The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-10-14

cial, nervous and impatient people.
We build for the amount and tire
of the present with rapidity that
makes the on-lookers' brain Whirl
We are proud of our speed. To
wait annnoys US; to work patiently
over subject, perhaps for months
and years, seems to US silly waste
of time. We dazzle but we are
not deep. That is why we enjoy
those who kow-tow to US and
praise US for what we appear to
be.
Pupils need models TO follow.
They initiate what they see and
/ hear. If the English of the home
is defective, the English of the
school ought to be as perfect as
possible. Before a teacher is EN-
gagged to teach in our schools, re-
CARELESS of the subject she is eX-
pected to expound, she should pass
a rigid written and oral eXamina-
ton in English. Certainly no GER
tificate should be granted until the
candidate has satisfied a compe-
tent jury that his or her know
ledge of the English tongue is
sure. No COLLEGE diploma should
be accepted in lieu of an examina-
ton, either. A teacher ought to
be compelled to show his goods
and prove that he owns them be-
fore he he allowed to sell them TO
the public. The more we exact
of people the more they find in
themselves to give.
This may seem like splitting
hairs or like searching for trouble
when all is peaceful, but a Ian
guage requirement is not too much
to exact from every teacher in the
State.
The time may come when Eng
lish will be taught by means of
phonetics as it is in many foreign
countries. The use of the interra-
tional phonetic system would help
to correct the uneducated pronun-
citation of those who hear vulgar
English in their homes and have
little or no opportunity of listening
to beautiful and refined speech.
Provincialisms would then have a
tendency to disappear.
The rural school needs teacher
more firmly grounded in Fn0lish
than doe the Hi~h School, and the
study of the mother tongue should
constitute the back, the bottom
: hn Of hA l,.a
beginning courses are always the
most important and they are given
to untried and rather incompetent
instructors. The farmer can and
should speak as correct and beau
tiful English as the city-bred man.
The present dav boy and girl
has been so iazzed mentally and
physically that his taste has been
vitiated to such an extent that
classic models make no appeal.
Such models bespeak restraint. res
pect for standards and traditions.
and training in the art of personal
intellectual work.
We esteem those who compel us
to make something of ourselves.
There is no evadino the truth that
compulsion is Just as necessary in
education as it is in the develop
ment of character. When expert
ence speaks, the young should be
not urged to listen but forced to
obey.
Pupils should be taught to put
their ideas on paper long before
they reach the High School. This
implies REGULAR courses in English
composition, these courses to be
graded and adapted to the age and
intellectual seriousness of the stu
dent. If passing from one grade
to another, or from a lower class
to higher, depended on the dual
ity of the work done in ENGLISH.
there would Immediately be fewer
mistakes in grammar, better eX-
preston of thought and infinite
respect for the mother tongue.
One father of five bows used to
fog his children severely every
time they talked, whispered or
even moved while music was going
on. They came to the conclusion
that music was a thing tobe re-
Spected. Their mother, through
the reading aloud of the finest ex-
amples of English literature, fore
ing them to listen attentively,
whether they wanted to or not, de
veloped in the boys a taste that
has made them finished products
of the best in American civiliza-
ton. This compulsion method can
be rendered so attractive that all
idea of rebellion will depart from
the mind of the child, and their
souls
"Shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infeSt the day,
Shall fold their tents like the
Arabs,
And as silently steal away
Let us no longer be afraid of
being courteoue, cultured and re-
fined The dull level of Main
Street ought not to be our crter-
ion. The English language is Il
priceless treasure that is ours by
lioht of Inheritance. Can one
study the public utteranceS of the
great Lincoln without feeling awcd
in the presence of such majestic.
apt and tcroe expression of
thought? Something more than q
picture of Lincoln .ould reign in
our School-rooms. His indefatiga-
bic will. his untiriug perseverance
and unhagging efforts to conquer
his mother tongue should be ever
present themes for discussion in
the classes.