H and I would like to learn French for travel, conversation, read some, and live in France for a few months and take cooking classes. I know some Spanish and H some German so no help there. We have visited France several times and really liked it.
The local college does not offer French, I know, hard to believe.
So , Rosetta Stone? other thoughts? No tutors here. What do think about French Canada? Would spending time there also help?
If you have a smart phone, get Duolingo. I have a few language apps,and their French one is very good. I took my first French as a adult at the community college adult school, knowing nothing. Sad that yours does not have a French class. There are other online programs that teach French, can’t think of the name, later perhaps.
Does your local HS have adult continuing ed classes? The ones around here offer languages.
Duolingo would be a good start. You can do it on a computer, you don’t need a smart phone.
Does your city have an Alliance Française? They offer classes at all levels. There are also podcasts that you might like. One is called “Coffee Break French”; I downloaded it free on iTunes. Bonne chance!
Borrow from your library “Pimsleur” French CD sets. (Also listed as Simon and Shuster, but there should be PIMSLEUR in the bibleographic record somewhere.) If your library does not own them, you can buy them as downloads online. They are absolutely the best for oral proficiency and fluency and building automaticity!! You will need to supplement with written texts, etc. Duolingo if fun, but it serves more to reinforce what you already know. Mango language learning is an online program somelibraries have through their databases. It’s okay, but not nearly as good as the Pimsleur
I used to go to the Alliance Francaise in Santa Monica. Except for the cute French instructor, it was not as effective. I think there are tons on stuff on the web now. I like to listen to French music, the pronunciation is so clear. Particularly Edith Piath. I admit I love rolling my R sound.
Re: Duolingo. From my D’s blog:
“Today we went over some standard sentences, and I am excited to learn things beyond “Je suis une baleine” I am a whale.”
Is there a language academy or community college offering French classes?
Rosetta can be very effective IF you are motivated enough to do the work. Depending on the package you choose, you would have a certain number of hours of live-on-line classes (you will need a headset and microphone).
Berlitz would be worth investigating. They offer live private and small group instruction, and live-on-line instruction if you are too far from where the classes meet. Classes are pricey, but if you and your husband both want to study, Berlitz could probably arrange a class just for the two or you.
If you know where you would like to take the cooking classes, that place might have specific recommendations as well.
It is my understanding that Canadian French differs quite a bit from standard French as most often spoken in France. A bit of research would be called for before studying in French Canada. Although if you chose to study there, you could end up competent in both versions!
no high school classes at night. we are rural. we could spend some time in French Canada- any Canadians out there?
French Canada speaks a different French than spoken in France. That won’t help you, although visiting Quebec is very nice- a lot to see and do.
Total immersion is best- go live in Paris! Seriously, Google French language lessons. My H has found them online months ago- for free.
Or you could go to Minnesota! (I kid you not.) DH and I are heading up to a week of language immersion camp at Concordia Language Villages, near Bemidijii. $815 for the week, which includes food (reported to be very good) and lodging in cabins and language instruction, crafts, dancing, etc. all in the target language with other adults. Yes, we could go to Mexico to do language instruction, but this is like summer camp, and I love summer camp! I will report back on how we like it when I return. 
I really enjoyed duolingo to get started with french, but after a certain point I felt like they were tossing in grammar concepts without explaining them and I started to get lost. I advanced pretty far into the program but eventually couldn’t continue. I liked Rosetta Stone better. I did think the accents of the speakers in Rosetta Stone were harder to understand than Duolingo, but they might have been more accurately French so that may not be a bad thing. I haven’t had the opportunity to try Pimsleur.
I have been studying french using these kinds of programs, but I took Spanish classes for four years in college. I am struggling less with language acquisition with these computer programs than I did in Spanish class, and I’m learning faster. As long as you can find a good way to supplement so you get enough real-world practice with your language skills, I wouldn’t underestimate the usefulness of these programs. I have learned a lot.
I really enjoy languages and use Pimsleur extensively before traveling to a new country. Entirely aural which may or may not be the best approach for you, but if the goal is spoken language and aural comprehension, I don’t think it can be beat. I’ve also supplemented this with Duolingo - can’t beat the price at free!
I have studied French and German formally, so I think that helped in the Western language quest - you sort of have an idea of how to approach things. My latest venture, however, was Cantonese. Just returned from Hong Kong and even with just one Pimsleur course and not enough time with that, I could ask some simple questions, follow the answers and understand some random street exchanges that I overheard. I really can’t say enough positive things about Pimsleur.
I started Spanish a couple years ago with Pimsleur and continued in an adult ed course. The thing that really helped me gain vocabulary was to get junior high level Spanish language novels at our library. I read them out loud to practice both pronunciation and content.
The other on-line program that I loved for Spanish was Coffee Break Spanish. Used it to review my French also - Coffee Break French. The Coffee Break German program was a bit less effective in my mind, but I was trying to review. It might be good for a beginner. The man that produces it is a language instructor in Scotland and includes English language instruction in grammar which I liked. There is a free version or you can pay for additional materials. He has other languages available as well.
Google the old instructional series: French in Action. I reviewed my French with the TV sessions that are available on-line recently. If you like the series, the instructional books are available at Amazon.
I agree with above posters who have said the only real way to gain fluency is immersion. I’ve looked into courses in France, just haven’t had time. Check Alliance Francaise - courses all over the country!
Dulingo is free - won’t hurt to try it and it will at least get you excited and motivated. It would probably not be the ONLY thing you’d want to do, but it is something you can do (on a smartphone) just about anywhere when you have a few minutes.
I went to France this summer for the first time and stayed with family. Shamefully, they spoke MUCH better English than we did French! My cousin (my age) who wants to continue to improve her English found a partner - someone who speaks English but wants to speak better French. Can’t remember what she calls him - her “???”! Anyway, they meet once a week for an hour or so and 30 minutes of the time they speak only English, 30 minutes only French. Speaking in a typical conversation about work, your week, the news, etc. is a great way to pick up and be forced to speak the language. She loves her time with her English friend!!!
You can get through a lot of the basics with Duolingo, and it is fun and kind of addictive. Already knowing Spanish should make French pretty easy for you, I’d think.
Have been working my way through the French In Action series for the past year. You can get a text and workbooks cheaply on Amazon and the videos are available online as well as the audios for the first 26 chapters (approximately 2 college semesters worth). Just watching the videos is very instructive, so don’t think you have to go whole hog.
@anxiousmom , that camp sounds really cool! Please report back and tell us how you liked it.