---
title: "Basil’s Parting Word"
type: "article"
slug: "basils-parting-word"
url: "http://localhost/article/basils-parting-word/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/article/basils-parting-word.md"
published_at: "2026-03-09T20:13:50+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-09T20:13:51+00:00"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20230809-041332.jpg"
excerpt: "A story that I read when I was very young left a deep impression on me. It was called \"The Last French Lesson\", and was written, I think, by Anatole France. That part of France in which the author lived had been ceded to Germany, and lessons were . thenceforth to be taught in the…"
category:
  - name: "Quantum Levels"
    slug: "quantum-levels"
    taxonomy: "category"
    url: "http://localhost/category/periodicals/quantum-levels/"
indiv:
  - name: "John (Basil) Wentworth"
    slug: "john-basil-wentworth"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/john-basil-wentworth/"
publication_r:
  id: 52231
  title: "Quantum Levels"
  type: "periodical"
  url: "http://localhost/periodical/quantum-levels/"
authors_r:
  - name: "John (Basil) Wentworth"
    slug: "john-basil-wentworth"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/john-basil-wentworth/"
volume: "2"
issue: "6"
issues_articles:
  - id: 52927
    title: "Quantum Levels v2 n6"
    type: "issue"
    url: "http://localhost/issue/quantum-levels-v2-n6/"
pages: "12"
archive_link: false
---

A story that I read when I was very young left a deep impression on me. It was called “The Last French Lesson”, and was written, I think, by Anatole France. That part of France in which the author lived had been ceded to Germany, and lessons were . thenceforth to be taught in the German language. The story gave, with a marvelous flavor of nostalgia, a recitation of the opportunities the author had missed while his beloved French had been spoken in the school.