To say he was out of his league was an understatement.  The more he watched, the more the enormity of the task began to sink in.  He felt like David facing Goliath, except instead of a sling and stone all he had were a whiffle-bat and ping-pong ball.  Lyra had seemed to be a quick learner when it came to English; he could only hope they were all like that, because he was no good at languages.  The words they’d already learned were fading in his memory, and he no longer had his notes to fall back on.