The times., 1900-12-30
THE YELLOW LANGUAGES.
English Learned With More Ease
Than the Celestial Tongues.

(Er0m the New Orleans Times-Democrat)
I'VE hear a great deal about the ease
with which missionaries acquire the
Chinese language" said a gentleman OF
this city who has devoted good deal
OF time to Oriental study, "and the asser-
tion that most of them pick 1t up inside OF
a couple of years rather upsets cur pre-
conceived notions as to It's difficulties
What they learn, however, is generally
a mere collection of handy phrases, in
some one particular dialect. 1t is true,
they can preach in Chinese; In fact.
believe, IL is required by all the de-
nominations supporting missions; but SER
mons over there are entirely different
from our own conception of a pulpit dis
course. They consist of series of max
inns or precepts, framed with more or less
reference to certain biblical texts, and are
recited as one would recite poem. II is
a form OF religious instruction that ap-
peals particularly TO the Chinese mind,
and a number OF phrase books have been
printed for the special assistance of the
missionary along that line. BY little
rearranging variety OF sermons or reel
tations can be prepared from a compare
lively small amount of material, and such
a thing as a free, familiar talk is seldom
or never attempted. Corps of interpreters
are kept at all the principal establish
ments, and / am told that they are in
dispensable at the hospitals to ascertain
the symptoms of patients.
Please understand" continued the
speaker, that have no desire to belittle
the wonderful work of our devoted mis-
sionaries in the Far East. / am merely
trying to point out one of the great OBJ
stacles they have to encounter-the leafn-
ing of the language. A mission surgeon
who had been stationed nearly fifteen
years at Tientsin told me not long ago
that he knew only one European who
could converse freely and fuently in
Chinese. He had spoken moment be-
fore of being on friendly visiting terms
with a number of distinguished native
dignitaries and of evenings he had spent
at their homes. / asked him whether he
took along an interpreter on such oc-
easions. oh. no. he replied. laughing
but l never failed TO prepare little con-
yersation in advance. There is no general
gossip during polite call at Chinese
home, he went on, but the talk consists
OF an exchange of high-aown compli-
ments and modest disclaimers. Half q
dozen ready made sentences, fortified by
general smattering of the language,
would see me through an evening very
nicely This from man who is every
where regarded as an accomplished Chin
ese scholar. The enormous difficulty of
really learning the language explains the
trouble We have in arriving at the Chin
ese point of view. They think differently.
If l may so express it, and their whole
system of reasoning is the reverse of tina.
of an Anglo-Saxon.
In this same connection" he contin-
ued, Il asked very intelligent and highly
Japanese the other day why his
seemed to learn English so
ha a.,
His reply was interesting. The language
is just as difficult for one race as it is
for the other he said, but the japanese
are willing to study and the Chinese are
not. Nearly all the Chinese who speak
English have picked it up by ear, so their
is, of course. very imperfect
and their vocabulary small. They are not
a studous race and will not take the
pains to learn a language thoroughly.
Hardly any of their upper class officers.
except a few of their foreign Ministers.
speak English, ana it is next to impos-
5ible to find Chinaman who can read it.
with u.s. he added, it is entirely diff
ferent We study English systematically
At all our schools. and nearly every edu-
Gated Japanese is able to read it, even il
he cant converse in the tongue That
surprised me, and l asked him for some
urther explanation. Well il is this way,
he said. We have many Japanese scholars
who make a business of teaching Eng
of them. all over the ma
tion-but the trouble is that they have
learned the language out of books them
selves and do not know how TO speak it
So in Japan you will find any number
Of people who can read and write English
with great readiness, but comparatively
few who can converse easily in it. | spent
four years studying the language from
books and then had TO spend a great deal
Of additional time-in learning the pro-
/ asked him whether Jap
aDese was harder to acquire than English |
and he smiled. 1 never experienced any
trouble myself in learning Japanese he
replied. with twinkle in his eye, but, |
seriously, l would say yes, it is n good |
deal harder. | never met a European who |
could speak it with any huency' In an
swer to another question, he said that |
English was undoubtedly the better Ian
guage of the two for the expression of |
Ideas, and the reason he gave struck me |
as being very practical. In Japanese, he |
said every written character stands for |
some one certain thing and must be mem- |
oriZed independently Such a language is |
stiff and unwieldy. Our great !
poets do some wonderful things with 1t, |
but there is no denying the fact that 1t is |
greatly lacking in what might be called |
hexibiiity 1t is my mother tongue, yet |
find II easier to express many OF my |
thoughts in English. F"
Begin the new century by drinking Heurich's