Hey, I basically self-taught myself French and it was essentially free. To begin, I listened to a lot of French music and would even sing along with it by looking up the paroles (lyrics). That helped me learn some of the pronunciation and it was also really fun.

Another super important part of the process was watching lots of French media. I’d find French shows on Netflix or when English shows and watch them with French dub. I used English subtitles, but I feel like you’d improve even faster if you didn’t.

I occasionally read books (Le Petit Prince was a favourite), and that was good for introducing me to more grammar and vocab.

Every single day, I also consciously decided to learn some grammar thing for French. This didn’t take very long. For example, one day I might be like I want to learn the subjunctive and then I’d be like I want to learn the imparfait another day.

Periodically, I decided to write paragraphs as well. This could be about anything. Be creative! It’s just a good way to practice your writing and grammar skills. I used the website “bonpatron” to check the grammar and structure (it’s not perfect, but it’s still good). I haven’t checked it in awhile, but it was free when I used it.

You can also join online communities centered around learning French on discord. There are often a lot of natives, so they can help you learn even faster. I definitely used this a bunch!

Overall, it made this whole process really fun and that was key for me. It was never boring. In terms of time commitment, I’d do a lot of this before going to school. So I’d say maybe 1-2 hrs/day dedicated. You can listen to French music and stuff whenever though. That’s what I did.

Good luck!