diff --git a/extra/alien/cxx/cxx.factor b/extra/alien/cxx/cxx.factor
index 71144e6450..ab7ff416fa 100644
--- a/extra/alien/cxx/cxx.factor
+++ b/extra/alien/cxx/cxx.factor
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: accessors alien.c-types alien.cxx.parser alien.marshall
 alien.inline.types classes.mixin classes.tuple kernel namespaces
-assocs sequences parser classes.parser ;
+assocs sequences parser classes.parser alien.marshall.syntax
+interpolate locals effects io strings ;
 IN: alien.cxx
 
 <PRIVATE
@@ -17,6 +18,13 @@ IN: alien.cxx
     [ add-mixin-instance ] 2bi ;
 PRIVATE>
 
-: define-c++-class ( str superclass-mixin -- )
+: define-c++-class ( name superclass-mixin -- )
     [ [ class-tuple-word ] [ class-mixin ] bi dup ] dip
     add-mixin-instance define-class-tuple ;
+
+:: define-c++-method ( class-name name types effect -- )
+    effect [ in>> "self" suffix ] [ out>> ] bi <effect> :> effect'
+    types class-name "*" append suffix :> types'
+    effect in>> "," join :> args
+    SBUF" " dup [ I[ return self->${name}(${args});]I ] with-output-stream >string :> body
+    name types' effect' body define-c-marshalled ;
diff --git a/extra/alien/cxx/parser/parser.factor b/extra/alien/cxx/parser/parser.factor
index 4614a4a7b5..84425649da 100644
--- a/extra/alien/cxx/parser/parser.factor
+++ b/extra/alien/cxx/parser/parser.factor
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2009 Jeremy Hughes.
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
-USING: parser lexer ;
+USING: parser lexer alien.inline ;
 IN: alien.cxx.parser
 
 : parse-c++-class-definition ( -- class superclass-mixin )
     scan scan-word ;
+
+: parse-c++-method-definition ( -- class-name name types effect )
+    scan function-types-effect ;
diff --git a/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax-tests.factor b/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax-tests.factor
index f9fb9a218f..4b853770c2 100644
--- a/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax-tests.factor
+++ b/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax-tests.factor
@@ -15,10 +15,18 @@ C-TYPEDEF: std::string string
 
 C++-CLASS: std::string c++-root
 
+C++-METHOD: std::string const-char* c_str ( )
+
 CM-FUNCTION: std::string* new_string ( const-char* s )
     return new std::string(s);
 ;
 
 ;C-LIBRARY
 
+ALIAS: <std::string> new_string
+
+ALIAS: to-string c_str
+
 { 1 1 } [ new_string ] must-infer-as
+{ 1 1 } [ c_str ] must-infer-as
+[ "abc" ] [ "abc" <std::string> to-string ] unit-test
diff --git a/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax.factor b/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax.factor
index 741950f79b..59cf10e7de 100644
--- a/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax.factor
+++ b/extra/alien/cxx/syntax/syntax.factor
@@ -3,4 +3,8 @@
 USING: alien.cxx alien.cxx.parser ;
 IN: alien.cxx.syntax
 
-SYNTAX: C++-CLASS: parse-c++-class-definition define-c++-class ;
+SYNTAX: C++-CLASS:
+    parse-c++-class-definition define-c++-class ;
+
+SYNTAX: C++-METHOD:
+    parse-c++-method-definition define-c++-method ;