"I'm Japanese," said Momoko, speaking slowly and carefully, since the woman apparently couldn't grasp such a simple fact. "I can only read Japanese." Well, and a little bit of French, but somehow Momoko doubted that high school French lessons would help her in deciphering some sort of political document.

She waved a hand at the paper. "That's in English, I think, and whatever you do so I can understand what everyone is speaking doesn't work on writing." She widened her eyes and innocently inquired, "Didn't they tell you how it worked?"