Designate a time and place to study French. You will have to spend a good amount of time memorizing and studying the language. It's best to have a set time and place to do your studying every day. Be sure to make this time fun so you will look forward to this part of your day.
Learn the most common words and phrases. This is a great starting place and it will get you moving in the right direction quickly. Using your French dictionary will help you easily translate words, such as numbers, days of the week and colors.
Use free Internet tools. There are many sites where you can learn French for free. Another helpful tool is Google Translate. It allows you to write anything in English and then translate it to French, and vice-versa.
Listen to the language. It is hard to learn French if you have never heard it spoken. You can easily find the French pronunciation of words on the Internet. Listen to the pronunciation and then try repeating the word out loud. Keep practicing the word until you feel comfortable with your pronunciation.
Immerse yourself where French is spoken. There is no faster way to learn a language than to be immersed in it. It is better to know at least the basics, and hopefully more, before you try this. Otherwise this could be quite frustrating and counter productive. The best time to do this is when you are at least somewhat fluent in French. You will be encouraged to see all your hard work has paid off and will learn a lot more in the process.