What are some of the best ways to learn a new language?

Unless you are surrounded with family, or friends who can assist you daily, go with Rosetta Stone. lol

Constant repetition, keep vocabulary lists taped up on your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator and everywhere else you look. Play videos in French, and if possible watch your TV with the language set on French.

Live in the country, or visit there at least. Also watching foreign TV with English subtitles really helped me.

Practise with a native speaker of the language and speak it as often as possible. Read French magazines and watch French films without subtitles!

There the best. http://www.rosettastone.com/learn-french

Thanks! These tips are great. I’ve already turned my cell phone and and all my networking sites in French. Also, I totally forgot about Rosetta Stone! I am absolutely going looking into it.

speak as much as possible

@ ZEPHYRA, Why without subtitles? The subtitles act like an instant dictionary helping you to understand & comprehend new words.
Another technique that helped me learn Greek was to watch English movies and read the subtitles in Greek :)

Tell me about it, I am trying to learn danish by myself at home:(

The best way is to live in the country where the language is spoken. Period.

This isn’t the best way, but it is one that is helpful. At work, there were team members who spoke only Spanish and some who spoke only English. We took photos of the most commonly used items and labeled them with the Spanish and English name for it and posted them in the break room. What about putting Post-it notes on items around your home with its French translation?

Get a basic textbook and maybe some tapes for pronunciation. Spend half an hour a day studying. There is no point in studying more than half an hour, because there is only so much that you can cram into your head at a single sitting. Do make sure though to keep at it everyday, or at least every weekday.

Marry someone who speaks the language. My French had grown quite rusty until I met my late wife.

Use a combination of Pimsleur & Rosetta Stone. (using just one will not be good enough)

Watch movies with French audio & English subtitles. When you have memorized the movie – disable subtitles.

Make this your default search engine. :)

Best option – live among the French.

Find a French exchange partner online.

Join a francophone online community.

Play online games on French servers.

Find a RL French exchange partner. Be careful about arranging to meet people you find online though

Sorry to disappoint you, there are no short cuts or easy options. Studied French for

five years in Secondary school and due to lack of use can barely make myself understood in France.

It took me some 330 hours of Cantonese tuition in school and at the Yale in Asia College
to achieve limited fluency in the language.

You just need to sit it out and drum it all in your head while also being forced to use it,
without reverting to English.

Enjoy.

Put yourself in a situation where you must think and work in French. Watch films without subtitles. Read French newspapers. Date someone who speaks only French. In other words live entirely in French.