New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-08-27
"vsrv true: he is made fast BY DEM

very true; he is made FAST 0' ''
tied" 70 fast
"Ab zat cannot be: re cannot go 'a.s,
But what YOU call a man that Keeps
"Oh. he is a good man that does Ho'
on fast days "a,
..put 7 bav, seer one bon vivant' VINO eau
sr,.L ,rd ride and do everything. ne
nocrle saw he is bad maine 10 WI
fast" u,o,
..True that Is called living a fast me
"Ah. certainement; zen all re days OF niS
life must be fast days
Certainly they are
"Eh bien. Docs he eat every day!
certainly he does"
zen how can he keep fast!
oIybv he keeps going. to be sure.
..vv YOU tell me to stand fast when you
want me to keep still. and 20 last "ner
YOU want me to run-how can unuei-
stand?'
once. while talking with school 'eacher'
I said Il hear you are leaving us; nope
YOU are going for good" cannot forget
the ladys amused expression, as she uh-
drrstcod that I wished her well
Take the words up and down. Last sum
me-, the solectmen OF our town put up on
the roads signs bearing the legend. AUTOS
Slow Up" | do not even now UNDERSTAND
why Il should not as well. be SLOW down.
II both expressions are permissible VIII
some one explain the difference between
slowing up" and slowing down. The
following telephone conversation illustrates
some of the singular uses OF these bother
some words. To request OF friend to
sneak 10 Mr. -, Mrs. ---- replied: i m
sorry. nv husband isn't down yeti mean
he isn't up yet. I'm letting him sleep late
this morning. He was so down last even
ing over his Office troubles that he was
about ready to give up. He says ne u DC
down as soon as he gets up.
And may | say word in regard to the
variety i'm pronunciation which perpleXes
the foreigner? He justly expects uni
forrnity in this matter. but he Is doomed
/ TO disappointment. Take that word pro-
| nunciation: some give and others sh
! sound to the ci. He gives the long sound
/ to the first vowel i'm patriot and somebody
/ calls him down and declares that short
sound ought 10 be given 10 IT, He goes TO
! the dictionary and discovers that both OF
! the accommodations are correct. There are
a vast number Of words which are pro-
nounced in two ways, or differently ac-
cented by different people, and the die
tionary supports these various pronuncia-
, tons
! The adult foreigner may. in the course
/ If time. master most OF the peculiarities of
English. but after years of experience he
I r,trs,
| fecty the American accent" is simply i'm
/ possible. He cannot eradicate entirely the
! accent" peculiar 10 his own native tongue.
Now, to sum up: All the foregoing state
ments tend to show that in acquiring the
/ English language one must learn each
word by itself He cannot be positive about
the spelling and pronunciation OF any
! word without consulting either dc
/ tionary or we'll educated person. II he
| suffers himself TO be guided by the SINH
larity OF letters he will sooner or later
| learn that break will not rhyme with freak.
nor sew with few. horse with worse and
! shoe with foe. Once. in speaking to an
/ audience | pronounced the word cleanli-
ness as though IL were Cleanliness You
/ can imagine my chagrin when sfterWard |
/ saw my error. Why should the first sylla-
BILE in cleanliness be pronounced differently
! from clean? Many similar mistake has
taught me the lesson that when | meet a
new word must not rely upon my judg-
ment as to pronunciation and accent. un-
/ less It is "A very-simple word. To master
| such a broad language. each word each
phrase, each idiom by itself, requires great
! patience perseverance and long suffering.
| II is said that the English language is the
| hardest Of all Languages except Chinese.
| | am told that what makes the tongue OF
the Celestials particularly difficult is that
one must learn its several thousand char
| acters one by one. But, pray tell me what
am | doing in learning English If not tast-
/ ing the experience OF a Chinese student?
| II I knew ten or twenty thousand words l
affirm that l have learned each of them
separately and noted their peculiarities in
construction pronunciation, accent and def
| nitions one by one
All the Irregularities, inconsistencies and
ahsurdties OF the, English language may
seem amusing 10 the American born people
| who have forgotten their schoolday eXpe
| riences But they are far from funny 70 a
! foreigner. The strug ele 10 grasp all the
! intrcacies If English photography. pro
nunciation and accentuation is sapping the
| life blood of many a foreigner who is anx-
! ious 70 learn American manners and Gus
| toms Much has been said and written
about assimilatng the foreigners who come
here but the American people do not seem
| to consider seriously the fact that the
I greatest barrier in the way OF assimilation
| is the difficulty in acquiring the English
tongue Without a medium Of intercourse
the foreigner cannot come in contact with
/ the native people He cannot understand
| their civilization. Without reading he can
not have a correct knowledge of their Gus
toms and institutions. The sooner ne learns
to read and speak English the more quick
! " he will come TO an understanding OF
American society and democracy.-H. T.
I Torosyan, in The Bcokman.