English

Miss Sullivan began her lessons by giving Helen a doll and spelling the word d-o-l-l into her hand with her fingers. She began learning to spell these words herself through imitation, though it took a few weeks for her to understand that everything has a name, and that she was spelling them. This happened when Miss Sullivan took her outside and let her feel water coming out of the well spout, and then spelled w-a-t-e-r into her hand. This is when Helen first understood that the thing she was feeling was called "water," and, as she says, the mystery of language was revealed to her. After this, she learned the names for many things very quickly.