He's not used to games that aren't as straightforward as he'd like...he got all the way to the Goron's city, then realized that he couldn't do anything and had no idea what to do. I was like "did you get Saria's Song?" and he was like "...what?" apparently there's no hints to get it, I just know because I've played through the beginning of that game a ton of times so it seems natural to me to get Saria's Song before the Gorons, since I know that I'll need it.
I love Zelda but I'm so bad at it. I've never gotten past Dodongo's Cavern XDD;