-First, go on the internet and try to find a summary of French grammar. The about.com website on dedicated to French has a good, succinct summary of French grammar. Peruse that and try to understand it. Do the exercises provided by the summaries. You should be able to read it all in one week if you spend 30 minutes on it each day. Second, get yourself a good French grammar book. This is essential. I recommend the following-
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780071492423/The-Ultimate-French-Review-and-Practice
Buy the book from the book depository. You'll save more money. If you don't like shopping online the only alternative is Dymocks or Abbeys in the city, however Abbeys is very expensive but you'll find the biggest collection of French books on sale in Australia, I believe.
Read the grammar book in its entirety, even though your French vocab. may not be sophisticated yet, in order to get a deeper idea of the grammar. This should reinforce and delve in deeper into what you read in the French grammar summary on the internet.
-Get yourself a good French verb conjugation book. This is equally essential as this is probably the hardest aspect to learn especially the subjunctive and literary tenses (you don't need to learn the literary tenses in Begineers, I believe, and they're only used in formal prose and verse however you should know the subjunctive for Begineers to stand out form the rest. It doesn't really take that long to learn if you love reading and already have a good command of English grammar). I recommend the following-
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780071421638/The-Blue-Pocket-Book-of-French-Verbs
Read the introduction of that, after reading the grammar, in one go. Don't worry if you don't understand everything at first. At least you will have an idea, which your teacher will help you on later. You don't need to peruse this as much as the grammar as the verbs will be learnt by rote and you already will have learnt some of the verbs by reading the grammar book. Use this book as reference when you're writing French.
-Read French and get yourself a good dictionary. I recommend the following-
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780007323159/Collins-French-Dictionary-and-Grammar
Don't be afraid of looking like a wanker checking the dictionary all the time for words you don't understand. Your knowledge cannot transcend your experience so any word you read that you don't understand look it up and say it out aloud four times before putting the dictionary down and make sure you at least skim through the sentence examples. Also learn the phonetic alphabet found in the introduction of the dictionary. It may look daunting (it looks like Greek, well sort of) and a waste of time but it is important as this will help you develop a good accent and speak French properly without sounding like the French equivalent of a Geordie speaking English.
-Learn French songs off by heart. You can learn 'La Marseillaise' first and second verse and chorus (NOT THE WHOLE ANTHEM!)firstly or something that you like though I warn you that most current French songs are crap much like today's music.
-When you watch French films or films dubbed in French put the French subtitles on all the time. Watch the film through once without getting your dictionary out. After that watch it again with the French dictionary and an English dictionary (the French speak their language with more diverse vocabulary in relation to the English especially in regards to scientific or medical terms as you will see in Amélie) at hand and pause the DVD when you don't understand something and rewind it as many times until the meaning gets stuck in your head. Here are some French films that are universally acclaimed-
French films (there are no French subtitles however- only films dubbed in French have French subtitles)-
-Amélie
-Un long dimanche de fiançailles
-Persepolis
-Jean de Florette
-Jet lag
-Paris
-Tais-toi
-Le diner de cons
-Don’t look now: we are being shot at
-Micmacs
-La Belle et la bête
[youtube]DaG3zns3fqA[/youtube]
Disney films (no subtitles; it's youtube)
Mulan
[youtube]o976hrVSRFo[/youtube]
Toy Story
[youtube]Wf4zngkRY9U[/youtube]
-Watch these clips from TV5.
http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/7-jours/
Click on 'Exercices en ligne' and pick a segment that you like. When you have chosen click on any of the links under 'élémentaire', 'intermédiaire' or 'avancé'. Click on 'voir la séquence' and watch the clip through once. After that click on 'Transcription' and read the pop up transcript of the video in French and understand it. After you have done that click on 'voir la séquence' again and read the 'transcription' following the words as they are spoken.
These videos aren't limited to stories about world events. You can watch clips of videos and read transcripts of them about French culture, history, literature etc. by clicking on the following link.
http://www.tv5.org/TV5Site/enseigner-apprendre-francais/accueil_apprendre.php
I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how to activate a video.
These videos should help you with your accent. Make sure you decide what type of accent you want to speak in. You can speak in a Parisian accent, southern accent, North-western African accent, Québécois accent or Cajun accent. I recommend the NW African accent as that is the easiest accent to understand. You won't understand the Parisians as they mumble their words and speak at full speed. You can get an idea of the NW African accent by clicking on the following link-
http://www.rfi.fr/
and clicking on 'Afrique Direct' underneath the 'Ecouter RFI' near the play button to the right of your screen.
-Read French as much as you can starting from pap like 'Le Petit Prince' to something more sophisticated like 'Jean de Florette' (this book is very hard to read though. It's like reading Thomas Keneally but in French). You should also read as many of the French textbooks in your library as the text types in these books are what you're going to be tested on. You should be reading it at least 30 minutes a day. NO LESS. This should improve your grammar and help you write more authentic French.
-Refrain from watching France2 news and focus on the TV5 exercises if your vocabulary is still in its infancy as this will deter you from learning when you only understand a few words for the whole 30 minutes of the programme (they speak fast and in Parisian accents). When your vocab is around at least 500 words and you can form your own sentences and describe yourself and voice your feelings confidently in sound French should you then watch France2 and profit from immersing yourself in the language and understanding it.
For me this method works but it doesn't work for everybody. Use this as a guide to develop your own most effective modus operandi for learning French.
PM me anytime if you wish to ask me any questions mate and sorry about the long post. I get carried away sometimes.
Bonne chance.
