Evening star., 1935-09-28
Speech Gets
Its Beauty
InChildhOOd
Avoiding Attentions
When Motive May
Seem Selfish.
BY EMILY POST.

"DEAR MRS. POST: Why do You
lay so much stress on q child's
pronunciation of words? It would
seem to me that the instincts Of
courtesy implanted in childhood are
of far deeper importance"
Answer do not for minute mean
to detract from the importance OF
courtesy. but courtesy, being largely
q matter Of understanding the point
Of view Of others, is something that
is learned little by little at every age.
The only time when the efiortless
perfection Of beautiful speech can be
acquired is in earliest childhood.
I have written this before. but
please let me say again. to those Of
you who were born in q foreign
country, do, beg of you. talk to your
little children in your mother tongue.
Not only because knowledge Of more
than one language is an outstanding
requirement OF culture, but because
the more sounds q little child's
flexible tongue can pronounce and his
super-sensitive ear can perceive the
more flexible and beautiful will his
English be. The inability of the
adult to pronounce foreign language
without q trace Of accent is partly
lack of tongue fexibility, but to
greatest extent 1t is the result of an
undeveloped sense of hearing. Do
you know any foreigner whose English
has not q trace of accent? If you do,
it Is q thousand chances to one that
he spoke English huently by the time
he was 3. If not, then he has the
language sensitiveness Of about one
person in a hundred thousand.
Dear Mrs. Post: When one of my
woman teachers takes her place at
the lunch table at which perhaps only
I, or with several other girls are
seated, an I, or at least one Of us,
expected to pull out her chair. and
all Of us rise? This teacher holds an
important position in school, although
she isn't very old"
Answer-You might properly do
this If she takes the chair next to you
and every one at table should at least
make the gesture Of rising at her
place until the teacher Is seated, but
If one of you were to make practice
of going around the table to hold her
chair, you might give the impression
that you were making up to the
teacher, which is always a bad repu.
tation to acquire. In other words, be
polite in every close contact, but don't
do things that conspicuously exag-
serate any attentiveness 10 one who
can be of advantage to you. In other
words, be polite to every one, but
don't single out an influential person
and be over-polite to her Cor him)
alone.
Dear Mrs. Post: I am going to
invite . boy to stay with us for sew.
eral days and wonder how can
avoid making him spend any money
during his visit"
Answer-Make . point of taking
your meals at home and make en-
gasements for him that do not include
the possibility of his being made host.
II tickets are required, buy them be.
forehand. If he wants to buy d big
box of candy, tell him you are on
. diet and can have only one ice
cream cone o day. After all, little
forethought and little tact, plus q
little plain sense, ought to solve the
problem easily enough. The only
difaculty Ia in avoiding letting him
suspect you are trying to keep his
pocketbook intact.
Dear Mrs. Post: ! have been told
that finger bowls are going out Of
fashion. Is this true?''
Answer-Of course not. They are
always put at the places, either with
or following the dessert plates. For
that matter, they should also be
profiered whenever fruit or broiled
lobster or any other smeary food has
been held In the fingers.
(copyrisht. NR5)