Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1918-10-01
TEACHING ENGLISH
TO FOREIGN BORN
State Council Of Defence Aiding
Board of Instruction for
Registrants.

Wilmington Board of Education. IS de
visinr a Joint plan for giving a working
knowledge Of English To all non-Engllsh
speaking men to he called IN Class m the
present draft The matter was taken up
bv the Defense Council IN conference last
week with Adjutant General Nickcrsham,
John j. Sattcrthwait, chairman OF the
Board Of Instruction. and Prcsld nj MI
Ter of the Board of Education. This move
nrnt is in response to tho request oi the
Provost Marshal General and III response.
also. to the recommendation oi the Federal
Bureau ef Education.
Not long ago. Secretary Lane pointed
out that there were 100000 men IN the
country who could not read or write, but
who arc very likely "a he drafted into our
army in The present call. including rs u
does men up TO - years OF age rs early
us last March. Secretary Lane urged
communities to take some action To make
il impossible for mon TO go to camp with
out the ability even 10 understand the
language of their commanding officer At
hat time the secretary pointed ont how
important II Is that this hc done before
the men go IL camp. because training
camps for soldiers are not equipped Tor
school work and the burden OF teaching
men to read the simplest English should
not Aff east upon t'4ttttl~ ~ Attlti III
camp They have enough 10 do IN the
camps to prepare the mon IN other WAYS
for overseas service. It Is our clear duty to
give some lueatinn To all our mon before
trev enter the army
In the first draft alone, between 10000
and 10000 illtcratcs were brought into
the National Army and approximately as
many near ilitcratcs There were IT one
time in the spring Mt Camp pton alone
1000 men who had rot q working or mill
tarv knowledge Of tho English language
Consider what this means, and what tho
position of these mon in camp really is
They cannot sign their names.
They cannot read their orders posted
upon the bulletin boards IN camp
They cannot read their manual Of arms
They cannot read their letters or write
home
They cannot uudoret and tho signals or
follow the Signal Corps in time ~ battle
Obviously. mon with handicap Of this
kind cannot possibly make good soldiers
DELAWARE mas ITS SHARE oF ruF PROBLEM
1t is probable that IN the first draft
Delaware had not a very great many
non-Fnglish speaking men IN Class |
We have at present no means Of dctermiu-
ing this accurately BIT IN the present
draft with IFS inclusion of older men
here can hardly help hciug q number Of
uor-Fnglish Speaking men, some Of whom
viii 60 INTO Class \ The State Defense
Council working with the AdJutant
General office Is taking steps to secure
accurate data rs soon as possible after
The QUnSiIornaIrcs now out. come IN
There Is another reason WHY teaching
English to drafted mon will probably be
particularly important in Delaware The
r.
States. recently signed provides that
Greeks in this country, who do not enlist
in their own army within > certain gwen
period NAV then nc drafted into the
american Army This means that Greeks
in the last draft who were given deferred
classification as aliens and put in Glass :.
Will automatically he moved UP 10 { lass
Also. the treaty with Italy soon 10 be
promulgated. viii affect IN tho same man
nor = large number of italians IN Della
ware
II is possible that p great many of these
foreigr-born know some English. but
very great deal can bc done to increase
their military efficiency bv brief series
Of lessons in the KIND Of English particular
" adapted to military and camp life
There arc = great many foreign born IN
this country, who say they speak English
but whose vocabulary Is confined 10 the
particular lob thoy arc doing or TO the
names Of things they wish 10 buy in the
shops In some Of the camps. very OK
cellent series Of lessons have been prepared
which could undoubtedly hc made avail
able fer uso here before tho men go to
camp. The copy Of a sample lesson follows:
VERBS REVETLIE
sleep i sleep IN my bunk
Blows 4 whistle blows
Awake awake from sleep
Jump jump out Of bed
Dress dress myself quickly.
Col 60 downstairs
" ASH wash myself
Comb comb my hair
Is 1t is cold
BlowS-The buelc blows the can for
overcoats
Put J put on my overcoat
Wear wear my gloves.
Fall In fall in Inc
Answer i answer the roll call
Dismiss The lieutenant SAYS. DIS /
miss the company
Shouts The first sergeant shouts
Dismissed
Col 60 inside
In warm weather the part relating 10
gloves and ovcrcoats may he omitted
Grammer Pronoms, You wash your /
self. etc
Reports from the camps show that FOR |
many reasons this work could be much |
better done before the men 90 To camp I
In report from Camp Upton which We !.
have before Us. the officer III charge saws. /,
in speaking of the English work under /
taken with the 600 n0n-EnClish speaking I
men at the camp: In some regiments the /
work had to be abandoned because Of the |
pressure Of getting ready for overseas |
service
BY the State Defense Councils plan. /
with the cooperation Of all the agencies I
concerned, the next non-Engish speaking /
men drafted from Delaware should have /
an opportunity to learn English before |
they 90 10 camp. In the work there will I
he close cooperation with the work of the /
Board of Instruction. which Is charged by /
the Provost Marshal General to give all /
drafted men instruction in matters of |
health, war risk insurance legal matters |
etc While teaching English TO illiterates /
is not specifically stated. il MAY he con- |
sidered to fall within the scope Of the /
GARD The object Of their work is offici- |
elly stated to be, ito put the selective |
rvice men into camp, willing, loyal, |
lean and sobre and fit for rapid progress
. becoming good soldiers
In carving out this work. the Defense |
{ ouncil will need men and women willing +
10 give a number of hours each week, pre- |
in the evenings to teaching the |
men The State Defense Council urgently |
requests that AL persons willing to volun- /
teer such service send in their names prom /
pity TO the AmericJnizatIon Committee, /