Camille sighed, rubbing her eyes, and pressed play on the accompanying CD-ROM audio track.

Every time she faltered, characters straight out of the textbook stepped in to guide her, pushing her to use richer vocabulary, correct her verb tenses, and defend her arguments. She wasn't just memorizing rules anymore; she was living them. Suddenly, a loud, sharp beep pierced the air.

The man smiled warmly and leaned forward. "A good start, but use your tools, Camille! Remember page 42? Use the subjunctive to express necessity. Try: Il est primordial que les entreprises fassent plus d'efforts. "

Camille blinked. She was no longer in her room. She was sitting at a tiny, round metal table on the terrace of a bustling café in Lyon.