The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-04

months was all the time she spen, IN
the study Of our language. Her own
story Of this accomplishment is more
interesting than giving the mere data
would be-
1 did not learn English in six
months, as has been said" said inc
RUSSIAN actress to a recent interviewer
1t was in four months, really. Let
me see, met Mr.. Shubert. my present
manager, at the home Of a friend I'm
New York by appointment. 1 spoke no
EnSllsh, and Mr.. ShUbert spoke DO
Russian. My friend acted as trausla--
er. Mr.. ShubeTt made me the rronosi-
ton TO appear as an English-speaking
player. Like a business man. he
wanted II accomplished quickly. I con-
sldered his offer and signed a contract
That was in May But in spite Of my
anxiety to begin, I was DELAYED in
starting on the new study for several
reasons. Next there was some diff
Guilty in finding a teacher, and il was
not until the fore part Of July that
TOOK my first lesson And my contract
called for my appearance in October
You can imagine the quality of the
task.
I began my first lesson by poinrinc
out objects in my drawing room. and
my teacher. being unable to speak RUS
sian. gave me the English name for The
object which I happened to indicate.
repeated the nouns over and over. and
as was unable to make myself I'M
derStoOd we got along very ruggedIy
during the first few days. The words
seemed 70 remain in my memory Snd !
gradually acquired a small vocabulary
Within a few weeks I was able ia
think in short, easy English sentences.
and soon. to my great establishment 7
found that 7 was dreaming in Eng
lish- This was the result. of course.
Of having the English sentences so
firmly fixed in my mind during the
day. All day, and every dav. tbas,
lessons went on There is no stimulus
so great as necessity, and after all This
constantly prOdded me to greater ef-
fort I had begun my lessons the first
week in July, and my rehearsals began
the 18th OF September. I am afraid
that I spoke very brokenIy al the he
ginning. but every performance roa,le
my work easier.
I believe that il is well. in STUDYING
a new language, to learn to think in
It almost from the beginning. This ig
great deal better than 20 be ALWAYS
seeking to understand the words
through immediate translation into
ones own tongue. 4 factor that aided
me very ie-tetlE IN the study of Eng
lish was my knowledge Of French and
German. There are many words I'm
both languages that suggest by their
root their English equivalent. as. for
instance, the word habit in English
When I first heard this spoken I at once
thought Of 'habitue and so perceived
its meaning. The word fast suggested
the German fest and in this manner
many words come that are alike. and
l was able to understand English long
before I could speak l. Latin and
Greek. too. are Of immense aid in nm
derstanding new languages
4 hope so entirely 10 do away with
my accent before many months that 1
will be regarded as an American. am
told, though, that few Americans sneak
pure English, and that there s a pro-
vincial or local dialect in many quar-
tiers. ! can this now that 7 have trav-
eled through the country this season and
have found how different is the dialect
in the east. the west and the south
While Madame Nazimova did not
state il in her interview. 1t has been