The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1901-01-31
rYrcANS STUDY ENGLISH.
,oasg AMERICANS shout" ne study
ing spanish, says h"Ni-
can Paper.

The Mexican school authorities rec
r.i,e English and French as OF first
TORRANCE to the student. after
creek and Latin roots. Many OF the
80 hooks are i'm French and some in
pno,;sb the latter being constantly
& The Increase In the national pre-
sara,orv school. which forms the
.tepninp stone to the various colleges.
= law medicine, engineering. etc.
.hs course which LASTS four years. is
d;r;ded into eight terms, OF 1--WE
nopths each: four and Il half for
adv and two weeks for eNamina-
.;ors OF these. two terms take IN
the study of French and English.
earman. which was formerly includ-
"A was abandoned three years since,
saws the Mexican Herald
One wear seems Il short time for
the study of language. but in this
ease il is merely the beginning: as
4 the colleges the text book in Eng
ish or French demands constant die
tonary reference. and the study OF
the language goes on. English is
taught at Chapultepec military acad-
emy. and il was recently proposed
that a French text book be super
seded by an English one. The reason
advanced is that the French book
gives theory alone, while the English
book submits practical demonstra-
ton of given proposals. The Mexican
student has no difficulty with either
French or Italian. owing to family
resemblance to his own tongue: and
though English is harder for him,
masters it. too. in an incredibly short
time, showing a natural facility for
languages. The intelligent Mexican
who has not a fair knowledge of
French is the exception: and the same
viii soon be true of English for the
Younger generation. There seems
nothing remarkable in the students
translating from foreign language
into his own; but when it comes to
translating from one foreign language
into another, as French to English or
vice versa. as at least one young
Mexican of my acquaintance is fond
OF doing, and that without ever being
outside his own country. it does de-
note remarkable gift.
The action of Mexican students in
northern colleges. who are organic
ing societies. and inviting their Amer
ican college mates to join Spanish
class, cannot he commended too high
y. For all who sincerely appreciate
in ln l. ion
and extension of the Castiian on this
continent are quite as vital as the
preservation and extension OF Eng
llsh. Spanish has long been an cleo
I'VE study in many northern schools
and colleges. and not few Amer
ieans become proficient in it: though
IN the eastern states. wit bout eNcfp-
non, the Spanish of Spain and not of
America is taught. Whatever may be
sald for or against one accent or the
DINER, this seems quite clear: We
require the language chiefly for in
'efcourse with our Spanish speaking
nelghbors. who employ it as DO the
spanish speaking residents Of the Pa
enc coast II may be advanced, in
thls connection. that the speech OF
'una and Porto Rico is still indiffer-
ent; but as neither the Spanish of
Ola Spain nor of Mexico covers the
point, it is not pertinent. Sufficient
mat either one is understood on the
Islands. 1t is undeniable that CastiI-
tan as spoken by cultivated MeNicans,
gains in beauty what it loses in SON
orousness. But more than all it
seems most fitting that Mexico, as the
reading Spanish American city. should
pe recognized as authoritative in what
pertains TO the Castilian in America.