It's good they learned to talk.

It was very good, because soon more people began to come to the island, and the girl had to help them, and learn from them, and welcome them, although their ways were strange to her.

What did she do? When they were strange.

Mostly she tried to learn from them, and see why they did things the way they did.

And it worked?

She learned very well, and discovered some new things for herself.

Like?

The secret of how to turn poison into beer, for one thing. Well, she was shown how, but she learned something more about the trick than people knew before. But there was something more important than that.

What was it?

She was the one who realized that the island she'd washed up on had a history more brilliant and amazing than anyone had realized for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Why didn't they know?

The place their knowledge was kept had been hidden.