Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1915-10-21
TRAINING TONGUE AND
EAR BY A TWO LAM
GUAGE EDUCA-
TION

Following ia an article which was
recently published In the Tyler Herald.
As it Is OF Educational interest we
publish it. 1t reads as follows:
In his lecture before the members of
the school board and high school pupils
Tuesday, DR.. Tinker Of Minneapolis de-
livered q very instructive address on
training the tongue and ear Of the child
by teaching music and the settlement
language one hour daily as provided by
law in the graded, country and high
schools. Being of Scotch Irish and
Pennsylvania German descent and hav-
ing learned to speak German and Scan
dinavian after he was grown, the
speaker knows by experience what he
advocates. He does not ask for more
than the Commissioner of Education at
Washington, ID. c., the National Edu-
cation Association of America and the
expert pathological and pedagogical
opinion OF America and Europe adyo-
cate, namely: That modern languages
should be taught in the grades and with
the direct conversational method in
stead Of the Latin grammar methods.
Language Ia talk and the aim Of langu-
age teaching Is to give the child the
training Of the mine, tongue and ear.
That Is received by learning second
consciously, as the first language Is
learned unconsciously. Goethe says:
He who knows only one language does
not know that well. In Europe 1t is
an accomplishment to converse in two
tongues.
Scandinavian il not a foreign Ian
guage here in the northwest, where it is
spoken more than any other except
English, and Americans begin to study
it as they do French in the New Eng
land, German In the Central and
Spanish In the Southern states. An
other and perhaps the strongest reason
for English speaking Americans to
learn Scandinavian ia that it il united
with German and created the English
language and II is impossible to reach
the root life of English without know
ing the tongue Of the Mortimer on the
North Sea. The day of the lack of
appreciation of the language, culture,
literature and history of the northern
people is passing. Leaders of eduea-
ton feel more and more the need of a
knowledge of the settlement tongue to
develop our schools more along Ameri-
can lines in adjusting the system to the
child and locality rather than the child
and locality to the system. Two things
are needed to maintain public schools,
children and taxes, and the parents and
taxpayers would be pleased to have
taught the community tongue which
could be heard spoken in daily life.
In 35 American universities Seandi-
navian is taught: in Minnesota in so
high and 300 graded country schools.
In North Dakota about So schools offer
it. In Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and
Wisconsin it is offered in many schools.
Able teachers and good text books are
available. In Minneapolis 65s high
school pupils study Scandinavian in
some schools and it is becoming the
most popular language study. There is
no danger of Americans learning any
language too well. In twelve years it
seems unwise to offer a second language
only four years and that at the end. in
stead Of the beginning of child's edu-
cation. 1t is proved. pupils who have n
two-language education in the grades,
know English better than pupils who
have travelled the monotonous road Of
only one language. Only half or 1
full hours or two-thirds of teacher $
time il needed to give a daily half hour
lesson in each Of the eight grades. Is
it not worthy Of an honest trialr
Il Ss--.