He could spend an entire evening repairing a broken radio or explaining why a circuit failed.
Her mother loved languages.
She believed the ability to communicate with someone in their own language was a form of respect.
Every Saturday, she took her daughter to the public library.
They returned home carrying stacks of books.
History.
Science.
Travel.
Foreign-language textbooks.
And sometimes old dictionaries that the library was removing from circulation.
The little girl loved the dictionaries most.
At eight, she began copying Spanish words into a notebook.
At ten, she was fascinated by French.
By twelve, she had discovered recordings of Portuguese-speaking people from Brazil, Angola, and Portugal.
The sounds seemed musical to her.
She liked hearing how words changed between regions.
How people could share a language but use different expressions.
How a single phrase might communicate warmth in one context and formality in another.
Her mother encouraged her.
But she also taught her something important.
"A language isn't a trick."
The girl looked up from her notebook.
"What do you mean?"
Her mother smiled.
"Don't learn it just to show people you're clever."
The child frowned.
"Then why?"
"Learn it so you can understand someone."
She thought about that.
Then nodded.
Her mother continued.
"And never use what you know to make somebody else feel small."
The girl did not realize how much she would need that lesson.
Not until years later, when a billionaire used money and language to humiliate her in front of his executives.
By high school, she had become one of the strongest language students in her district.
She spoke English naturally.
Studied Spanish formally.
Developed strong reading and conversational skills in French.
And began learning Portuguese through university extension classes and community programs.
A Portuguese-speaking Brazilian family moved into a neighboring apartment building when she was sixteen.
Their daughter was close to her age.
The girls became friends.
At first, they communicated mostly in English.
Then the young American asked whether she could practice Portuguese during visits.
The family welcomed the idea.
She made mistakes.
Many mistakes.
She confused verb tenses.
Mispronounced nasal vowels.