What kind of French class/lesson should I take? How much does it cost?

Question

I want to re-learn French and one of the steps I'm planning to take is taking French class/lessons. Now I'm wondering if I should

-take a private lesson with one person teaching me

OR

-take a group lesson at an academy school or something

Which is better? And what kind of money I should be paying for these lessons?

By the way, I live in Toronto so my plan to learn French is:

-take lessons

-buy Rosetta Stone

-meet Parisan's or anyone else who knows French and practice with them

-immerse myself by visiting Montreal or Quebec City, where no one speaks English and only French

Answer 1

If you can afford it I know some universities in Quebec offer a summer French second language program. I know my university does in Quebec City. http://www.elul.ulaval.ca/sgc/FLE/lang/e...

I don't know how old you are, but you can check out the explore program http://www.myexplore.ca/. Two friends of mine did this for English and they loved it!

Also, if you can, try to watch French television, this helps a lot.

As for visiting Montreal, it's a very nice and cool city, but I heard that everyone automatically switch to English once they hear an English accent (pretty much everyone is bilingual there). When I go there I have a hard time finding some who speaks French (once I went to a restaurant and I spoke French and the guy answered me in English/Spanish...) so  I suggest you visit somewhere where it's really predominantly French.

Answer 2

Private lessons are the best way, especially if you can get a good deal. Be sure to tell the person that you will dictate the curriculum. For example, I have a Brazilian tutor teaching me, and I ask her the questions that I need answered, so I can match my Portuguese with my Spanish.

If you take a group lesson, your needs may not be met because there may be another student who is more advanced than you and controls the conversation, or a student that knows almost nothing, forcing the teacher to focus almost exclusively on that student.