Cool... dad is from Rheine which looks to be 100km away or so.

Back to the topic. Looking way long term, a year abroad whether in high school or college is a must. The most interesting year of college was when I was in Berlin in '91-'92. I definitely learned the most German then.

here is a great site for entertainment and learning :
http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/

Find a local French Club, watch French TV programs or movies. When they are little, you can make a little kid learn vocabulary pretty fast. Tell them what it is in english, french, spanish, you can teach them to count in multiple lingos pretty fast too

Total immersion. It's the only way.

I took it in school and could'nt say my name. Did the tour of Europe my junior year -
even the smart , studious kids knew the grammar but couldn't speak it.

Moved to Paris after college and went to the Alliance Francaise - for about a week (how the hell did they expect us to sit in a stupid classroom all day when Paris was on the other side of the door ?). Hit the streets and - Voila ! - like magic.
Then to Spain - Tambien !

You need to get a French maid (don't we all) - watch French web casts and movies en version original - read French books together - and then move to France ; )