The Evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1917-1920, 1918-08-27
STUDY MODERN LANGUAGES

1ne value OF the study OF mOderl
languages is stressed in a special gov
ernment committee report in Grea
Britain.
Modern studies" says the report
are the study of man in all his high
er activities, and they have a spe
cial moral value They are also al
instrument of culture, and by culture
we mean that training which tends
to develop the higher faculties, the
imagination, the sense of beauty and
the intellectual comprehension"
OF special interest at the moment is
the committees report on the import
ance Of continuing the study of Ger
man. While the experts place French
at the head of the list they put Ger
man only short way below it, and
the languages of Italy, Russia and
Spain next, in the order named The
report insists that all five of these
languages should have a place of high
importance at least in the universi-
ties. The members of the committee
whose personnel is of high distinction
do not share the antagOnism to the
study of German displayed in the
United States and Canada. As for the
secondary schools, the committee
recommends that compulsory Greek
and compulsory Latin be abandoned
Pupils should begin with a living
rather than dead language"
Commenting upon the same general
subject the Dallas News says:
I'm war times, people are very apt
to go to extremes. To prohibit the
teaching of German in our schools
and colleges would be very silly,
Those who would remove the German
language from the universities and
from the schoolhouses of the land are
no doubt actuated by patriotic mo
tives. But their patriotism is askew.
No harm can accrIe to this country |
from the teaching of German. What
we have to look out for is not teach
ing of German itself, but the teach
ing of other subjects in German. In
other words, the very fact that a stu
dent has to study German is prima
facie evidence that that student does |
NOT rim muph cbapca of ho;,r. o..
manized. But there are certain dis
trlcts in this country where German is
the prevailing language Sermons are
delivered in German, the schooIbooks
are of German text, the teachers and
pupils speak to each other in German,
and German is the common language
on the street and in the home. This
is the kind of German we must knock
out. We must not allow foreign-born
men and women to live in this coun-
try and enjoy the privileges of citizen
ship unless they speak our own ton
que. Strange as it may seem, there
have been babies born of German par
ents in this country who have grown
TO maturity without ever having spok
EN- any language but German. Nat
lrally, this class of people can not
be expected to be loyal citizens of the
United States. The tie that binds
hem to the fatherland has never been
severed. Though they may perhaps
have never have visited Germany, yet
because of their training and their
they are as truly loyal sub
ects of the Kaiser as if they had been
'orn in Berlin and lived there always.
t is these nests of alien culture. these
little Germanys" that we must root
Up and cast out of the body polite.
The real problem is one of American /
cation. To attempt to prohibit the
mere teaching of German to loyal
boys and girls, however. is
'ure foolishness. 1t is a manifesto
ion of chauvinism."