Evening star., 1942-11-15
Glass in Use Of Dictionary Held
At Department of Agriculture
Mrs. Peuse Gives
Unusual Course
Open to Adults
BY JESSIE FAINT EVANS,

Noah Webster, who gave America
the original Webster's Dictionary,
would certainly approve of the adult
class in the use Of his dictionary,
which is being conducted in the
graduate school of the Agriculture
Department by Mrs. Sally M. Pease.
Open to the general public, it is
believed to be the only adult class
in the study of the dictionary in
Washington.
Many Government employees from
all over the United States are
among those who not only are learn
ing more words than they knew be-
fore, but finding out more about
words. their pronunciation and their
correct usage.
"Webster's Collegiate Dictionary"
is the textbook for this increasingly
popular course. which is technically
described as Vocabulary Building
Through the Use of the Dictionary"
The class meets throughout the
academic year.
Use of Words Stressed.
The aim of this course" Mrs.
Pease says. lis not only to teach
our students how to use the die
tionary but to use it. and to get
enjoyment and satisfaction from
their use of it because of their
broader command Of words. Stress
is also put upon speech improve
ment and the fact that contacts
with others often are made more
enjoyable through the increase in
ones vocabulary"
Mrs. Pease tells her class, 1--WE are
not born with Vocabularies. The
acquisition of them is process
which goes on as long as We live
and most of us speak far more than
we write. Eventually We have four
vocabularies, our reading and writ
ing ones in addition to those with
which we hear and speak. A vocab-
ulary is not really our own until we
can use it as speaking vocabulary.
The study of the dictionary and its
frequent use help us with all four
of our vocabularieS. Remember. the
tool necessary to transmit thought
in every DAY life is the word
Through use OF the dictionary in
this class, emphasis is also put on
word study and selection, diacritlcal
markings. synonyms and antoynmS.
preflXeS and SuffiXeS. usage exercises
and other means of developing a
broad and useful command OF words.
An Interesting Study.
Miss Mildred Varney, one Of the
students in Mrs. Pease's vocabulary
building, said: Il am becoming
pronunciation conscious in contrast
to having been rather Indifferent In
this respect. Unusual words are
arousing an urge to know more
about them. Etymology used to
mean q science. now it is an inter-
esting study. Reaching for the die
tionary isn't chore any more, but
an intriguing experience. A tall,
serious man in the class from Min
nesota said he was surprised to
learn that modern dictionaries do
not dictate the proper use, spelling
and pronunciation Of words, but
merely record as history the way
words We're used in the past and are
used today" by the educated and
cultured people to whom the
language is vernacular'
Il had always thought that
definitions were arranged according
to their importance, SO it has been
helpful to learn that in Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary the deflni-
tions are arranged in their historical
order" he said. This makes it
possible to trace the history and
uses of word from its origin down
to the present time"
Miss Hazel Weight was pleased
that she was increasing her vocab-
ulary through learning to use new
words by learning new meanings for