El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-21
WANTS SPANISH
FOR SCHOOLS
Educator Thinks Mexican
Children Should Learn
Own Language.


Albuquerque, N. NJ. Nov. 21-Before
the New Mexico Educational association
here today, Frank H. h Roberts,
member of the council Of the associa=
ton, made a plea for the teaching Of
Spanish in the lower grades to Spanish
He cited where Canada has found
it the most practicable to teach French
to the younger children in certain OF
its schools where Britain permits the
teaching OF the Welsh language in
the schools in Wales, the Dutch lam
guage in the schools of the South At
rican republic etc, all with splendid
results he declared: In part, he said:
The educational system of New Next
co is suffering from two fundamental
errors. The school men are response
BILE for one; the other is forced upon
US. I know Of no error in all our peda-
gogical experience more persistent than
the tendency of the school man to gen
eralize from too meager data He finds
one thing that works well with one
student, and then says, This IS good
thing for al students. Ihlnklng IN
the same way, we nave said that the.
schools Of New Mexico, regardless Of
race or previous attainment of pupils,
must teach all students In the same
way and for the same length Of time.
The state should be districted into at
least three districts. Into one district
I would place all those schools where
English is the only language Of the
children. In another district I would
place those children whose only lan-
guage on entering school Is the Span
ish The third district would contain
those schools where both English and
Spanish are the language Of the home
Each section should have its own or
ganization, it's own course of study, and
its teachers trained to meet its peculiar
needs.
The second error. the one forced upon
the state and accepted by many without
protest, is the requirement that all the
teaching in the schools of the state De
in English. When the kaiser forces
the German language upon Alsace-
Lorraine, and the car of all the Rus=
SLAMS commands that the POlander and
the Finn forget his native tongue and
learn to read in the language Of the
cOnquerOr, we express our Indignation
in no uncertain terms. Yet when we
have a problem of bi-lingualism to deal
with, We settle it upon the Das1s-that
the language of the majority must dis
place the language Of the few. After
all, is the Spanish language the Ian
guage of the few, when we consider
American possessions?
Here in New Mexico we face a fact,
a condition, and not a theory. We have
children entering school at years of
age, who know not a word Of English.
We Immediately give them an English
sDea king teacher, who knows no Span
She does succeed in teaching them a
list of words that they can say by rOSe,
but they have no conception Of their
meaning.
There is just one thing to do with
the Spanish speaking child of the first
and second grades, and that is to teach
him to read in the Spanish language,
the language Of his home, using the
same psychology that we use in dealing
with the English-sp speaking child
would recommend that a series of
Spanish readers be chosen for the
Spanish speaking children Of grades I,
II and III; that these children be taught
by teachers who know both the Spanish
and the English language; that the
teachers begin oral English and con-
tinue it for three or four years, intro
ducing the Spanish child to the English
reader probably in the fourth grade,
and as soon thereafter as possible car
~ on all instruction in English
In this way, save the native language
to the child and make the acquired Ian
guage of more value to him.