Mrs Conta was a short, round, bespectacled, no-nonsense sort of woman, who nevertheless had a twinkle in her eye and a big heart. She was English herself and married to a Romanian engineer, and therefore able to speak Rose’s native language. When she was first introduced to Rose, she shook her hand warmly and expressed her wish that they would get on well and that, provided she studied hard, Rose would have a solid understanding of English in no time at all. Rose responded with a nod, which meant simply that she was listening, but nothing more. ‘Perhaps the first words we shall hear you say will be in English.’ The teacher chuckled. ‘Wouldn’t that surprise everyone, Anna?’ It would definitely surprise me! Rose thought. ‘Don’t worry,’ said Mrs Conta. ‘You’ll be under no pressure from me to speak if you’re not ready to. There’s plenty of written work we can do, and if you hear me saying the words frequently enough you’ll begin to understand them and know how to use them when need be.’ She pointed to the door, a chair, a window, the clock, and said the name of each in English.
