St. Paul daily globe., 1893-02-07
The police are confident of having made
n good capture.
TIME AND MONEY VAST ED.
Prof HinsdaIe, Of Ann Arbor, Con

Prof.. H1nSQaIe, OF Ann ArbOr, Con-
dems German in the Schools.
''ln my opinion, the money spent for
the teaching of German in the public
schools of the country is money wasted.'
The above quoted remark came from
the lips of DR.. A. Il. Hinsdale, professor
of the science and art of teaching at the
University of Michigan. There is no
man whose opinion on the question is
/ worthy of more consideration, for Prof.
/ Hinsdale has spent his life in directing
the teaching of public schools and in
establishing and examining the results
ofrStudieS which the public schools pre-
sent. Previous to his going 10 Michi-
gan he was superintendent of public
schools in the city of Cleveland. His
writings on educational subjects are
highly regarded as tie expression of
thoughts and experience of man who
has reached the best results from life
time of close study.
d'inStruction in German and other
modern languages is, of course, of great
value as part of an education." he con-
tinued 'Such an equipment becomes
of more and more Importance as
various peoples aud countries are
brought into closer relations. | have no
doubt that the modern languages ought
to be taught, and we'll taught, in the
high schools. but there are very grave
reasons for thinking that IL should not
be taught under tine existing conditions.
Little if any good is accomplished by
attempting to teach languages in the
lower grades, and there are many rea-
sons why they should be abandoned.
''Most of the pupils of the public
schools speak and read only English at
their homes. and, as far as these are
concerned, the amount of instruction
they can receive in other languages in
the lower grades is of very little value.
Often it is altogether useless
and the time spent upon the
study altogether wasted. SO far
as Engllsh-speaking children are
concerned, instruction iii foreign lam
guages is rarely of much value unless ft
is followed up by thorough study in the
higher grades. 1t Is perfectly well
known, however, that only very small
number of those who study German in
the lower school grades ever follow it
up in their later studies. The result is
that they receive very little disciplinary
value from the work and no practical
value whatever in the great majority
of cases. | here mean, of course, the
children who do not follow up the study
OF German or whatever other foreign
language it happens to be, in the high
school or the higher grades.
IF children could hear and read and
speak German in their homes as they do
English, inditferently, they would be-
come as familiar with one as with the
other and the study of German in school
would be of value. But tie thirty min
utes or three-quarters OF an hour day
that is assigned to German III the ele-
menary schools, when it is not re-en-
forced and fortified by such outside
practice and use of the language, does
not make an impression that sticks. My
opinion is. therefore, that the money
that is expended in teaching German
in the elementary schools is
largely wasted. At the same
time if those pupils who carry OH
the study through the high schools. and
afterward could be separated from
those who do not, and so be taught Ger
man in the grades below, the work
would, of course. be of great benefit to
them. But [ have never been able to
see how, under existing circumstances,
this division or separation can be ac-
complished. L give my own views Ill
the matter, formed after much ODSerVa-
tion and reflection. 1t is often said, in
addition to tie objections have named,
that the German which is taught in the
public schools is for the most part poor
stuff OF no consequence, because given
by teachers who are poorly equipped.
There can be no doubt that there is a
great deal of truth in this view of the
case"
To sum 1t all UP, Prof. Hlnsdale be-
lieves, after years of observation OF re-
suits and reflection upon them, that the
time and money that ale spent on the
study of German in the public schools
are mostly time and money wasted.
Prof. Hinsdale recently delivered an
address before a teachers meeting in
Oh president Eliot on Popular Educa-
ton: y Review of His Article in the
December Forum