My father was a St. Bernard  , and my mother was a collie  . This was what my mother had told me. I did not know these nice differences myself. My mother like to say them and see other dogs look surprised and jealous , wondering how she got so much education. But, indeed, it was not real education. She got the words by listening in the dining room and the sitting room when there were people talking, and by going with the children to school and listening there. Whenever she heard a word showing great knowledge, she said it to herself many times so that she could keep it until there was a meeting in the neighbourhood. Then, she would show off her knowledge and surprise them all, from small-sized dogs to large-sized dogs. If there was a stranger being doubtful and getting his breath to ask her what it meant, she always explained to him in detail. He had never expected this but thought he would make fool of her. However, in the end, he was the one who was fooled. The others knew what was going to happen, because they had experienced that. When she explained the meaning of a big world, no dogs doubted if it was right. It was natural, because, for one thing, she answered very quickly and confidently, and for another, there were no knowledgeable dogs pointing out the answer was wrong. When I was older, she brought home the word, "unintellectual", and worked on it very hard all the week at different meetings. It was at this time that I realized she made up a fresh meaning of the same word every time. It showed that she was more calm than knowledgeable. (From A Dog's Tale, by Mark Twain) Where did "my" mother learn the words?
She made up the words by herself. She learnt the words studying at school. She listened and memorized when others were talking. She attended meetings to learnt the words from other dogs.