The glass half empty

There was a young girl on the trail who thought Keppy was cool and asked about his breed. I told here he was sem raça definida (unknown breed) and she told me, very seriously, that she was pretty sure he was a border collie mix. She shared some facts about border collies and I smiled because she reminded me of another dog-loving girl I used to know. We saw her later that day and she asked if Keppy could "speak." I joked that he could, but only in English. So far, we had only talked in Portuguese.  The little girl responded in English. "Did you say he speaks English? I speak English." Knock me over with a feather. I asked (in English) how she learned and she shared her story. A girl from England moved into her class and the two turned best friends and taught their languages to each other. I asked how long they had been friends and she said, a few months. I wasn't sure how to feel. Then she said, "I think it's pretty easy to learn English" and I definitely felt a certain way. God bless the little girl and her giftedness and I'm glad she found this friend; but dog also bless me and Carol who study every day and try so effin hard. It goes up and down, but in that instance, the language-learning glass was half empty.