Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-12-10
FOREIGN LANGUAGES.
TO LEARN THEM NOT A DIFFICULT
TASK IF PROPERLY UNDERTAKEN.

and Study tho Dictionary.
We do not pretend in this short article to
enter into a 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 de-
rived from the study of foreign tongue
The many advantages of learning Ian
guage need scarcely be dweJ upon. Ono
of the most prominent is the largely in
creased power that is gained over ones
own speech. The mental exercise involved
IN searching the memory for appropriate
synonymous words and phrases tends to
increase the vocabulary and to give great
err ease and facility e. expression in the use
of the mother tongue, There is, besides,
the pleasure that is insoparable from every
intellectual pursuit, and also the practical
profit of being able to converse with q for
eigner whom we 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 language? In attempting
an answer to this question we are not ad-
vancing anything that is new. But the
method we would commend is one that
cannot be too much insisted upon, partic-
ularly in the interest of o certain class to
whom these remarks are more directly APP
plicable Many young men find them
selves arrived at period of life when they
feel it difficult to attempt any subject of
study There are many demands on their
time and tho effort to attempts any sort of
pnnGppDtiyn
hopeless. They may have endeavored at
various, periods in their lives to acquire a
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 to 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 so? Sim
ply because in many cases the contempla-
ton Of the task brings up before the vision
so much of the hard, grinding uninterest-
ing nature of the schOolbOy task To wade
through grammar of perhaps $50 pages,
getting off by heart, if that be possible, all
the conjugatiOns, infections, exceptions
and idioms, is the ordinarily accepted no.
ton of what is required to be done in the
initiatory process of learning some foreign
tongue after which the pleasing prospect
is held out that one may then begin to
read something.
Such asystom-if system it can be called
is an utterly erroneous one Little won
der that it repels so many from taking
up what is really q most interesting study.
To any who contemplate doing so the adj
vice may be given to cast aside all precon-
Ceived ideas about the old methods ard
begin at once to read the language they
are going to learn. Thoughts about the
grammar and the rules should not bo al
lowed to trouble the mind Except to those
who have had some previous grounding in
language the grammar is sure to prove
q stumbling block and to beget naught
but despair. A good dictionary and book
of simple tales in the language chosen are
all that Is necessary in the first instance.
With these in hand the motto of the be-
ginner should then be to read, read, read.
The printed page at first new and I'M
familiar, will gradually unfold itself as
word after word is learned, and when n
sentence has been translated the reader
will go on with strange feeling Of de-
light to master more of the contents.
There is no better method of retaining
word in the memory than in having to go
to the trouble of looking it up in the die.
tionary. The word will be certain to stick,
more especially if it is found recurring
once or twice in the same page. As much
reading should be done as time will allow.
A page Of the dictionary may also be fire.
quently gone over. 1t soon acquires q
wonderful interest. In this way the study
10 H,.tn
able. If the book read be by one of the
best writers, its inherent qualities will in
forest, while the increasing power to in
terpret correctly the writer's meaning will
act as a constant stimulus to go on ac-
quiring more words and phrases and their
correct use.
The help Of friend imbued with sim
liar desires and aims will be useful. At
the very outset attempts should be made to
carry on conversation together in the Ian
guage. The 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 &C
tions and feelings should be looked up az
they recur to the mind. Now and again
the conversation that may be heard at the
table, in the train, anywhere, may be
translated mentally. There are many
times when one is alone and there is moth
ing in particular to occupy the thoughts
Such a moment should be seized to recall
words we have come across in our reading,
and thus make them the more firmly our
own. A book of poems will be of much
assistance
OF course, it must not for moment be
assumed that we counsel the entire neglect
of the grammar. That would be profound
mistake. The grammar will by and by be
taken up with almost as much interest as
the tale itself, for, as the beauties and
graces of the language reveal themselves,
the learner will not rest content till he has
made himself master of all it's intricacies.
But what we want to insist on is that the
grammar in the first instance should be
given secondary place.-Chambers' Jour
nal.
Alboni and Royalty.
Among the many anecdotes told of that
famous Italian contralto, Mme Alboni, is