Has anyone ever done this/tried doing this?

I think I'm going to try doing it (with French) although I do have some kind of basis from years of learning it in school/college, I just never paid any attention.

I just overheard some people talking French and I was like, hey I can understand a lot of what they're saying, but there's no way I could form a coherent sentence. So I went to the library and sat down with a grammar book but unfortunately there was no dictionary so it only got me so far.

But yes, any fellow geeks out there, any tips or amusing anecdotes, etc?