The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-11-07
FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
to LEARN THEM NOT A DIFFICULT
TASK IF PROPERLY UNDERTAKEN.

Main Thing-The Better Way IL TO Read
and study the Dictionary.
We do not pretend in this short article TO |
enter into scientific dissertation on the |
acquisition of languages, but rather TO |
convey few simple hints TO those who |
are Interested in the subject. There can be !
no doubt as to the benefit that may be dc. !
rived from the study of n foreign tongue.
The many advantages Of learning a Ian
guage need scarcely be dwclt upon. One
OF the most prominent is the largely in
creased power that is gained over ones
own speech. The mental exercise involved
in searching tho memory for appropriate
synonymous words and phrases tends to
increase the vocabulary and to give great
er ease and facility Of expression In the use
of the mother tongue. There Is, besides,
the pleasure that Is inseparable from every
intellectual pursuit, and also the practical
profit of being able to converse with for
eigner whom wc may chance to meet either
In the way Of business or pleasure.
But all this said still leaves us with the
question TO answer, How may one best
learn foreign languages In attempting
an answer To this question we ar3 not nd
vancing anything thnt Is new. But the
method we would commend Is one that
cannot be too much insisted upon, partic-
ularly In tho interest Of q certain class TO
whom these remarks arc more directly ap-
plicnble Many young men find them
selves arrived at a period of life when thCy
feel il difficult TO nttnmpt any subject Of
study. There arc many demands on their
| time and the effort TO attempt any sort Of
consecutive, concentrated work sccms
| hopeless. They may have ondcavored at
various periods In their lives to acquire q
| knowledge Of Latin, French, German
! Spanish, or other foreign tongue, but, ow-
ing to various circumstances, these at
! tempts have had to be given up.
The effort 20 make fresh start Is put
off from day to day, although the desire
TO do something in this direction may still
be as strong as ever. Why is this so2 Sim
! ply because in many cases the contempla.
tion Of the task brings upbcfOre the vision
so much of tho hard, grinding, uninterest-
ing nature Of the schoolboy task. To wade
through grammar of perhaps $50 pages,
| getting off by heart, II that be possible all
! the conjugations, infections, exceptions
and idioms, is tho ordinarily accepted no
tion of what Is required to be done in the
initiatory process Of learning some foreign
tongue, after which tho pleasing prospect
Is held out that one may then begin to
read something,
Such systcm-lf system 1t can be called
is an utterly orrOnOus one Little won
der that 1t repGls SO many from taking
up what Is reallya most interesting study.
To any who contemplate doing so the nd-
vice may bo given to cast aside all prccon.
ceived ideas about tho old methods and
begin at once to read the language they
H., a.
grammar and the rules should not be al
lowed to trouble the mind. Except to those
who have had some previous grounding in
n language the grammar is sure TO prove
a stumbling block and to bcgot naught
but despair. A gCNd dictionary and book
of simple tales in tho language chosen are
all that Is necessary in the first instance.
With these in hand the motto Of the be-
ginncr should then be to read, read, read.
The printed page, at first new and un-
} familiar, will gradually unfold itself as
/. word after word is learned, and when q
sentence has been translated the reader
will go on with a strange feeling Of dc
light to master moro of the contents.
There is no better method Of retaining {
word in the memory than in having to g
to the trouble of looking 1t up in the die
J tionary. The word will DO certain to stick
more especially if it is found recurring
,, once or twice in the same page. AS muol
! reading should DO done rs time will allow
A page of the dictionary may also be fire.
quontly gone over. 1t soon acquires q
wonderful interest. In this way the study
is made from the first attractive and agree
able II the book road DO by one of the
best writers, its inherent qualities will in
terest, while the increasing power to in
, terpret CORE tly the writer's meaning will
, act as constant stimulus to go on ac
! quirlng moro words and phrases and their
correct use
The help Of u friend imbucd with sim
, liar desires and aims will bo useful. Al
the very outset attempts should be made tC
carry on conversation together in the Ian
guage. Tho power to do this, at first halt
ing and awkward, will gradually expand
The name of every object which is round
about us in our daily life should be learned
and referred to in conversation. The
| phrases employed to denote particular ac
tions and feelings should be looked up as
they recur To the mind. Now and agaiI
the conversation that may be heard at the
table, in the train, anywhere, may bt
translated mentally. There are many
times when one Is alone and there is moth
ing In particular to occupy the thoughts
|
words we hCyo come across In our reading
and thus make them the more firmly oul
own. A book of poems will be OF mucf
| assistance.
, or course, it must not for moment bI
assumed that we counsel tho entire neglect
!, Of the grammar. That would be profount
mistake. Tie grammar will by and by b.
taken up with almost as much interest a.
tho tale Itself, for, as the beauties ant
, gracus Of the language reveal themselves
the learner will not rest content till he ha
made himself master of all It's intricacies
! But what we want TO insist on is that tn,
grammar in the first instance should b,
I given secondary placo-Chambers Jour
4 nal.
Hastings Speaks at Toledo.
TOLEDO. Nov. 2.--Governor Hasting
of Pennsylvania spoke at the Memoria
hall last evening to large audience
Governor Hastings confined his re
marks t. protection aud reciprocity a
outlined by Mckinley. He also urget
th. recognition Of Cuba as a belligeren
! usnon A reception was held after tn
meeting