Grandpa’s notebook

A makeshift dictionary that my grandfather used to learn English became a way for me to understand how he marveled at a new world.

A self-made dictionary my grandfather made in the 1990s while learning English

My grandfather’s notebook is a collection of papers held together by decades-old glue. It is bound in adorned, emerald-green plastic that will last for at least one hundred years. The paper holding the contents of this booklet, however, is fragile, thin, and yellowing on the fringes.