The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1920-12-02
IDEAS ON BETTER
SPEECH WEEK.
by Paula M. Kittel, Department Of
Eng1ish)

ASo3 $S~~~FO~<s
usage displayed in the speech Of some
students. No wonder that the practi-
cal man accuses the school Of failing
in it's duty; for we must admit that
the first and most important duty of
all education is to perfect the citizens
in an intelligent use of OEI medium IT
social intercourse.
To express ourselves in some way is
instructive, the form which that ex-
preston takes is purely habitual,
Since the child has already formed
many,habits of speech before he enters
school, and since the crowded school
program gives comparatively little
time to this most important, of all
school subjects, it would be hardly
fair to blame the teachers for all the
blunders of those who have come I'M
der their influence. To take courses
in spelling, grammar, composition,
rhetoric, and literature is of no avail
unless that which is learned in the
class room is applied in the speech Of
everyday life.
r If there is ever a group of young
people which should be DESTROYS Of
mastering the language and should ap-
ply itself seriously to that task, it, is
the. student body of a normal school.
Student life offers splendid opportuni-
ties to those who wish to improve
their own speech and incidentally help
in raising the standard for the group:
The closing words of our patriotic
pledge-"one language, one country,
one hag" three things; we al
ways remember the last two, but are
inclined, at least in practice, to neg
lect the FIRST.
One rather hesitates to suggest any
definite plan to those who wish to en-
ter the ranks in the struggle for better
speech. However, we shall inevitably
need to attempt three things. ~
First, we should eliminate all unde-
sirable expressions Slang may have
it's use in the growth of a language;
but most Of it is but passing fad.
Colloquiaism may enhance local color;
but does. not open the doors to a world
wide exchange Of thought. The jar
gon of special group may satisfy a
craving for adventure and secret un-
derstandings; but it does not add to
the usefulness of the speaker in carry
ing on the worlds work., Yet if we
could take out of some mems men,
cries all slang, colloquiaEsm, and jar
gon, it; would leave them with vocabu-
laries far too poor to discuss even the
simplest topics
4 Second, we should strive to acquire
a larger vocabulary. This does not
mean one should sit down and men,
orize the dictionary. Emerson, in his
essay 1The American Scholar" says,
"Only as much do I know as I have
Lived" He: rightly claims that all eff
fective learning must be recreation
of the original thought. It is in the
field of action and experience that
words. are developed. The lexicog-
raphers and gramm arfans are not
makers of language: they are record
ers. What time and usage have sane
toned, the recorders accept. If we
should strike from the vocabularies Of
a hundred educated men of today all
the words which science and discovery,
commerce and labor have added in the
Last hundred years, how intelligent
would their discussions on current
topics of interest be?
Finally, we shall need to strive to
distinct, and logical sentences. Be
hind the logical sentence there must,
Of course, be the logical thought. But
as these two react upon each other,
we may hope that faithful, persistent
effort for intelligent expression will
lead to clear, comprehensive thinking,
invisible power of which speech is the
outward and audible expression.
Better speech week concerns itself
largely with oral language, because it
is that form Of composition which ev-
cry rational human being constantly
uses. Better speech, however, should
not be matter Of interest for q week;
but for a lifetime. Nor is it confined
to America; for England is keenly
awake to the speech problem, and is
making q persistent effort to improve
oral speech. It would be well for all
young people to read those selections
from the Autobiography Of Franklin
in which he writes of his tenacious
untiring efforts to master the English
language; or recall the patience with
which Demosthepes overcame what
seemed at first an unsurmountable diff.
fculty. Such examples should Lead
! young people to SEE that the acquisi.
ton Of a good vocabulary, the mas.
terry of sentence structure, the faculty
for pure, distinct pronunciation, all re.
!, quire time and are the reward Of faith.
| full, persevering effort. For the few
| there may be such thing as gift Of
speech, but for the vast majority W.
may truthfully paraNhrase a we'll
!, known saying: '"The gift of speech j:
one per cent inspiration and ninety
nine per cent perspiration."
| OLD DORMITORY
/ Matilda Anderson, Anhabelle Yae
ger and Pearl johnson enjoyed tri]
l 70 Jamestown last Sunday in com