So it was clearly time to take Neung on an elephant ride.

Well, actually that was on the next trip we made, a couple of weeks later. This time we took an interpreter with us, so we could try to have more of a conversation with Sanam, not to mention Neung. Our interpreter's English was not good enough to let us have a very nuanced discussion, but we did learn more about the family, and were able to talk a bit more seriously about what we might be able to do to help them.

Our interpreter did not actually accompany us on the elephant, which meant communication was pretty minimal. Neung had been taught how to count to ten in English (we are not sure by whom; maybe English volunteers at the school), but that was pretty much all the English she knew at this point. ("Neung", by the way, means "one"; Thais often give children nicknames according to birth order. Her official name is Parichart.)

By the end of the day, she also knew how to say "elephant" and "leaf", so that was progress.

Her real breakthrough in English was still to come.