Trench and camp. ([Admiral, Md.) 1917-1919, 1918-07-25
foreigners
To- SPEAK ENGLISH
"Y'' Secretary Demberg In Four
: Months Makes Men Far
Better Soldiers.


some morning or afternoon and hear
chorus saying in loud tones, 81 open
my eyes," IT found my watch" or II
taste the tea" you will probably ASH
yourself the question:: els this the
Camp Meade school?"
And you would be right.
The only distinction between this
school and the ordinary one ia that the
scholars are more enthusiastic, realiz-
ing that they can beat the Hun by
talking, reading and writing English
as well as by hurting bombs and firing
explosive shells. These students are
soldiers, most Of whom do not even
speak English, and. consequently, the
military authorities are DESTROYS OF
having them acquire working lxnowl.
edge OF the language. so that military
commands may be executed more in-
diligently.
Soldiers University"
This school, or university" as. he
calls 1t, is in charge Of Theodore
Demberg. a "Y" secretary, who came
here recently from the philadelphia
O00A GuK8KEQ
teaching English to foreigners for the
past twelve years. His was the work
Of Americanization.
Mr.. Demberg is<worlxing In conjunc-
ton with the officers of the camp, who
detail the men to take instruction dur
ing twelve hours each week. Mr. Denn-
berg believes that within four monfha
the men VIII be able to get along very
well In ordinary military pursuits.
at them, jokes with them, sympathixes
with them and encourages them. No
wonder he is popular. But the best
PROOF OF this is the fact that after
teaching a class one hour and twenty
minutes he gets widespread applauge
when he announces the time and place
OF the next lesson.
No Alphabet Used.
His methods are direct and siuanIes I
he does not start with the alphahef.
but works back to 1t in order to eee
that the men all understand the IL.
ters. Leaflets are provided with
printed sentences on one side and Win
words IN script on the other.
Tnese leaflets constitute q lesson
Wnlch the men must learn each day.
A verb is printed by itself and then
sentence follows in which that verb
appears. For instance, "Shew-Please
snow me your book; "Turn-Turm
over the page"
The men learn to understand these
things by constant repetition and the
letters of the alphabet come to them
naturally in the course Of their
studies.
Nearly a thousand men are taking
advantage of Mr.. Demberga course
and probably more will be added TO
the classes within q week. About sixty
soldiers have been trained by Mr.
Demberg to act as his assistants In the
teaching OF small groups. Lieut.. Pro-
chaska, Czecho-Sloval, is one 0f the
principal teachers. He has been at
Camp Lee and speaks nearly all OF
the Slavic tongues. Before getting
his commission he was q New York
tailor.
Enemy Aliens Next.
Thus far the work has been princi-
pally among the men. Of the Develops
ment Battalion, the Cooks and Bakers
School. and next will come the alien
enemies.
No chance is lost by Mr.. Demberg
to inject q patriotic vein to the teach-
ing and the classes are opened gem
orally with the singing Of THE Star
Spangled Banner" He has informed
the officers that he proposes 60 start
entertainments, to be given BY the men.
with the singing Of songs In several
languages. This will serve as link
between the new and the old.
Mr.. Demberg came from Riga, Rus
eia on the Baltic sea.