Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-12-02
THE BIBLE AS A TEXTBOOK.
Many People Find it Helps Them in
Studying Foreign Languages.

| Down at the American Tract So
| ciety's Office there is constant demand
for the New Testament in various Ian
| guages from persons who use it less for
religious instruction than as an aid in
the study of foreign tongues.
Some students buy the smallest and
! cheapest Testaments printed by the So
ciety in French, German, Italian, Span
ish, Greek or one or another of the
Oriental languages, and armed with a
single leaf cut from small Testament
in English, use the two together in
studying the foreign tongue as they
go to and from business.
A still simpler method employed is 10
cut single leaf or a chapter from each
Testament and thrust them folded to-
gether into the waistcoat pocket
against the journey to or from bust
| ness. MANY foreigners in New York,
improve their English in this fashion
and incidentally extend their acquain-
lance with the Gospels.
Some students buy Testaments with
the English text and that Of some for
eign language printed in parallel col
umns. This form is extremely conven-
lent. but the books are necessarily
rather large, and on that account are
not in favor with those who study in
public.
There is n pretty steady demand for
Latin and Greek Testaments with par
allel texts and there is now an increased
demand for the New Testament in
Spanish for use in the study of that
language. German, French and Italian
Testaments are also considerably called
20 in 20 Ia N
guages of eastern Europe are OCCASION
ally asked for.
A man who has tried this method of
acquiring a reading knowledge of for
eign tongues declares it by far the east
est he knows of. He has experimental
with French, Italian. Greek, German
and Anglo-Saxon. OF these he found
Greek the most difficult and French
the easiest, with Italian next and An
gio- Saxon about as hard as Latin.
His method is to give an hour day
for five or six weeks to the grammar
of the language he means to study, and
then to begin reading the Gospels with
the aid of the English text At the end
of a month. reading from half to three
quarters of an hour day and keeping
up his grammatical studies. he has sell
OOI1 10 refer ~ Ills E-IiSiiSi tcAt anu ~
the end of three months he is ready to
undertake the reading of newspaper
published in the tongue he is acquiring.
This particular experimenter believes
that a man of average gift in acquiring
languages can. in four years, gain n
fair reading knowledge of French. Ital-
ion, Spanish and German. giving not
more than two and half hours day
to all four provided always that he
never let's considerable time elapse
without reading the language with
which he is least acquainted, and
that he gives at least half the time each
day to the language last undertaken |
and that he takes up no new language
until he is fairly at ease with that last
undertaken.
The learner who neglects newly |
undertaken language for week will
note a loss of skill in reading and ne |
that gives considerable time daily for a |
fortnight to language neglected for
six or eight months will Immediately |
see an improvement in his power to
translate.
With each new language undertaken
the reading Of the New Testament be-
comes easier. until at length the paral- |
lei text can be almost discarded after |
the first week of reading.-New York |
Sun.