The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-07-05

ton" in one thing, it becomes natural to
be as keenly observant about everything
else we do.
The many other advantages of learning
a language need scarcely be dwet upon.
One of the most prominent is the largely
increased 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 a
greater ease and facility of expression in
the use of the mother tongue There is,
besides, the pleasure that is inseperable
! from every intellectual pursuit; and also
the practical profit of being able to con-
verse with Il foreigner whom we may
chance to meet either in the way Of bust
ness 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 adj
vancing anything that is new. But the
method we would commend is one that
cannot be too much insisted upon particu-
! larly in the interests of Il certain class to
whom these remarks are more directly ap-
plicable. Many young men find themselves
arrived at a period of life when they feel
1t difficult to attempt any subject of study
There are many demands on their time.
and the effort to attempt any sort of conscc-
utive, concentrated work seems hopeless
They may have endcavored at various per-
lOds in their lives to acquire a knowledge
of Latin, French, German, Spanish, or 9TH
er foreign tongue. but, owing to various
circumstances these attempts have had to
be given up. The effort to make Il fresh
start is put off from day to day, although
the desire to do somcthin in this direction
may still be as strong as ever. Why is this
so? Simply because in many cases the
contemplation of the task brings up before
the vision so much of the hard grinding
uninterested nature of the school boy task
There are visions of endless paradigms, of
the rules upon rules, with all their except
ions-Oh, those eXceptions,-of dull eXer-
cises that seem never to get beyond the
books of my sisters brothers friend" or
the particular situation of this or that par
ticular individuals umbrella, or steel pen,
or pencil case, or such other interesting g
object. To wade through Il grammar of
perhaps one hundred and fifty pages, get
ting up by heart-if that be posSible-all
the conjugations, infections, exceptions
and idioms, is the ordinary accepted no
ton of what is required to be done in the
initatory process of learning some foreign
tongue, after which the pleasant prospect
is held out that one may then begin to read
something.
Such Il system-if system il can be called
is an utterly erroneous one. Little won
der that it repels so many from taking up
what is really a most interesting study.
To any who contemplate doing so, the ad-
vice may be given to cast aride all precon-
ceived ideas about the old methods, and
begin at once to read the langua ge they are
going to learn. Thoughts about the gram
mar and the rules should not be allowed
to trouble the mind. Except to those who
have had some previous grounding in a
language, the grammer is sure to prove a
stumbling block, and to begct nought but
despair. A good dictionary, and book of
simple tales in the ianguag ge 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 unfamil-
lar, will gradually unfold itself as word
after word is learned, and, when a sentence
has been translated, the reader will 90 on
with strange feeling of delight to master
more of the contents.
There is no better method of retaining
word in the memory than in having to 90
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.
quentlv gone over. 1t soon acquires a
wonderful interest. In tins way the study
| is made from the first attractive and agree
best writer's, its inherent qualities will in
| terest, while the increasing power to inter
| pref correctly the writer's meaning will
act as Il constant stimulus to 90 on acquir-
ing more words and phrases and their cor
rect uses. The help of a friend imbued
with similar desires and aims will be use
full At the very outset, attempts should
be made to carry on conversation together
in the language. The power to do this, at
first halting and awkward, will gradually
expand.
The name of every object which is
round about us in our daily life shoul be
learned and referred to in conversation
The phrases employed to denote particular
actions and feelings should be looked up
as they recur to the mind. Now and again
the conversation that may be heard at the
table, in the train, anywhere, may be trans
lated mentally. There are many times
when one is alone and there is nothing 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 assist
ance. 1t is easier to learn poem 10y heart
than a bit of prose, and if the meaning of
each passage has been thoroughly master
ed, it will he Il simple operation to recall
each word hv its context In this way il
is wonderful how rapidly the vocabulary
increases.
Of course it must not for a moment be
assumed that we counsel the entire neglect
of the grammar That would be Il pro
foud mistake. The grammar will hv-and- .
by be taken up with almost as much inter /
est as the tale itself. for, as the beauties !
and graces of the language reveal them |
selves, the learner will not rest content till |