New Britain herald., 1917-08-13
LOVE OUT OF NEW
 SOLDIERS PRIMER
But They Can Speak in Universal
 YehiCle-The Eyes

New York, Aug. 13.-Ever since the first brick was pnortared into the Tower of Babel there has been but4 one accepted way of learning new
 language. One always started with
 the very "amo" and when one had conjugated it in every mood. tense and previous condition of servitude, one was considered fully competent to depart into any strange land and be-
 come full aedged after dinner
 speaker. V
 Many romance has had it's incep-
 ton in the coeducational institutions of America when the verdant be- freshman, directed to recite the pres-
 ent indicative of this treacherous verb. has foundered helplessly over the very beginning, first person sing
 ular, while his eyes strayed involunS
 tarily to one particular spot in the
 skirted section of the classroom.
 The war has changed all this. Mars
 has knocked Cupid. clean out of the
 textbook. The National Security league has just issued an English French Hand Book for the use of
 
 which upsets every tradition of the
 little red schoolhouse, because there l isn't a single one of its sixty-four"
 pages where the erstwhile omnipres- ent verb gets a line of space, even
 in diamond type.
 The text for this remarkable book lot was prepared by Prof. c. A. Dow ner of c. c. N. Y.. assisted by Prof. Adolphe Cohn of Columbia and Pres- ident August George of the National | Association of French Teachers It IS ' l sponsored by committee headed by Cecil c. Blumenthal and including as members Mrs. Robert Bacon. Nicho- las F. Brady. Miss Mabel Choate, Frederic R. Coudert, Cass Gilbert. l Myron T. Herrick. Philip M. Lydig and many others.
 Oi course, it Is to be presumed that the reason for stradng poor little 1 ''aimer'' is that no one will ever use
 1t in the trenches. It would be noth- ing short of ridiculous to picture an>- | American Sammy with his rifle pick ing off boche heads from the parapet
 of the enemy's trench ahead. as one l picks off the petals of a daisy. and 1 counting dulcetly I'll m 'aime|l ne
 m aime pas" l On the other hand there are hun I dreds of phrases and words compiled : l which will be of daily use to the Sam
 mics abtaa4. Names of the days' l weeks, 1taSons, parts of the body, [ countries, etc. Also there are few ] sentences to be used in emergencies. 1 For instance, complete translation. with phonetic pronunciation key, Is given of the words Where can ind l a taxi?" Presumably 1t Is to be used' | in case one becomes lost in No Mans l Land and cannot find his way back. For those seeking less aristocratic means of transportation 1t Is ex- 1 plaAned how to ask in purest French. Where is the subway station?" or Shall we take the trolley?" If the supply of smoking materials runs short in the trenches one Is taught 1 to inquire Where can get some to-- bacco?" And the answer is append | ed. There's the cigar store down there, on the corner" For smell talk ] a bountiful supply of phrases is fur- nished One can ask in between pe-
 riods of ducking Big Berthas and hand grenades, Have you seen to-; days paper? ?" or We are going to. have a storm" or That's just what want" or even, in extreme cases.: one may remark casually, Some ono, is asking for you on the telephone."' In conclusion, the first stanxa of La Marseillaise" Is given in English and in French, with a phonetic key.
 The latter informs one that the
 French national anthem, whom prop erly sung, sounds as follows: "A-lo-za,1
 ia de la patrie-e le jour de glwar
 e-ta-r1-ve."
 The booklet will be supplied, through the generosity of the publish
 ing committee, to the war department
 in quantities limited only by the re-,
 quirements of the army abroad. Tho
 first edition of 100000 copies Is now
 ready and will be shipped to Wash-.-
 lngton today.