Essay: "French and English Spoken." Theodore Pratt.

One-minute review: The author has everything bad happen to him when he tries to learn and use French, from failing French I in college three times to embarrassing misunderstandings when he tries to use his French while living in France. However, he did not have to try to learn to master French in France because all the French were trying to learn English with the result that their English was spoken so badly that the result was miscommunication.

American Essays. Ed. Charles B. Shaw. A Pelican Mentor Book. New York: The New American Library. 1948.