It has been a while sense, I stopped trying to teach myself French---I have all the tools that I beleive I need to learn French, and I get the French channel, so I could learn a lot just by listening to that channel. sure I won't understand everything that is by said, but at least, I can get used to hearing the language, and idenfying as many words as I can.
I remember when I first came to KSA, I didn't know any arabic, I learned arabic, by being around arabic. Watching, arabic television, listening to arabic tapes.
Reading, or at least learning how to read arabic books.
Eventually, I learned it, and can still speak and understand it, fairly well.