Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-12-04
THE WORLDS TONGUE.

THE WORLDS TONGUE.
English is today wha; E-ench was
in he eighteenth centI ., anI Latin
in he mical; ages, tha language
chosen by common consent for inter
communication between statesman
sayants and fashionable and literary
persons of different nations. With
English one can make his way con-
ypniantly along any Of the beaten
t. acks in Europe More people now
sfeak English as thatr vernacular
than speak any other European
tongue
A SIGN Of the growth in importance
.; he English tongue is the recent
action of the school authorities of
TIE German government in making
,aal,h an optional study in the pub
lie schools Of Saxony. This action
was Induced 10y a petition addressed
t. The government hE the Dresden
! Schooleasters association TIL ne-
t.tion was an excellent syllabus Of tn
arguments in favor of English as
subject for study in the German pub
lie schools \ portion of It was as
follows:
! Firsr-r.neiish is the most widely
l=ad civilized language in the world.
Secoad-It is the most important
.laa2eaee for Germany's international
trade r=latians In Dresden especial
by the knowledge ef English IS OF
elpat a1zan1age to shopkaepers and
lcemmeacia men. owing to the I'M
portan. Anclo-Amercan colony there.
Thirl-EngIish deserves prefer
ence over French on account of its
/ literature. which ca eXcels that Of
Isench both from the artistic and
moral point Of yiew; (b) appeals
more nearly to our sentiment and un.
derstanding as that OF a German peo
pie; (c) has played a prominent part
! in the development Of Our own Htera-
ture.
Fourth-Enelish is not inferior to
! French in educative value.
Iii hin the teaching of English
The readily learned grammatical
fGrms of the language enable the time
a'iotted to its study o be spent in
ataining the most important object in
teaching a foreign language-the pow
or of its free use in speech and writ
jig. This is not possible in the case
o. French. owing to the difficulties of
It's grammar.
1t is only within recent times tha5
English has been tau2ht. carefgllF
even in English and American
schools. The Old theory was that
student learned English best by read
| ing the Latin and Greek authors.
While the benefits of a knowledge o.
Latin and Greek are very great. ana
eertinlv assist in acquiring the accom-
plishment Of using English correctly
and elegantly, the close attention nov
given to English in our own schools
will improve the average quality OF
English composition.
We scarcely appreciate wha,
treasure Va possess in orr English
t4neue. The vocabulary Of English
las beer enriched bT plumber from
c7e@y land and evrrE Language. L
a flexible tongue adaptable TO any
: "a. and a tongue which welcomes
]accessions when those are necessary.
/ Il is not by is intrinsic virtue, how
ever. that the Enalish language is
spreading and is becoming the cosmo,
politan medium Of communication
but rather by the Increasing imporc-
ahca of the people that speak English.
The British and the Americans con
| tlol large portion of the world
tyade Their influence is felt every
| where They sell TO everybody and
! everybody wishes to sell to THEM.
| y Crily. the English language has
csme forward since The time when
Bacon, despairing of the perpetuity OF
| the Enelish tongue translated some
Oh his works into attn.