Here's the deal. I have this certain friend who can speak English very well, and she apparently taught herself. This makes me feel inadequate, and therefore I must learn French in order to even the playing field. But the problem is, I don't know where to start. I know About.com has some newsletters for learning French, and I was considering starting that, but do any of you guys happen to know any good resources for learning French? For those who can speak French here and learned it as a second language, do you have any general tips?

(Right now I'm thinking of starting with a 7 day newsletter from About.com and practicing every morning in the 2 hours I have between my waking up and my catching a bus. Should I bulldoze this plan?)