Walking towards French literacy...and English?

I admit to having thrown it away, this same book at my feet that 

Arrived with the mail today.  

I had to buy it again because I plan to walk towards French literacy

One wobbly step at a time, one poorly constructed phrase with "de"

Instead of "du", a lazy sentence that my sharp-witted, and demanding professor

Frowns upon, I can see her disdain even without seeing her face.

I know her.

Il va de soi is a phrase worth knowing, as is the beautiful word époustouflante 

A single page of reading aloud alerted me to my knowing a single word, but

Not the meaning, and aren't we so often in that place, thinking we know,

Or should know, then belatedly, and rather sheepishly, realizing that we had 

No idea of the real meaning.

So I started reading aloud in English, and in French so that my spoken 

Words exit my moving lips, enter my ears and are heard again in a different way,

Processed twice by seeing and hearing, and hoping that 

I'll understand this spinning world better in both languages.

I needed this book.

I got it in the mail

Today.