How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
[Manjiro] learned how to scrub the deck with soft sandstone tools known as "holy stones." The main deck was scrubbed with a "bible" and the hard-to-reach corners with a "prayer book."
"They aren't really those things," Itch said. "A bible is a holy book, see, and a prayer book is, too. You wouldn't really scrub a deck with them." (2.7.1-2)
Uh… yeah, we don't envy Manjiro trying to learn English. Itch's attempt to define the different ways "bible" and "prayer book" are used isn't exactly helpful, not that it's his fault or anything. Chalk it up to the irregularities and multiple meanings in English.
Quote #5
Manjiro spent the day puzzling over that and over all the words he'd learned that had more than one meaning: The bow was the front of the vessel. But it was also what he did when he bent from the waist when meeting someone. The fins on a whale's tail were called its fluke. But a fluke also meant a stroke of luck—like the fact that Captain Whitfield had sent a boat to fetch turtles on Bird Island that day. That was a stroke of luck—a fluke. Or was it fruke? R's and L's were impossible. What was the difference between grass and glass, for instance? (2.7.3)
Sometimes when you know a language well, it's hard to understand how a new language learner might have a hard time differentiating between sounds—and thus meanings—of different words. We know the difference between Rs and Ls, but since Japanese doesn't necessarily distinguish between those sounds, Manjiro can't easily hear these differences.
Quote #6
"The chart is like… invitation," Manjiro said, staring at the unfamiliar letters that he knew formed words. "I cannot read the words, but I imagine they say, 'Come and see!'"
The captain patted him on the back. "That isn't what the words say," he said, "but I think that is always what a chart means. When I see a place on a chart where I haven't been, I wonder, 'What is that place like?' I look at that place again and again, wondering if something more might be revealed. But there's nothing to be done but to go and see it for myself." (2.9.28-29)
Manjiro's a visual learner. Makes sense since he's an artist and English is his second language.