Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-29
Talkies Are Proposed
To Teach Languages
Prom the Chicago Tribune.

From the Chicago Tribune.
American movie producers seem to
have solved the problem Of holding the
export market for American films de-
spite the fact that the American Aims
speak English. One of the largest Of
the American producing companies now
sends its films to Paris, where the sets
are duplicated. The films are repro
duced, scene by scene, 10 times by
actors recruited In 10 different coun-
tries of Europe. The cost of all 10
translationS Is said to be only slightly
higher than the cost Of the original
production in English.
The method Is testimonial to the
resourcefulness and energy Of American
business. in overcoming obstacles. It Is
to be hoped that American pedagogy
will be 81 alert to the opportunity pre-
sented BY foreign language talkies for
foreign language instruction. Today
the teaching Of foreign tongues in this
country comes close to being q total
loss. After three or four years Of In
struction in French. German or Span
ish only the unusual pupils are able
anything approaching fiuency. It Is
probably wei within the truth to say
that not one in a hundred has any
thing approaching mastery Of the
spoken tongue.
The failure would be startling If 1t
were not so common as to be regarded
as normal. There are q number Of rea.
sons for 1t. One of them unQuestion-
ably Is the lack of facility on the part
Of great numbers of our teachers in
reading and especially in speaking the
language they are teaching. They can
correct exercises, perhaps. but to them
the subject they are teaching Is rather
q discipline for the mind than q tool
whose value resides In its use. 1t is a
good deal rs II carpenters apprentices
were taught to weigh. measure and de-
scribe the hammer as II that were an
end in itself. The carpenters appren-
tice who has not learned to drive and
draw q nail, any one will admit, has
been badly instructed. and the same
judgment must be passed with respect
to the high school or college boy who
has spent three years studying French
and still can't read it or speak it. The
teacher who protests that the boys
mind has been benefited by the three
years OF discipline, even If he hasn't
learned to use the language studied. Is
only making q poor excuse for failure.
Admittedly. 1t is next to impossible to
import foreign speaking teachers In the
numbers required The lack OF them
may now be compensated for, in some
part, at least, by foreign speaking
movies. Almost any one who has lived
abroad will testify to the value of the
ater-going in learning to understand
foreign speech. which is the natural first
step In learning to use any language.
The ordinary talkie in foreign Ian
guage could be shown in our class
rooms together with the English version
If that were desirable. It should also
be possible to produce the foreign Ian
guage plays which our students now
read in class as an adjunct to the read
ing. We do not suggest that subject
ing the language student to talking
movies Of itself will give him mastery
Of the language he Is trying TO learn.
but we believe It might prove Of great
aid. The desire to know what the
actors say might even stimulate class
room interest in verb forms and gen.
ders. The experiment is well worth |
trying.