Flirting with French : How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart

"Delightful and courageous, Flirting with French is a romping good read." — Mark Greenside, author of I’ll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do)

In this charming tale, William Alexander goes beyond mere Francophilia; he aspires to become French. However, there's a small hurdle—he doesn't speak French. Undeterred, he embarks on a quest to conquer the language he loves, but the question remains: will French love him back?

Immersing himself completely, Alexander finds himself eating, breathing, and even dreaming in French. His journey takes him to France, where mistranslations lead him astray, causing comical misadventures. From bicycling off in the wrong directions to navigating the challenges of an immersion class in Provence, where the complexities of masculine breasts and feminine beards leave him bewildered, he begins to question whether French is more perplexing than rewarding.

While sidestepping grammar lessons and memory techniques, Alexander provides a humorous account of the Académie française, the ancient institution dedicated to preserving the purity of the French language. He delves into the science of human communication, exploring why it's more challenging for fifty-year-olds to learn a second language than it is for five-year-olds. Frustrated with his slow progress, Alexander even ventures into an IBM research lab, engaging in banter with a futuristic handheld translator.

Flirting with French is a captivating journey filled with laughter, mishaps, and insights into the whimsical world of language acquisition. Voila!

About the Author

William Alexander, acclaimed author residing in New York's Hudson Valley, debuted in professional writing at fifty-three with the national bestseller, The $64 Tomato, exploring gardening. His second book, 52 Loaves, delved into the quest for the perfect bread, taking him from Morocco to a French abbey. Praised by the Boston Globe as "wildly entertaining" and the New York Times for flawless delivery, Alexander's work is characterized by a passion bordering on obsession. Winner of a Bert Greene Award for his Saveur magazine article on bread, he has appeared on NPR and at the National Book Festival. In Flirting with French, he turns his writing talents to the challenges of mastering the beautiful yet perplexing French language.