My French improveth not, and I missed the latest round of classes at
work (they take too much time out of the workweek, anyhow). So I am
trying to get up to speed on my own.

I read a great blog, French Word-A-Day, and urge all French wannabes to go there. I love the eclecticism of the entries (the most recent, below).

~~~~~~French Vocabulary~~~~~
tchatche (tchatcher) = to chat; la brocante (f) = second-hand goods, fleamarket; le brocanteur (m) = seller at a fleamarket; portugais = Portugeuse; français = French; le funambulist = tightrope walker; le pichet = pitcher; le papier (m)