Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1911-08-23

been tested and approved, and is
practiced in all Europe, the earlier
study of modern languages, before
the pupil enters the nigh school. In
Europe modern languages, we may
add, are required and are not mere
ly permitted studies. They are not
for a certain class of citizens, but
for all. So our appeal is for all the
American children, and not merely
for the children of foreign parents.
BETTER THAN "ESPERANTO."
"Esperanto'" based on the Latin
tongues, "Tutonish," based on the
Teutonic dialects, and many other
efforts to invent an artificial univer-.
sal language, express the human
longings for worldwide intercourse
and fellowship, and are continual
protest against a one-language civil
ization. These are only fads for a
season, yet they witness to the i'm
perative need Of studying more than
one language. Learning languages
unborn is like learning the dead lang
uages, they have little value for our
practical age. We live and act in
the present and should learn one or
two Of the greatest languages in use
at present and that will be the best
way to settle the universal language
question. "Esperanto," for example,
has no history, people, culture or
literature, and you have little should
you learn it. A German by learning
English, or an Englishman by learn
ing German, gets a better universal
language than "Esperanto." Why be
so unnatural in developing a natural
universal human instinct. The study
Of Latin and Of unborn languages has
been barrier in the way Of develop
ing the unity of all the Teutonic lang
uages and peoples-the Germans,
Scandinavians and English.
"BOSTON HERALD" SAYS OUR
SYSTEM OF TEACHING
MODERN LANGUAGES is
"GROSSLY DEFECTIVE"
''The Boston Herald" of last Mon
day, August IA, 1911, says in an
editorial on French at Washington
the following:
$50 Speaker Clark and two read
ing clerks of the House were baked
at communication in French. We
are not yet bilingual people. In
deed among the higher officers of the
government familiar acquaintance
with foreign tongues, ancient and
modern, was probably commoner a
century ago than today. George
Washington was not a lnguist, but
many Of the men CONSPICUOUS in his
two administrations and in those Of
the next thirty years read French
with fluency and some Of them spoke
it after fashion. Franklin was a
social lion in France.
"Our diplomatic corps has always
bristled with men acquainted. with
the languages of the courts to which
they were accredited and even with
the diplomatic language Of Europe.
There must be comparatively few
men at Washington who speak
French. All this is not soley because
an ocean lies between us and Europe,
but also because our system of edu-
cation is grossly defective. We teach
languages worse than any other great
nation on earth, ana our young peo-
pie commonly forget in few years
the little they ever learned Of French
or German at school. The condition
revealed by the amusing little Incl
dent at Washington is not creditable
to us merely considered as a practi-
cal people. We should demand a
thorough knowledge of French from
persons entering the consular serv-
ice and the lower ranks Of diplomatic
service and it should be matter of
course that any man aspiring to the
rank Of minister or ambassador
should be proficient in the language
Of the court at which he is to live.
We have no reason to be proud of
our unilingual condition."
J. N. LENKER,
Minneapolis, Mimi, Aug. l8, 1911.