick up as much as I could.

I'm still a better listener of French than a speaker of it. *sigh*
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Like Karen, I started learning after moving here - I took an intensive French course (20hrs/week) Monday-Friday for two years and was fluent when I finished.

There are all kinds of free online courses - I've heard that bbc.com offers some good ones, and there a lot of free French podcasts that you can download.

A lot of people I know have also had good results by buying the Michael Thomas CD course, you can usually get good deals on the set on amazon or ebay.

The intensive course sounds great! Is it a total immersion situation? Did you take it in the states or in France?

I took it in France - as I said, I didn't speak French before moving here. It is a language program offered by a local university with six levels, from absolute beginners up to very advanced. Where are you looking at living? I can maybe help you find something similar, as I know of other universities around France that run the same types of program.

And yes, it is total immersion, you are in the class with foreigners from all over the world, so the teachers cannot speak English, as that would just be rude and unfair to the other students.

What I liked most about the program was that it was well-rounded - I took classes in reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension, as well as grammar, phonetics, history, civics, literature, film, etc. Basically, you have 4-5 mandatory core classes,and then 2-3 options, where you can pick which subjects you want to study.

Thats pretty awesome that there is something like that for people to pick it up. I'm using the program Rosetta Stone to try and learn it and a few others.

Good for you for trying to learn as much as you can before coming to visit. The French will appreciate any effort you make, the important thing is that you're trying.

I realise the thread is old, but audio lessons I've listened to include Pimsleur French, Michel Thomas and Helene Lewis. There's also a podcast called Frenchpod. There's a good starter online lessons on the BBC site and in wikilearn.

My favourite online lessons are here:
http://delicious.com/smange/french+learning+faves