The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-01-03
English for HawaIians.

English for Hawaiians.
Mr.. EDITOR: 1t is easy to see
faults in both persons and systems.
1t is more difficult to find a remedy;
and, sometimes, the most difficult of
all is to apply the remedy when
found.
1t would seem that there are three
courses left open for the Board of
Education to pursue, with reference
to the education of Hawaiian youth
granting that they should be edu-
Gated at all.
First-Provision might be made
to educate them entirely in the Ha-
waiian language-as of old.
Second-To educate them, SO far
as knowledge is concerned, in Eng
lish, as the present tendency seems
to be.
Third-To instruct them partly in
Hawaiian and partly in English, the
prevailing tendency for, perhaps,
the last twenty years.
The first of these methods was
evidently found wanting, since it
was long ago abandoned by the very
fathers" of Hawaiian education.
The third method seems to be
more or less a failure, from the tenor
of both Mr.. Knudsen's and DIR.
Hyde's letters. The second and
only method left would then neces-
sarily appear to be the correct one.
1 do not myself believe in the
exclusion" of the Hawaiian langu-
age from Hawaiian schools-nor
have I seen any order or notice
| to that effect, emanating from
any authoritative source. Yet 1 do
believe that the first years of the
children's school life should be de-
voted, in the school room, entirely
to the very difficult task of acquir
ing English.
In Report made for the Board of
Education In 1886, l wrote the fol
lowing:
with one or two hours per week,
a Hawaiian boy or girl will soon
learn to read and write the native
language. It is entirely feasible in
all the larger schools, in which, at
! rsI-esant IcrlEyli4sIl only rs eaught5 Go
! have a competent Hawaiian lnstruc-
tor take this much time for the pu-:-
pose of giving instruction in the
Hawaiian language, to Hawaiian
children only"
Hawaiian children speak Hawai-
ian of course, and having a colo
quial knowledge of it, after they
learn some English, it would take
but a short time to gain knowledge
of the written language.
L must be allowed to differ from
DR.. Hyde when he says, "they are
growing up without the rudiments
of mathematics, geography, gram
mar, history, and physical science.
In somewhat extensive expert
ence in Hawaiian schools, in both
the English and the native ones, 1
am prepared to say that the knowl
edge of the rudiments of these
branches possessed by those pupils
in the English schools is far superior
to that of those in the native schools.
Further, from evidence I have
seen, L am clearly of the opinion
that the Hawaiian youth of like
age never have been so we'll adj
vanced in elementary knowledge
never so we'll taught, as they are
to-day. Not from what I have seen
only do I Judge; but from testimony
of those high in authority, and from
those competent in both Judgment
and Hawaiian scholarship to be
heard.
There is no similarity between
Japan and this country. The Japan
csc are supplementing their own
language and civilization by addi-
tions, not substituting as in Hawaii.
The Japanese never intended that
English or any other language than
japanese should be the medium of
instruction. It was simply tenn
porary. They have fixed scientific
Technology to their own language,
and it is now used as the medium of
instruction in all branches. Their
language is suficient-with itera-
ture on morals, history and juris-
prudence far older than that in
English.
Finally, as to the Hawaiians "de-
veloping a social activity in such
fashion as may best suit their ma
tional peculiarities," 1 have little
confidence. The time for that has
gone by. ( Right or wrong, we have.s
been and are moulding them to our
fashion, and to that they must con-
form Or-it is a hard WOrd-die.