The daily comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1850-1856, 1855-05-08

Dear Sir Il most cheerfully re-
spond to your request, by giving you
my views of the value of Phonetic Sci
ence, especially foreigners who would
acquire a correct knowledge Of Eng
lish pronunciation.
Repeated and continual failures, had
made me- doubt that l should ever be
able to speak English correctly. In
deed, had not courage to pursue my
usual studies; fully believing they
could be Of no use to me without a
correct knowledge and practice Of the
fundamental principals of English pro-
nunciation: and this ] despaired Of at
tainihg. But the moment l became
acquainted with the principals of Pho
notopy, and Photography; through
your Instructions, my doubts disap-
peared and courage revived.
stated to you on several occasions,
that ] commenced the study Of Eng
lish in our University, without regard
to pronunciation, which cannot be i'm
parted to the pupils, and which is not
attempted My sole object was, to be
able finally to read Shakespeare: But
when the inexpressible voice of fate
ordained that must seek my "daily
bread" among the " free Anglo Sax
ons, knowledge Of their spoken Ian
guage became condition, "sine qud
nom" and spared no expense, time
or pains in the pursuit Of it. | gave
my"elf unreservedlv to the work; and
after studying day and night for weary
months, reading rules Of pronuncia-
ton, and accent, and memori>ing
words from Dictionaries, etc, etc; |
felt prepared for the wordy war with
Yankecdom. But to my surprise and
modification, l could not, when the
trial came, understand one word /
heard from English or Americans;
nor could | make them understand
me; and l was forced to the alterna-
tive Of writing down what desired to
communicate; in order to make my
self understood.
So passed years during which, by
continued contact with spoken Eng
fish. by an entire review Of English
grammar, / had learned an approx
nation to the sound of some words
a small part Of the immense English
vocabulary, and was able to commu-
nicate orally with those among whom
my lot has been cast.
But you made me acquainted with
the sounds; the Elementary principles
Of words; and now | saw that many
of them. near one half had been hith-
erto unknown TO me. and unnoticed
by me. You showed me "thc straight
and narrow way"-and now pertec-
ton seems to be in my reach and
trust the time is not far off when
shall be able to speak good, but not
KISG's ENGLISH.
Dear sir, had we met years ago,
and could l have received from you a
few lessons in English according to
Phonetic principals; it would have
saved to me four-tifihs of the time I
have spent in learning English; and l
had then learned it well, and pro-
nounccd it accurately: instead Of
knowing it by halves, and pronounc-
ing it SO as sometimes, to set compre-
hension at defiance.
The most difficult part of English
10 foreigner is its pronunciation
This mastered, he goes on at rail-
road speed. And THE way to master
This, is to commence with phonetic
spelling, even before the pupil knows
the meaning of the words he articu-
ates. Then with a "phonetic pr m
er" in his hand and a knowledge of
is pronunciation, every man he meets
IAN explain to him its meaning.
When | remember the deep morti-
ication that hundreds of thousands of
oreigners, have suffered. are suffering,
aud while 1.-The good old way" re-
mains in vogue, must continue TO suf-
er, feel bound to use my best en-
ieavor to publish to the suffering, this
much needed improvement, and wher-
yer | may 60, | shall raise my voice
n its support. The growing import
'nce of the English language should
LMaken the entire Annlo Saynn raco