In other news, I've just signed up for the French distance course (via CNED) from the INALCO (the renowned French school of oriental languages and cultures).
I decided to start from scratch as that would fill in any gaps and would also familiarise me with the way they approach distance learning. After this you can go on to do the full degree, also by distance learning.
A whole bunch of books and CDs, for what amounts to 3 different courses, arrived. They make up the basic diploma, which is supposed to take you to somewhere between the baccalaureate and first year of uni, or the high level of baccalaureate you would normally need to enter INALCO straight from high school.
The first course was odd. Instead of throwing you into learning vocabulary and grammar, it takes you straight into Hebrew phonetics. Which is great, but means that you're analysing words you don't understand. Surprising, but very interesting.
Theoretically, my reading should have improved with this method - there are lots of rules and reasons, so I'll see if I can review that book again later on to refresh my memory and help all the info to sink in.
The second and third courses are supposed to be studied concurrently, though they don't explain how.
The materials are a pleasure to work with, at least so far. I'm filling in some gaps in vocabulary. Obviously it's not as challenging for me as it would be for a complete beginner. Not a bad thing as I've just come out of major surgery, so I need to rest a lot more than was expected when I signed up.