The San Francisco call., 1899-10-15
A SHORT COURSE
OF LECTURES
THAT
HIS
ACCOMPLISHED
MOST
SATISFACTORY
RESULTS.

his proficiency, but the Most Honorable
and August Ho Vow, the resident Chi
neSe Consul, took the trouble to person.
ally inform himself as to his acquire
ments and has attested thereto in his
own handwriting and over his own Of
fetal signature. It is we'll to say here,
to show the intrinsic value Of that
which Mr.. ROsencrantz possessed him
self of with such comparative ease, that
next month this fortunate student
leaves San Francisco for Hongkong, to
be the resident representative of a cor
poration. which controls a large capital
and recognizes the opportunities which
are there opening for those who are
shrewd enough to see and take advan-
tage of them.
DR.. Gardner's plan of instruction in
cludes no textbooks whatever. The
pupils are requested simply to bring
notebooks and pencils; to come regu-
larly. since each lesson is a rung in
the ladder up which they are trying to
climb and the loss of even one makes
upward progress very much more diff
fcult, and to give their teacher their
earnest and undivided attention. For
himself the doctor requires only a small
blackboard and a bit of crayon, and
with the aid of these at each lesson he
manages to impart ideas and add to his
students vocabulary in most surprising
fashion.
The Chinese language is primarily a
pictorial one, each character being a
representation, of course conventional
lied almost out of recOgnitiOn-Of GER
tain objects, acts or events. DR.. Card
ner's extremely comprehensive system
consists for the most part of analyzing
these characters, resolving them into
their rudiments and then showing the
why's and wherefOres of their many
combinations.
OH
phrases are thus dissected and en-
bedded in the minds of the pupils at
each lesson, and each being perfectly
undersOOd in its proper order, forms a
solid foundation for the next layer of
knowledge. The various musical tones
which make the conversation Of good
tempered and therefore mutually COM
plimentary Chinese sound like pleas
ing vocal exercise, cease to puzzle the
Caucasian brain as soon as its owner
understands that every word in the
Chinese language has four tones Of
three series each-upper, middle and
lower-and that these are all very cas-
fly learned by conversation and by con-
text.
As is the case with all other Ian
guages, mere classroom instruction in
Chinese avaiIs little unless the would
be learner puts into daily practice
hourly practice if pOssible-eYery scrap
of knowledge that is dealt out to him.
In order to learn the language Of any
country quickly and well one must
mingle with the people and talk with
them famiHarly on the ordinary affairs
of daily life and business. To the fact
that Mr. Rosencrantz, as soon as he
had learned enough words and phrases
to convince a Chinese that he was
really struggling to learn his peculiar
tongue, devoted all his spare time to
talking or trying to talk to every in
telligent looking Sam Yup man that
came in his way, is due his present sur
prising command Of the Cantonese dia-
lect and his future most excellent busi-
ness prospects.
The class which has begun to study
under DR.. Gardner this year numbers
over sixty persons, who gather every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday even
ing in the Art Institute at o'clock and
devote every moment of the time as
signed them to the serious and intent
study of the queer characters which
look SO Enthusiastically meaningless to
most of US, but, like many other things,
convey so much of real value to those
who understand.
AS the only class in Cantonese in
practical operation in the United States.
this gathering Of earnest and ambitious
workers possesses far more than a
merely local interest.