I think this book was written for me.  I decided in 2006 to learn French and I've been messing around with it ever since but William Alexander has really inspired me to pick it up again.

Mr. Alexander takes us through about a year where he is really determined to learn French. He talks about the various programs he uses and the classes he attends.  That could sound very dry but this book, as the title might imply, is anything but dry.  He makes his attempt at learning French amusing and so very relateable. I was feeling every struggle he had.  As he goes through his year of learning French he is also going through a lot of health issues and he's very open about how those affected his progress. I loved his description of his total immersion experience in France because I've always wondered if that would be something I would like.  

Mr. Alexander covers some of the research on second language acquisition at older ages and he does it in a very understandable way.  He meets some really interesting characters in this journey to learn French. He gives some great information on the problems of computers translating languages.  It is definitely an informative book as well as a fun one.

I found myself rooting for him every step along the way. Learning a new language at any age is difficult and he was starting at 57.  I'm not far behind him in age so this was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me.

I received this book from Netgalley and have given it an honest review.