Decorah-posten og ved arnen., 1922-07-14
country. Else what a Babel we should


ing immigrant ever fully appreciates
the advantage he has over those from
other lands, in that he is spared the
giving up of his language, a very part
of himself, and learning to talk all
over again. If he did he would be just
a little more patient with the seeming
slowness with which the others let go
the language they learned at their
mothers knee and used the first
twenty-thirty-forty years of their
lives. Generosity born of his own
happier fortune would make him more
clement in his judgment.
Well" we are told, "if he loves his
language so much why does he not
stay at home?' Why, indeed? One
would have to write a history of the
world to sift and weigh the causes
that lead men to migrate. emigrate,
and immigrate. | can only say that
he has done so since the beginning of
time. The Britisher does so today.
Only as | have said before he is more
fortunate in having so many places to
go where he will not have TO be de-
~languaged and re-languaged.
Then what of the melting pot?"
you say. No power on earth can
stop its boiling" is my reply. At best,
or worst, its work can only be re-
tarded a few decades. Whether one
regrets that fact or r~ejoices in it does
not alter things in the least. History
repeats itself. 1t took the Pilgrim
Fathers just thirteen years to see that
if they remained in Holland, their
children would become Dutchmen.
In the tenth century Rolf, or Rollo,
the Walker, a Norwegian viking chief
tain conquered and settled the north
ern part of France. In the eleventh
century his lineal descendant, William
the Conqueror, French in language,
manners and customs, conquered Eng
land and imposed the French language
upon her people.
If those who think Americanization
goes too slowly knew what a struggle
it is for foreign born parents to teach
even a smattering of the ancestral
tongue to the American school child,
their fears would be Gained. ! speak
from experience. 1t is nearly eighty
years since my maternal great-grand-
parents came to this country. My
father was brought here a babe in
arms. My parents were determined
that they would pass on to their
children the language and traditions
OF their forefathers, and that they
would do so by the natural method,
namely, by speaking it in the home.
My mother spoke English to her sis
tiers and brothers and Norwegian to
her children. Strive as 1 may l shall
not be able to surpass my fathers
command of the English language.
No effort was spared; but l assure
you it was uphill work. We spoke
Norwegian to our parents and Eng
lish among ourselves. English is the
language in which we think and our
natural medium of expression. 1t was
not until we were grown up hat we
appreciated the advantage of having
more than one language at our COM
mand, two windows to look through
instead of one. | can not see that
this has been a detriment to our Eng
lish quite the contrary. Nor can
| see that it has made us less Ameri-
can. Just as my grandmother's
brother gave his life for his country
in the Civil War, my own brother
went as a volunteer and fought with
the Marines at Chateau Thierry.
When parents come to this country
too late in life ever to acquire a good
command of English, it is very inn
portant that their children learn to
speak their parents tongue. They
should be encouraged to do SO, that
the gulf between the old and the new
may be bridged. Social workers tell
us that children of such parents have
a way of getting away from them
that often works disaster. Whenever
feasible the language of the parents
should be taught in our schools. In
this country children often have better
chances of getting an education than
their parents had; moreover they learn
English SO much more rapidly. 1t is
well therefore to have at least one
school subject in which the parents
are the superiors.
But even where such is not the
case, here is every reason for study
ing the language of ones W ances-
tors in preference to that of some
ones else ancestors. A teacher OF
French told me that the fact that she
had a French grandmother made all
the difference in the world in her
acquisition Of French.
We of Norwegian descent are rob-
bing our children of a part of their
natural heritage if we fail to ~acquaint
them with the language, literature,
history and traditions Of Norway.
That these are worth knowing is the
testimony of such men as Carlyle,
Matthew Arnold, William Morris, Sir
Edmund Gosse and our own Elmer
son and Longfellow. Most great
universities have chairs in the Scandi-
~navian languages. Many of the
American professors who are teach
ing them have not a drop of Scandi-
"navian blood to stimulate their inter
est. When ! asked one of these how
he happened to choose Norwegian as
his life-study, he replied, 1T was love
at first sight"
:, Do not fear that teaching your
!, children Norwegian will ever divide
their allegiance. A mother will al.
ways be a mother. No grandmother
can take her place. 1t was war.
. hysteria that tried to tell us some
thing else.