The Hawaiian gazette., 1889-01-01
English schools for Hawaiians-A Reply
to Mr.. Knudsen.


: Mr.. EDIToR: In your issue of the goth
inst. appears a communication from Mr..
Knudsen, entitled, Whittier is the Ha-
waiian Youth Dlifting?" which eng ges,
or ought to engage the attention of'very
thinking man or woman, whether )r not
employed in educational work. Tie ar
ticle in question is creditable tc 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
apfopos. The language of Germany is
German Her commerce, industry, law,
schools, universities are all conducted in
the German tongue. Moreover Ger
many has language, not only perfected
by centuries of use, but in which is found
body of literature upon all questions
concerning man, not eXcelled, nay hardly
equalled by any other nation, either an
cient or modern.
Now, 10 one knows better than MIR.
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
full requirements. 1t has taught the
child language by which it can easily
comprehend what il is told" This is
questionable 1t is about as probable
that nature gifted " the Hawaiian child
with 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 its parents and associates.
own this to be a natural method and one
too often ignored by unintelligent teach
ers in teaching English to Hawaiian
children.
This same method, conscientiously and
intelligently carried out from the sixth to
the fifteenth year of the child's school
life, will " gift - it with just as good COM
mand of the English tongue, and then it
will have highway" as much superior
to its native one, for intellectual ambling,
as Nuuanu street is superior to a Hilo
gulch.
No doubt, there is some truth in the
statement that the Hawaiian child loses
something in the change from It's native
tongue to English. Mr.. Knudsen is a
gentleman of far too great intelligence
and too much experience in the world
not to know that in all change, be It ply
steal, moral, or intellectual, there is loss.
am told-and l fully believe it-that
many OF the best traits OF the Old 1a
waiian have suffered decadence in
their effort TO change to higher plane
a higher civilization; yet who would
denv 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 a change as the substitution OF one
language for another, some OF this
I" sloughing off" would carry something
good with much that is bad.
If to be possessed of wrong language |
can be likened to disease, it is a terri |
Die one, ana nOlnlnS SnOTJ Oh heroic |
treatment will be OF any avail. Sending |
Hawaiians to a native school for the |
first three or four years of their schdpl |
life, and then changing them to EnSli9 |
schools is, l believe, responsible for /
much of the short-comiug of which NIr /
Knudsen complains. 1t IS waste Of |
time to send a Hawaiian child into an
English school, after having spent thrse
or four years in native school. This
has been, unfortunately, too genera Is
the case hitherto. The Board OF Edu, 4
ton, no doubt, has its Shortcomings;
but the attempt it seems TO be now MAJ
ing to get all Hawaiian children into
English schools at the early age of TX
years, is certainly not one of them. Ii
an average Hawaiian child beginning
English at the age of six and pursuing il
five hours day for eight years, is IN
able to acquire sufficient English for ali
practical purposes, then it is high time
to let the native language 'die out any
how" and the race with it.
NJ NJ. SCoTT