Best way to learn French

[Fortress]

Hello everyone. I am a McGill medical student interested in learning French. I have absolutely zero knowledge of the French language. I am looking for advice from some of the more senior members of the forum who were in a similar situation.

My aim is to reach a level where I can have a functional conversation with a patient in French (i.e be able to express myself as well as understand what the patient is telling me). I am not interested in learning how to read or write at the moment.

What is the best and most efficient way to reach that level? I heard about the Medical French Workshops organized by McGill. I have also heard about online programs such as Duolingo and Rosetta Stone. What is the best and most efficient way to go about this?

Also, how long would it take me to be able to have a functional conversation with a patient in French?

Any input on this matter would be greatly appreciated, especially from people who were in a similar situation and who have first-hand experience in learning French from scratch.

Thanks.

[MEDusa]

I am not in Med school yet and I am a francophone who learned English as I grew older. There are 3 main things that helped me learn the language: 

1- I used to watch lots of movies and soap operas in English with the translation at the bottom and I would imitate their pronunciation. In your case, you could try to watch medical shows like Grey's anatomy in French. I have a feeling it would help. 

2- I did a one month intensive English immersion with the program Explore which in my case helped so much to improve my communication skills. There are similar programs offered for Anglophones here in Quebec to learn French. 

3- This is the main one, always practice new words that you learned with francophones. Don't be shy and use it as much as you can (on the bus, make an order in French at a restaurant etc.).  When people see that you try to speak their language they tend to want to help you! I feel that self consciousness is the biggest barrier for people when it comes to learning communication skills. They are afraid to be judged. If you are able to surmount this, it will facilitate your learning ! 

Good luck ! 

[indefatigable]

Any and all suggestions sound great.  I don't think it would take that long to have a basic conversation, especially related to medical topics - probably within six months to a year.  It sounds like McGill has some good programs available.