The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-04-13
Aesrning Foreign Languages.

The Russian is said to acquire Ian
guages with facility, and it is certainly
not uncommon to meet such who "speak
in tongues" with ease aud elegance.
There is nc dcuet that the elegant ex-
Miristar 10 Germany, Mr.. Bancroft,
speaks German with degree of fuency
and neatness second only to the cultured
native. 1t seems thet y. Ihiers cannot
speak English, but the French contine
themselves to their own language as
matter of principle and vanity, and, be-
sides we can not expect NJ. Theirs to do
everything. Goethe was OF home in
French but The admiref Of Schiller will
remember hew anhtyed this great poet
was IN the piesence Of Madame De stael
Oh account Of his imperfect command of
French. 1t would seem from these few
instances that while the entire better
class of people, as the Russians, acquire
several languages with some uniformity,
and while walters and clerks pride them
selves on the possession Of several Ian
guages, the great Schiller, or Theirs, or
| Pitt, never mastered, nor could master
them. The the whose ideas have no
| higher range than piece of meat we
| find excelling the poet Possibly, with
equal advantages, the cook might sur
pass the philosopher, just as he might
excel him in foot-race, simply because
he may have devoted his gigantic intel
lect TO mis- training. Practical expert
ence then is essential. There is no roy
al road to a language. Speaking Ian
guage requires plan of mastery different
from the means used in learning 10 read
or write it; the grammar is the common
grnund, but in learning to speak the COM
pletion Of the grammar is only the be-
ginning of wisdom. When the Duke of
! Wellington was asked how he spoke
French, with some humor and soldierly
pride, he answered, with the greatest ln-
trepidity," which quality is very essen
ttal, but at the same time is only possible
or reasonable after one has a knowledge
of the structure of a language. Whether
a man be great or small, he cannot learn
without effort, and without practical ex-
perience with all sorts OF men in all sorts
of affairs If 1t te true that grammar is
Indispensable, and all grammar can differ
| but little, the faults in our schools cannot
| be in them. But it is possible that none
of the phrase books, or system, after the
grammar, are equal to the requirements
of the learner. 1t is possible that some
systems may yet appear whereby the pas
sage over those difficulties may never be
surmounted, and that our school girls may
90 on as usual, year after year, in coniu-
eating verbs they will never be able TO APP
ply. We have no information sufficient
to form a belief as to whether or not the
instruction in the public schools is turn
ing us out boys and girls competent of
carrying on conversations in German and
! French. But that is not altogether the
! question; the schools are doubtless doing
all they can do. There are 50 many diff
culties in the way that it seems to be one
of those cases where a minor Is allowed
to make a contract; in other words, the
scholar must do his part and agree to
study. II is certain that a language may
| be taught and learned; but it is no hOli-
day matter, and not matter OF few
months, nor will be until thC royal road
| is discovered, The student enlisis not for
| s.. months, but for the war, when he en-
| lists in a language.-BIacklc00GS Kdga-