Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-04
POUR PARLER
LA FRANCHISE
ANeELENos DECIDE TO TACKLE
LANGUAGE
LEARN TO SPEAK TONGUE IN A
SINGLE NIGHT
Professor Nesbltt Opens Up on a New
Glass and Forces Them to Un-
derstand French at the
Outset

plafond. Non? Cette class est obstinate,
Je suls premier person, plus Importance,
mais je suis timid!
Minstrel show circus, comedy, bur-
lesque, with an Italian bard leader
thrown in, were combined last night in
the opening lecture given by Prof. N.
Hill Nesbitt in his course of French les-
sons in choral hall.
Entertainer-in-c to nearly 500 peo-
pie, Prof Nesbitt made good last night.
But not all the entertainment was fur-
nished by lie professeur, for well known
men and women gravely declared that
they were walking on the ceiling, and
then enjoyed the joke as well as those
who had stopped just short of the as
sertion.
Prof. Nesbitt was the most up-to-date
school teacher imaginable, furnishing a
vaudeville show as an aside, but he re-
tains one characteristic of the old-time
teachers Ca most important one) ana
that was a good-sized walking stick
which he used to good advantage, but
again in an up-to-date, manner. The
stick was fiddle, baton and an all
around juggling entertainer. Prof. Mes
bitt without his stick would be like an
old-fashioned hand organ without
monkey, for it appears at every turn in
a new stunt.
Audience Smiles
Every one of the 500 persons who went
to Choral hall last night went there
with the expectation of smiling, and they
smiled to themselves and then at each
other. Then Prof. Nesbitt made his ap-
pearance and his smile didn't come off.
The smile grew while they waited into
a laugh and then kept on growing.
10 ri cd M a
little heart-to-heart talk, telling his pros
pective pupils that he was dealing in
French in the wholesale and that 1t was
best done in large numbers as for in
or other such pursuits,
expedience in numbers.
After this little preliminary the stick,
already working over time, the first les
son was begun. AS a1chilo begins to talk,
so did the class last night, and the
primative ''ta, ia, ta,' blu, blu end
ing finally in table" pleased them so
that it was no effort to get 1t repeated.
All the time the antics on the stage were
kept up as a background, and when the
word was finally reached, lie prefesseur
assumed the plus important attitude
which was laugh manufacturing stunt.
Learn to Say Pa Pa
"Pa, pa, pa" came next in the vo-
with lie professeur, ostensibly
until he showed some con-
fusion, when it was changed into papler.
Then came lie grande event of the even
ing, the first sentence. 1t was not the
first sentence of the professeur, for he
Is an old-timer and is hardened to it,
but 1t was the first for the most of those
present, so they made quite fuss over
it. La table est sur lie p.aneher" proba-
bly, brought more satisfaction with it's
utterance %Aan the reading of book
in English.
Then again the juggling tricks. The
table was surmounted by a chair and
then by piece of paper, and so it went.
adding little and then commencing all
over again, until the tongues and throats
were limbered up to good working order.
However, 'la malade de la couch" on
the part of the pupils was complained of
by lie professeur, who took refuge in
voluble French, calling them statues,
images and telling them that they were
as quiet as though they were in GEM
stery, which Immediately returned the
assemblage into theater audience, ap-
olauding the comedian.
Learn Rapidly
"Regardez lie grand difference dams la
je n suis pas Missouri
Nesbitt, mas Monsieur Nesbitt," but |
Missouri had made a hit and with Mis-
shur were in greater demand at first, |
until the people caught on to the "tra
"a" pronunciation of French as she is
spoke.
"Je deteste les verbs, je prefere la con-
yersation. La conversation est feminine"
declared the professor with perfect can
dor, 1ut Dy this time the people were
catching on" and his assertion was
met by Non, monsieur, with back
ground Of Missouri and "Misshur"
with the slow ones tagging along on ths,l
"sh' in decidedly shocking manner.
But from such shocking things they
went back to the a b of the Lesson,
la table est sur lie plancher, la chaise
est sur la table, lie papier est sur la
chaise," tra-la-ing their pronunciation
along the imaginary notes Of the baton
vigorously used by Prof. Nesbitt in a
combination bAton and calesthenics.
The las. We're gone through with in
a sort of drill-left, right, left stunt-the
professor however. doing the example on
the floor.
"L'anecdote du professeur" was never
ending amusement, which was made ex-
f1ippu hu hfq facial avprac-