Me Talk Pretty One Day Summary and Analysis

Sedaris enrolls in a French class shortly after moving to Paris. On his first day Sedaris watches his fellow students catch up with each other, discussing their summer vacations and the latest news about mutual friends. He has a number of first impressions: they appear much younger (he is now forty-one years old), they are definitely much more attractive, and they all appear to speak French flawlessly. Sedaris soon feels a little out of his element, until his French teacher arrives and makes him feel like a complete imbecile.

When the French teacher arrives to class she makes a strong statement that Sedaris only partially understands. She expects them to know certain things, which she names explicitly and in a way that is incomprehensible to Sedaris. If they do not know these things...