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Read significant amounts of French, on a regular basis
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Build up to about one hour a day
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Make sure that activities are easy for you - with reading this means at least 96% of words known, ideally 98%
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Read for enjoyment and understanding
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Choose books by matching with your abilities
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Use level guides, as well as sample reading
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Read and listen to texts at the same time
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Develop your speech using good models
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Start with words, then mainly use key phrases
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Monitor and compare your output
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When reading, spend some time reading out loud
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Focus on correct pronunciation
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Speak at a rate where you can manage easily
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Watch videos/films which you can understand and enjoy
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Aim for films or series which use language a lot (some action films have very little)
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Use subtitles at first - Start with films which were originally English speech - dubbed with French. Use English subtitles (french subtitles will be innacurate/misleading)
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Then go on to French films, with French subtitles
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Then watch normal video from a range of sources, following your interests
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Use grammar when you feel a need
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To review an area where you feel confident
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To clarify key issues - particularly where English/French conflict
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When possible, use language in easy and socially supportive contexts
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Use study groups, tutors, or web-buddies
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Be realistic about goals and progress
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Independance (B2) is a significant and useful achievement
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This can take a number of years
These principles are based on a lot of evidence and ideas from linguistics, as well as from broader psychological approaches. It's by no means necessary to understand all of this to apply the suggested approach. However it can be useful to have some idea of what it is based on, so that you can have some confidence in it. The first link below will give you a general foundation, and there are some specific topics which are not as straightforward as you might imagine.
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