The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-12-26
CORRESPONDENCE.
We do not hold ourselves responsible for the
statements made, or opinions expressed by our
CORES ondents
English Schools for Hawaiians-A Reply
to Err. Knudsen.

English Schools for Hawaiians-A Reply
to ETr. Knudsen.
Mr.. EDITOR: In your issue OF the goth
inst. appears a communication. from Mr..
Knudsen, entitled, " Whither is the Ha-
waiian Youth Dlifting?" which engages,
or ought to engage the attention OF every
thinking man or woman, whether or not
employed in educational work. The ar
tic1e in question is creditable to Mr..
Knudsen as a man and as an intelligent
resident of Hawaii, although beg leave
to differ from him in some of his pre-
misses and conclusions.
At the very beginning, he introduces
an analogy between this country and
Germany, which is, unfortunately, not
apropos. The language OF Germany is
German. Her commerce, industry, law,
schools, universities are all conducted In
the German tongue. Moreover, Ger
many has a language, not only perfected
by centuries of use, but in which is found
a body of literature upon all questions
concerning man, not eXcelled, nay hardly
equalled by any other nation, either an
cient or modern.
Now, no one knows better than Mr..
Knudsen that the business of this coun-
try, except, perhaps, taro raising and
bullock driving, is carried on in English.
There is neither business nor literature
in Hawaiian. | submit, then, that the
comparison is inapplicable.
Mr.. Knudsen says: "a native Hawaii
an child comes for the first time to school.
Nature has already gifted it with wonder
r Ia ~ ftN1
child D language by which it can easily
comprehend what it is told" This is
questionable. 1t is about as probable
that nature " gifted" the Hawaiian child
with a language, as it is that the same
power taught it how to make poi, or the
New England child to make pumpkin
pies The Hawaiian child learns its Ian
guage, in the first place, like every other
child, from it's parents and associates. |
own this to be natural method and one
too often ignored by uninteliigent teach
ers in teaching English to Hawaiian
children.
This same method, conscientiously and
iDtelIigently carried out from the sixth to
the fifteenth year OF the child's school
life, will " gilt " it with just as good COM
mand of the English tongue, and then il
will have "highway" as much superior
to It's native one, for Intellectual ambling,
as Nuuanu street is superior to Hilo
gulch.
No doubt, there is some truth in the
statement that the Hawaiian child loses
something in the change from its native
tongue to English. Mr.. Knudsen is a
gentleman of far too great intelligence
and too much experience iii the world
not to know that in all change, be it ply
steal, moral, or intellectual, there is loss.
[ am told-and [ fully believe it-that
many of the best traits of the old Ha-
waiian have suffered a decadence in
their effort to change to higher plane
a higher civilization; yet who would
deny that the gain has been greater than
the loss?
In all changes for the better-all
higher development-there is what the
naturalists would call retrograde meta
morphosis." We must expect that in so
great change as the substitution of one
language for another, some of this
&c sloughing off" would carry something
good with much that is bad.
If to be possessed OF a wrong language
can be likened to disease, it is terri.
bic one; and nothing short of heroic
treatment will be of any avail. Sending
Hawaiians to a native school for the
first three or four years of their school
NE, anu THEN caallSliIg IHem 10 EnSllSI
schools is, l believe, responsible for
much of the shortening of which Mr.
Knudsen complains. 1t is a waste of
time to send Hawaiian child into an
English school, after having spent three
or four years in a native school. This
has been, unfortunately. too generally
the case hitherto. The Board of Educs-
ton, no doubt, has its shortcomings
but the attempt it seems to be now max
ing to get all Hawaiian children into the
English schools at the early age of six
years, is certainly not one of them. If
an average Hawaiian child beginning
English at the age of six and pursuing it |
five hours day for eight years, is IN
able to acquire sufficient English for all
practical purposes, then it is high time
to let the native language ''die out any
how" and the race with it.