Evening star., 1911-08-13
American Girls Seen With Foreign Eyes Lausanne Board

usually very superficial in all branches.
including the English language. She
lacks grounding. On the other hand. too
much of her attention is given to Latin
and mathematics. to the neglect Of other
subjects more useful. Owing to their
high spirits American girls are apt
to work too quickly. without method and
WITHOUT reflection. At Lausanne the
reflection, without, however, destroying
their originality, freshness and go"
1 asked the lady principal OF Les
Fougeres.' She is Of the same opinion.
Our girls do not come well grounded.
During the last ten years We have
had about fifty pupils from America,
she said. land OF this number six only
had previously received good and solid
education"
And the others?' 1 asked
The others had more or less vague
and superficial knowledge on general
matters. The majority were unable to
write their own language correctly, nav
ing often no knowledge OF grammar
This was q great obstacle in learning
French. All the same. on coming here
they expect to learn mathematics alge-
bra and literature. We know that they
must be more or less advanced In these
subjects to obtain admission into any of
the American universities; therefore, we
do our best to give them these lessons;
but we regret that coming to Lausanne
sometimes for hardly a year. they cannot
devote themselves to the study OF French
and perhaps German.
But as a rule they do not desire to
learn that which would be more directly
useful to them-but algebra and Latin
which they could study later"
Remember these are pedagogues. They
speak technically. I inquired OF many
others at Lausanne-with consensus
of these views for result; and my only
dread is not to be able to communicate
their spirit
They take their positions intensely to
heart at once fearless and tender. In
giving me these few notes they imagine
that they are speaking across the At
lantic to millions Of loving parents; and
they feel the responsibility. To merit we'll
of young girls Is their single interest: and
however, intransigeant they may be in
general, they rapidly melt down to SYM
pathetic compr rehension of individuals.
Never are our girls afraid of them and
there have been cases where they led
them by the nose-in trifies
For all these reasons L asked the lady
principal of Les Fougeres for more
personal estimate of the fifty American
girls who have passed under her. We're
they spoiled, for example.
'Only three" she answered willingly.
..Out of fifty, only three have given us
but little satisfaction or made uE regret
their presence at Fougeres. As to the
others we find them amiahle. affectionate,
full Of cordiality, gentle and tractable.
They take kindly to our ways, settle
themselves to work seriously. and finish
by taking a real interest in their studies
These girls are always sorry to leave us
and we remember them with pleasure"
II have called them too independent.
and now I say that they take kindly to
our ways" she concluded. 1T is not
contr ADDICTION, but proves merely that
these young Americans have plenty of
rood sense, which only needs to be de-
veloped.
OF course what Lausanne principals
cannot appreciate is that many American
girls. on arriving, had thought only to
nick up French. They took interest in
school studies only later.
Indeed. to gain a free use of French,
two wears. more or less Of Lausanne
sweet air, hygiene, and placid school rou-
tine are not too dear.
What does it cost In money?
In the rush of Americans to this little
corner of Lake Geneva 1t is less the
prices than the number of hotels and
boardinE-sc schools that have increased.
I have spoken of LausanDe's eighty
boarding schools: but close beside the
lowered and shady capital Of culture,