Introduction -- Part one: Form -- 1. I greet, therefore I am -- 2. Privacy rules -- 3. Finding the yes in non -- 4. Schools: The speech factory -- 5. The family factor -- 6. The art of conversation -- 7. Tres Talk -- Part two: Content -- 8. Food for talk -- 9. Know-it-alls -- 10. Down by nature -- 11. Fixation on French -- 12. English envy -- 13. Looking out for France -- 14. Economy of speech -- 15. Silent labor -- 16. Boys and girls -- 17. The poetry of politics -- 18. Proof of identity -- Epilogue.