The English Notebook
On one of my visits back to the village, I was sitting outside a family’s house, talking as best I could despite the language barrier. Around us, a handful of children watched on curiously.
One girl stood slightly apart from the others.
She held a notebook tightly against her chest, a pen tucked inside. She seemed hesitant to come over, so I pointed towards it, curious to see what she was carrying.
Without saying a word, she walked over and opened it.
Inside were pages of English exercises. She turned each page while I read through the words and sentences she had written. She watched closely as I nodded and pointed out a few corrections, but never spoke.
When we reached the end, I handed the notebook back.
For a moment, she just stood there. Then, almost in a whisper, she looked up and said,
“Thank you.”
Her English was almost perfect.
Whenever I look at this photograph, I don’t think about the portrait first. I hear those two quiet words instead.