The Weekly comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1853-1855, 1855-05-13
F6R rtts Coakf.
The itnportntee of phomstfe Science.

| It9 toH - HiuSt tHttFtUIP re-
spond to your request, by giving vo,i
my views Of the value Of Phonetic Sci
ente, especially to foreigners who would
acquire d correct knowledge bf Ehg-
lish pronunciation.
ReRated and continual fixtures. had
made hie doubt that should ever be
able to speak English correctly. In
deed, | had not courage to purstte my
tstial studies; fully believing they
could be of NO use to me without d
correct knowledge and practice Of the
fundamental principals Of English pro
ntiheiatioh: and this | despaited OF st
taihihg. Brt the ttiotheht betanis
acquainted with The principals Of Pho
hotopy, and Phonograpliy; through
your instructions, my doubts disap-
peared and eourage revived
! stated to yoil 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. Ny sole object was, to be
able finally to read Shakespeare but
when the inexorable voice Of fate
ordailEd that must seek my daily
bread" among the free Anglo SAX
ons, /" knowledge Of their spoken lam
gnage became a condition, as;ne qua
non." and spared no expense, time
or pains III the pursuit Of it. | gave
myfelf unteservedly to the work and
after studying day and night for weary
months. reading rules Of pronuneia=
ton. af accent, and nemofising
words from Dictionaries, etc, ETC.. /
felt prepared for the wotdy wat with
Yankeedom But to my surprise and
modification. / could not, when the
trial came, understand one word /
heard from English Of Americans,
nor could | trake them understand
me !: and / was forced To the alterna4
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
lish, 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. commit
nicate orally with those among whom
my lot has been cast.
l'ut 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 ,nnoticed
By me. You showed me the straight
and narrow way "--and now perfee4
ton seems to be in my reach; and
trust the time is not far off when /
shall be able to speak good, but not.
KtNe's ENaItsH.
Dear sir. had we met years ago,
and could have received from yoti q
few lessons in English according to
Phonetic principals; it would have
saved TO me four-fifths Of the time I
have spent IN learning English; and /
had then learned it well, and pro-
nouneed it accurately: instead of
knowing it by halves, and ponounc-
ing it SO as sometimes, TO set compre-
hension at defiance. tFt ~
The most difficult part Of English
to q 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 artieu-
lates. Then with "phonetic prim-
er +" in his hand and a knowledge. Of
its pronunciation, every man lie meets
can explain to him Its meaning. r.
When ! remember the deep fnorti-
fieation that hundreds Of thousands Of
foreigners, have suffered, are suffering,
and while "the good old way" re-
mains in vogue, must continue to suf
fer, | feel bound to use my best en-
deavor to publish to the suffering, this
much needed improvement, and wher-
ever | may 20, shall raise my voice
in its support. The growing import
ance Of the English language should
awaken the entire Anglo Saxon race