Despite learning no language until the age of ten, Marie was taught to sign, read, and write by the nuns of Notre Dame de Larnay, a convent near Poitiers.

"[1] In March 1895, when she was ten, Marie's father brought her to the Notre Dame de Larnay near Poitiers, where two deafblind girls had been taught (Germaine Cambon and Marthe Obrecht).

[4] Sister Sainte-Marguerite, the nun who would become Marie's caretaker and teacher, described the scene: "Not a little girl of ten years came into Notre Dame de Larnay, but a raging monster.

"[1] She could eventually communicate in six ways: by signs, fingerspelling, reading the Braille and Ballu alphabets, and by writing with a pencil and typing with a typewriter.

[5] Marie was taught grammar, arithmetic, knitting, sewing, and other subjects, in addition to abstract concepts like death and God.

"[4] Louis Arnould, a professor and teacher of the deafblind, wrote a pamphlet about Marie Heurtin titled Une Âme in Prison ("An imprisoned soul") in 1900, which was later expanded into a book.

[1] Marie worked along with the nuns to teach her deafblind sister to read Braille, to knit, and to play games.

[1] In 1911 Marie was described as leading a busy life: "As skillful as she is clever, she sews a little and excels in all sorts of crochet-work, knitting, brush-making, and chair-bottoming.