Check the "Language resources" page, find a beginners course to learn some basics; then try to read newspapers (that's what I did to begin with, but I already knew a little Portuguese). A website like this one, plus courses for beginners and intermediate: www.livemocha.com Depending on your time and budget, if you could spend a week or two in Madrid or somewhere else in Spain, they have interesting course packages with or without accommodation and other activities, see for instance: http://www.elemadrid.com/

It's kind of hard to start learning a language from scratch but vocabulary is one of the main things to have in mind. As in almost every course you focus on verbs at first...

Happily french and spanish have the same root, it will help you. My first language is spanish, i'll be glad to help you. for the moment if you are totaly a begginer I recommend you start with and audio course like the Pimsleur one. after that you can continue with the assimil and carry on with that kind of courses. See you.