Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1913-02-25
FIRST TEACHING Of
FRENCH IN AMERICA
Catholic Missionaries First Taught II
and in Earlier Days II Was
Fashionable.

A bulletin sent out by the United
States government to all the newspa-
pers in the country, commenting upo
the first teaching of the French Ian
guage in America says;
Credit is given to Catholic mission
aries for the first teaching of French
in America in a bulletin on modern
languages just issued by the United
States bureau of education. DR.. Hand
schin, author of the bulletin, shows
that even before the English settle
ments were fairly started, the Jesuits
We're bringing their language and civ
liization into the valleys of the ST,
Lawrence and the Mississippi. In
Louisiana French was first taught by
the Ursuline nuns, who came from
ROuen, France, in 1927 In their con-
vent schools they anticipated the de-
mands of present day language teach
ers by insisting that instruction both
in French and English be not only "in
theory, but in practice, the pupils be-
ing required to converse daily in both
languages"
French was a favorite subject in
the private schools Of colonial days
and later Thomas Jefferson studied
French in the school of certain Mr.
Douglass. In Franklin's Academy of
Philadelphia" it was taught as a pri-
vate outside until 1854, when a pro-
fessor of French and German was ap-
pointed. In 1890 "The Boarding
School Gin Bethlehem, Pa for the
Education of Young Misses offered
instruction in French, stating that "a
lady well yersed in this language has
arrived from Europe with the inten-
tion to give lessons in the same" An
extra charge of five Spanish dollars
per annum' was made for French
In New England the early academies
also taught French, frequently as an
incidental study with special fee at
tached The numerous Ohio semina-
ries of the first half Of the nineteenth
century, especially those for girls,
taught 1t as an optional study, on a
par with music and drawing.
1t was some time before French
proved its right to a place in the coll
lego curriculum. In 1888 the Har-
ward authorities gave permission to a
native Frenchman named Longloisse-
rie to teach the language to such stu
dents as desired It, but this privilege
was revoked shortly aftcrward be-
cause Of the dangerous opinions" of
the teacher. The subject continued to
be taught intermittontly until 1880.
when it became regular subject, and
in 1872 French had so grown in favor
that permission was given TO substl- !
tuto 1t for freshman and sophomore
Hebrew. Although William and Mary
college established a professorshlp of
modern language in 1779-SO, Amherst, .
according to Dr. Handgchin, was the .
first institution in America to intro
duce thorough-going modern Ian
guage course.
French as a high school subject
grew rapidly after 1850 In 1SS6-S7 !
II per cent OF the students in the
public high schools studied the Lam (
guagc. The latest figures cited by DR.. +
Handschin show that over a hundred I
thousand students in public and prl-
vate high schools are now taking Il.
French 10 littlo taught in the elemen-
tary schools, except where there Is a
large French population, as In Loulsl-
ana"
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