mi sfugge il perché di questo inserimento...

Funny that you mentioned learning French by punishment. My experience is exactly the opposite, i.e. learning by gentleness. I learned French for two years at the upper secondary school. Our teacher, an amicable young woman, was well aware of the fact that two years with an hour and a half a week was not enough to work wonders. Therefore, she chose another path. Besides and instead of grammar and things she taught us French songs most of which I still know by heart. She also decided to give us a glimpse of French culture by organizing tastings of French cheese and wine which, of course, was strictly out of line. But she was brave and wise and gentle. I remember one French class when we were all nervous about a test coming up in an hour and dealing with something called Church History. She came in and in no time she had realized how things were. This is what she said: "My father is a clergyman so forget about French, take your history books and start preparing."