Learning to speak English on a French commuter train.

Dubbed English on Track by French rail officials, the program teaches intimate, small groupings of students how to speak English in conversational style, all while commuting to Paris on high speed trains.

This program, notes NPR, comes after a recent report that France ranks 35th on a worldwide study of English proficiency, behind varied nations like Russia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Spain, South Korea, Italy--and even right behind China. This places France in the "Low Proficiency" category.

Says passenger-student Giles Hallais to NPR, "Before the course, we were sleeping in the train in the morning. [...] So I prefer practicing English."

Admittedly, the French have never been known for their coffee.