In an attempt to teach empathy and language awareness to her middle school students when a limited-English-proficient student entered her class, a teacher conducted an experiment in which she began each class in French. Student bewilderment became appreciation, and a class discussion of foreign language learning ensued. The students unanimously agreed to learn some French in the context of familiar daily grammar exercises. The teacher's approach was to model supportive, non-judgmental response to the students' efforts and build on their existing foundation in English grammar, using some language switching. Key instructional features in this successful experiment were identified: comprehensible input; short periods of second language exposure; and a non-threatening, esteem-building atmosphere. (MSE)