The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1874-01-09

IL ~ blC "eN 4 w.
have been attending the Teachers
Institute. But it Is not necessary for me
to tell what l saw and heard there, for
are not the deeds of that mighty host
all recorded in the chronicles, by the
&c. +. K.?" The Institute
was undoubtedly u success. There was
one question brought up for discussion
the first night, that did not terminate to
entire satisfaction. would like TO
have a little more light o. the subject;
and hence, this article. The subject
was, / believe, ..Resolred. That Ger
man should not be taught in our COM
mon schools" 1t was stated two or
three times during the discussion, that
the discussion was forced upon the lnsti-
tute, Well, what was the result? II
any, l was too shallow to perceive it.
It appears to me that teachers should
have an opinion on the current topics of
the day, and express that opinion, es-
pecially when it relates to school mat
tiers. This is a question we are all con-
cerned in. It was acknowledged by all
that il was important. Only four teach
ers entered into the discussion. One
would have said something ii he had not
been afraid of offending some one; an
other went SO deep down into the sub
iect and brought out such Il multitude
of exalted ideas. that they flowed in such
a torrent as to choke his u%tterance, and
he was compelled to acknowledge three
times, in the course of something less
than twenty minutes, that he could not
find words in the English language that
would express his ideas; thereby prov
ing beyond a p~eradventure, that the
English language was very defective:
To have clinched his argument he should
have expressed his ideas then in Ger
man. Another beautiful bird of Par
adise" made some witty remarks; but he
is such 4 hand to joke that nobody
knows when to think he is in earnest.
So the matter, when all were through,
according to nv dull comprehension.
stood Just where it did. MIR. Editor, il
is with shame that | confess that | am
so stupid rs not to be able to comprc-
bend the utility of teaching German in
our common schools; and | am so far
behind the times as to have taken up
with the old fashioned notion. that 1t Is
for the best interests of the Germans
themselves, those who emigrate to
our country, for them to be discouraged
in using the German language alto
gether; they learn the English language
the n are able to communicate
and associate with people in every sec
ton of our broad land; are sooner
Americanized. one or two generations
at the most eifecting a complete meta
morpllusis. Whereas, if they are encour-
aged to Use their old language. there
would he a distinct line of drmarcati"n
in customs. language and for
centuries, between different sections OF
the country. Ny ancestors were Ger,
man. They came to America in IN
early dav and settled with a colony al
Germans. on the Yadkin river. in North
Carolina, near where Germantown is
now located. They had German schools.
their children were educated in Ger
man, the old people learned to
speak the English language: the chill
dren understood and spoke it imperfect
"; at home they principally spoke the
German language, and retained the
and customs of the G rman
p .ople. The manners AMI customs OF
their English neighbors were altogether
different. and they did not associate to-
gether: their intercourse vas limited, and
u distinct nationality was retained for
generations: and traces of it are 10 be
seen in that locality to this day. Even
the wealthie>t class retain their pref
udice and antipathy to their ncighbOrs
of English descent. retarding the adj
vancemant of intelligence. refinement
and civilization of both nationalities.
This is one Of the dear lessons that sex
~perience" has taught me.
Ii WAS quite amusing to hear the Ger
man Professor eXpatiatc on his iavoritc
theory. that to enable 4 man to speak
the English language luently, he should
study German; while he was. at the
same time giving Us "A practical illustra-
ton of the fallacy of his doctrine by ac-
k~nowlcIging that he was unable To find
suitable language to express his ideas
and. also. by his excited and
rapid articulation, instead Of the steady,
deliberate and rather dogmatic ariicula-
tlblf tE the NftI ttl.k1. ANU, aSiSos a. I.
proof that a knowledge of German is
not materially beneficial. or Of much
practical use here, | will state the fact
that, last winter, upon failingto meet an
important engagement. he excused him.
self on the ground that. having under.
taken u teach German. he found, tina,
from disuse he had become quite rusty,
and it took all of his spare time 10
brighten up in that particular branch,
And, the fact That the terms" of eS.
preston in the English language are sc
''arbitrary" and contradictory that il
takes Il person a lifetime to master them,
is a fact that * seldom ever discovered,
except by the foreigner who is trying tn
learn our language: and is not 80 arbi
trary, except in comparison to Other
languages. which being translated into
our language. the words in the same ar
rangement in which they are spoken
and written. the terms and sentences
would nearly all appear to be expressed
backwards, and, consequently. in com
parisnn to our expression, arbitrary.
The assertion that the German is sc
very closely related TO our language, the
sounds and expressions more smooth
and pleasing, and more easily learned
and pr0nounccd-bv those speaking the
English language-than any other Ian
guage. is contrary to my observation
and experience-ihough. perhaps, if !
was a German scholar. | could see and
understand different. According to my
uncultivated hearing and understanding,
the Italian. the Spanish. the Portuguese
aud the French languages all have more
words that are similar to ours in sound
and meaning than the German Ian.
guage has. Aud as sonn ~ Spaniard
or an Italian learns n word in our Ian
gaage he can speak that work plain
though in constructing sentences he
does it awkwardly and is apt to con
Sfrupf them hazel war WhilA fhs Ger.