I don’t think I’ve been a member of this site for more than a week and I already feel like I want to become a moderator. He asked for advice on how he can learn french for free online. So far he has been told to use Rosetta Stone ($200+) from one member, discouragement that “online learning won’t get [him] too far” from another, gotten some quip about being a Parisian panhandler, and then gailcalled is telling him to work on his ENGLISH? How does any of this help him at all?
Anyway, on to actually answering your question @cesarpernia -
I would recommend clicking around the FSI language courses website, where they can teach you some very basic French for free. Here is the link: http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=French . This place is awesome, and has downloads that you can put right on your IPod or burn on a CD.
Once you have a basic grasp on some of the fundementals, I would highly suggest getting on LiveMocha (http://www.livemocha.com/). Once you sign up, you can find “pen-pal” type friends to chat with and practice your conversational skills. It’s free, and in exchange your partners get to practice their Spanish or English with you. It’s a great concept, sort of like Facebook – but for people who want to practice different languages.
If you’re more of a visual learner, this French in Action video series is free and also a bit helpful. http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000521.php
Hope this helps.