You know life is good when you’ve signed up for a week long French immersion class with an Algerian teacher named Aba who serves mint tea made from his own garden, with chocolate bars and a croissant to share.

I was pleased to be learning from a new teacher and finding that I can follow along quite well, but only if I really pay attention. The trick is not letting my attention waver in the last 45 minutes because that’s when he pounced with this tongue twister. I was made repeat it twice because I had so many errors in my pronounciation. The student who sat next to me had none.

“Gros gras grand grain d’orge, tout gros-gras-grand-grain-d’orgerisé, quand te dé-gros-gras-grand-grain-d’orgeriseras-tu? Je me dé-gros-gras-grand-grain-d’orgeriserai quand tous les gros gras grands grains d’orge se seront dé-gros-gras-grand-grain-d’orgerisés.”