The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1904-08-22
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
With English Person Can Make His
Way About Amy Of the Worlds
Beaten Tracks.

English is to-day what French was in
the eighteenth century and Latin in the
middle ages, the language chosen by
between statesmen, savants and fashion
able and literary persons of different ma
tions, says the San Francisco Bulletin.
With English one can make his way con-
yeniently along any of the beaten tracks
in Europe. More people now speak Eng
lish as their vernacular than speak any
other European tongue.
A sign Of the growth In importance of
the English tongue in the recent action of
theschool authorities ofthe German gov
ernment in making English an optional
study in the public schools Of Saxony.
This action was induced by a petition ad
dressed to the government by the Dres-
den Schoolmasters' association. The pc
tition was an excellent syllabus of the
arguments in favor of English as a sub
iect for study in the German public
schools. A portion Of it was as follows:
l, English is the most widely used
civilized language in the world.
2. Itisthemostimportantlanguagefo
Germany's international trade relations.
In Dresden especially the knowledge Of
English is Of great advantage TO shop
keepers and commercial men, owing to
the important Anglo-American colony
there
3. English deserves preference over
French on account of its literature,
which la) exceIls that Of France both
from the artistic and moral point of
view; OBJ appeals more nearly TO our
sentiment and understanding as that Of
a Germsuic people; (e) has played
prominent part in the development of
cur own literature
4. English is not inferior to French in
educative value
5. In the teaching Of English the read
lily learned grammatical forms OF the
language enable the time allotted to its
study TO be spent in attaining the most
important object in teaching a foreign
language-the power OF its free use in
speech and writing. This is not possible
in the case OF French. owing to the diff
ficulty of its grammar
1t Is only within recent times that
English has been taught carefully even
in England and American schools. The
old theory was that a student learned |
English best by reading the Latin and
Greek authors. While the benefits Of a
knowledge OF Latin and Greek are very |
great and certainly assist in acquiring |
the accomplishment Of using English |
correctly and elegantly, the close atten-
tion now given to English in our own
schools will improve the average quality /
of English composition
We scarcely appreciate what a treasure /
we possess in our English tongue. The
vocabulary Of English has been enriched /
by plunder from every land and every I
language II is flexible tongue. adapt
able to any idea. and a tongue which
welcomes accessions when those are
IL Is not by its intrinsic vir- /
tue. however. that the English language /
is spreading and is becoming the cosmo-
poiitan medium Of communication. but
rather by the increasing Importance Of
the people that speak English The Brit
ish and the Americans control a large
portion Of the worlds trade. Their infiu-
ence is felt everywhere They sell TO
everybody and everybody wishes to sell
to them. Verify. the English language
has come forward since the zine when
Bacon. despairing nf the Eernetuity Of
the English topepe. Translated some Of
hisworks into Latin