I live and work in France but French is not my first language. In fact I am not even fluent. Last summer I just took a dictionary which I photoread every day (1-2 times) for a month or so. During this period I watched french TV, using it as activation. I was pleasantly surprised when at some point when trying to talk in french, words just came out of my mouth and I could form sentences. Before that I would start and at some point get stuck with a word.
So my advice is to photoread the dictionary as often as possible.
I hope this helps
