french

I've decided recently that I'd like to learn to speak French.

Growing up I soaked up the Spanish language, mostly because I figured I'd use it more, I liked the teacher more, and my dad is pretty fluent in Portuguese (the two languages are pretty similar) and I figured he could help me through the learning process. I loved the language and enjoyed taking classes, but I've lost most of what I've learned since graduating high school. Rather than freshening up on what I've already learned, I want to dive into something new. I never really cared either way about the French language or French culture, but now I'm suddenly interested. Must be all of those food books I've been reading.

What's the best way to learn? I've heard marvelous things about the Rosetta Stone software, but I don't know if I can commit to sitting at a computer to learn a language. I've thought about taking actual classes, but would rather not do something like that alone (who would I practice with???). Do you have any suggestions? Have you learned a language outside of a classroom? Any pointers for me?