Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-09-26
". S, C. TO HAVE
A LITTLE SPAIN

pushed at the TAR end OF Star Route
street in Pullman for the coming
college year. 1t will be dedicated to
the founding of an environment for
students studying Spanish. The pop-
ulation of little Spain just now con-
sists of Sen0rita Concha Meana,
Senior Bernardo Meana, her brother
and Sonora Meana, the mother OF
each, all newly arrived from Madrid.
Spain.
The house which houses little
Spain it this week being furnished
Ia Spain. The pictures on the
wall are many, most of them painted
by Senior Bernardo Meana, who, IN
addition to being instructor in Span
ish in the State College, is also au
accomplished artist. In his studio
upstairs is life-sized Spanish paint
ing of a Spanish grandee or some
body. He has new canvas stretched
for painting of his sister, Concha,
All conversation in little Spain is
Spanish-Spanish to the superlative
degree. Sonora Meana is good ma
tured and loves her children too
much to scold, but if she ever scolds
them or anybody else it will be in
Spanish. 1t is part of her contract
with the department of foreign IAN
guages to scold in Spanish. The col
lege population Of this little bit Of
Spain will be girls studying Spanish.
In fact, this Spanish home is to be
an EXCLUSIVELY girls home in Spain
managed and chaperoned by Sonora
Meana, with Senorita Concha, her
daughter, and the son Bernardo, ar
fist and teacher, living at home with
his folks. Little Spain is a Spanish
home.
In the house there is NOT a bit of
carpet on the floor, not a chair, not
a dish or vase or anything shat is
not Spanish. There is cabinet
sized grafonola and all its records
are Spanish. The style of table fare
may not be entirely Spanish, but who
ever says Pass me L bun" must
say it in Spanish before any bun
will be forthcoming 1t is a Spanish
environment. 1t is the next best
thing to trip to Spain where every
thing from the king down is Span.
ish and one can not stop IL street
car without stopping it in Spanish.
The founding of this Spanish
house for students of the language
is the outcome of an idea. The idea
Is that to teach foreign language
III a classroom is an uphill if not
quit an impossible job, Unless it is
supplemented with the national en-
vironment and conversation that goes
with the language.
How many people, comemnts
Professor Chalfant, head of the Ian
guage department here, have stu
died foreign language in classroom
and textbook, and then found them
selves able to understand people who
talk it. You must live in language
as we'll as study it in a classroom.
That is the idea. There is big
demand in Latin America now for
American business and teaching
methods service workers,
teachers, scientists, and so on, in
Guiding a wide range. But they
must know Spanish. Several South
American students were at the State
College last year. They told of
American automobile statesmen in
Chill, Brazil, the Argentine and
elsewhere in Latin America-unable
to speak word of Spanish. The
German and French, principally the
German, by the way, were cutting
circles around the Americans. when
tho Americans had by far the better
goods to deliver, Banking is done
in Spanish, all office work is done
i'll Spanish-eyerything in South
America is done or can be done in
Spanish, even in Brazil which is
Portuguese speaking nation, but un-
| derstands Spanish also. Professor
Chalfant says that the rise of Span
ish in the last few years is one of
the phenomena in language teaching.
Big business houses in the east and
west also, have been so hard put for
Spanish speaking assistants that
many of them, including the Nation
al City Banl. of New York, finan
cial institution in this country close
ly associated with the name of Frank
A. Vanderlip, are teaching their own
/ Spanish assistants. The schools and
colleges are keeping up with their
needs.
1t il one thing to study Snanisb