<p>Also, if you want to really learn any language, I strongly suggest that you move heaven and earth to immerse yourself in the language by studying it abroad.</p>
<p>If your parents can't afford to send you, then it would be worth it to get a job during the summer or school year to pay your way to such an experience. (And, in case you are wondering, this kind of demonstrated effort to achieve your dreams is very impressive to colleges, far more impressive than when students simply get these expererience via their parents' fat wallets!).</p>
<p>There are immersion French programs in Quebec Provence, which are probably the cheapest way to do French immersions. One also can do them in France. For Spanish, AmeriSpan has some wonderful opportunities, including some designed for high school students.</p>
<p>I knew a h.s. student who through using the Internet managed to find a summer job as a waiter in France. I know other students who through their teacher or family contacts arranged to spend time living abroad with people whom their teachers or family knew.</p>
<p>It is very difficult to truly learn a language unless one has spent time immersed in it. One can learn the basics -- grammar, how to read the language -- by self study, but it is living in the culture that results in fluency.</p>