I need to have my French evaluated by January for a program I'm applying to, and while I have been practicing my grammar with workbooks and my listening with podcasts, I need to get my skills in shape for actual conversation. I'm sure it'll all come back to me, but my skills are very rusty as I haven't been in a French class in years.
The problem is that I can't find any sort of class or conversation group. I've checked meetup.com, craigslist, google, local university websites, etc. All I have found so far is one Alliance Francaise class that conflicts with my schedule and a tutor that charges $50/hr. My school doesn't have any regular French table or anything, either (I believe there are only a couple of French majors). I don't know any native speakers and we don't have any francophone exchange students. Even on livemocha.com I haven't found many French speakers that want to chat. It shouldn't be that hard to find places where I can practice a very common language but I'm running out of ideas!
Anyone have suggestions for me? I might hire the tutor but I can't afford more than a couple of hours.