The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1918-05-16
EDUCATIONAL.
SHALL WE TEACH
FOREIGN LANGUAGES? +?

~ WOulu pC ulllSulI 10 IUu Il DeU-
ter illustration of lightning change
in public opinion than we have at the
present moment with respect to the
teaching of foreign languages. For
the past fifteen years the state super
intendent of schools has been saying,
in session and out, that we were de-
voting too much time and laying en-
tirely too much emphasis on the
teaching of foreign languages, both
modern and classical. University
high school inspection and university
requirements have crowded into our
high schools foreign languages and
other subjects greatly in excess of
the actual needs of these schools from
an educational point of view.
The teaching of foreign languages
in the grades is a matter that | in
vestigated to my satisfaction when
my own children were passing
through the grades. The conclusion
| arrived at was that instruction in
foreign language in the grades was
practically valueless and waste of
time. The laws of Wisconsin make
provision that any school board may
permit the teaching of a foreign
language in the grades for not to
exceed one hour a day. This was
doubtless concession on the part
of Legislators to our large foreign
population.
Still speaking from the educational
point of view there has been an enor-
nous waste of time in this country
as a result of the attempts to teach
foreign languages from the grades
up through colleges and universities.
Everybody knows that pupils who
study foreign languages in the
grades have with rare exceptions
precious little to show for it at the
end. The same is true to a large de-
gree with respect to the instruction
in high schools and in the colleges
and universities as well. A very
large proportion of university grad
yates who in the past have been
compelled to take several years of
foreign language study, failed to de
velop any power, either in readl
enjoying, or speaking the language
they sweat blood in working off as a
requirement. have known men who
had recently acquired the Ph. d. de-
gree in universities that require a
reading knowledge of certain modern
languages, who were utterly unable
to read or translate EXCEPT with
grammar and dictionary standard
foreign books in their own speciality.
The meagerness of the practical
outcome from the study of foreign
languages has been recognized put
the argument or excuse has been
made that language study has very
high disciplinary value. In recent
years it has been shown in psychology
ical laboratories and in other ways
that this disciplinary value has no
solid foundation in fact. Tha lone
and short of it is that, educatcnally
speaking, foreign languages for the
average student who studies them ere
an ineXcusable waste of precious
time. | have heard it argued that
Latin helps English AS a matter of
fact, as Latin is ordinarily taught in
our high schools, it is anything but
help to English. | would add how
ever, that there are students who ac-
tually enjoy foreign languages, who
feed upon them intellectually, and
doubtless get much profit from them.
just as there are students who feed
on mathematics and others who
flourish mentally on science. There
ought to be opportunity for such stu
deents in our institutions of learning
to study foreign languages.
But what about the utility value of
the foreign languages? Do we not
need to teach them to young people
who plan to go into foreign countries
for various purposes? Doubtless
such opportunity ought to be offered
in, at least some of our institutions,
particularly colleges and universities.
Nevertheless, it does not follow that
a thousand students should study
Spanish in order that one may pos
sibly profit by it through commercial
relations with Spain. Again, it
should be matter of free choice on
the part of the student in view of
what he thinks will be useful to him
in life. Many people in discussing
educational questions forget that
when a student is devoting himself to
one thing he is by that same token
leaving out Of his education some
thing else that might be of equal
or greater value to him.
The reader will not construe this
to mean that | am opposed to the
teaching Of foreign languages in
high schools under proper restrc-
tions. | do mean to say that in the
past we have come near to making