While there are certain English words and phrases that I deeply miss (and that absolutely do not translate well into French) I am able to comfort myself through my constant discovery of delightful new French words. I have quickly become comfortable pointing and miming in public to convey a message, and my day planner is filled with small notes of words to memorize or look up later. However I am often surprised at how many words French and English have in common; when in doubt soften your "c" sounds and add some sort of "ie" to the end of anything, and there's a decent chance that you'll land within some sphere of French comprehension. Such nouns only become tricky when translating more modern notions and devices. Some may lament the profusion of English words into the French language - snack was recently accepted by the Académie Français as a word in the French language - but I prefer to focus on those words that have been translated in a much more literal sense.
Despite all of the poetic, literary, and artistic creativity that has occurred in France, the country itself is very literal. There's a certain frankness to all of the roads and metro stops. Roads will be named after statesmen, authors, and historic figures because they actually once lived or worked in the area. Each metro stop is defined by the fabulous building or monument that is physically closest. Parisians fondly talk about their Île de la Cité because the natural island in the middle of the Seine serves as the historic and spiritual center of the city, and also because Paris itself exists so much as an island in the middle of France. I have learned that in Harry Potter wizards use baguettes magique as opposed to wands, and that at Carnival one can order delicious barb à Papa, not Cotton Candy. After rain storms you can see an arc en ciel (arc in the sky: rainbow) over the Eiffel Tower, and every time I unsuccessfully tell a funny story I finish with an imploring laissé tomber (let it fall: nevermind). I particularly recommend that anyone studying abroad learn this phrase in their host language as sometimes all the pointing and miming in the world won't help explain something.
At the end of the day each language will have its own bizarre quirks and idioms, but these generally offer some sort of insight to the culture (as a final example, the concept of "cheap" does not exist in France as everything is simply plus ou moins chère: more or less expensive). The trick is to spend your days in class beefing up grammar, vocabulary, and general sentence construction, while spending free time exploring and practicing all of the fantastic idiomatic slang that gives a certain area its sense of identity. I have dropped my eaves all over the city of Paris and though I may never be able to use many of the words I have learned in an academic paper, I am beginning to understand the rhythm of the city and French life. The more I learn the more I realize I can never hope to be fluent in the way I would like within four month's time, but I like to think I become slightly more French every day. At the end of the day I think it all sounds much prettier in French than it ever will in English, and should I make mistakes ce n'est pas grave (it's not a big deal).