The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-09-09
WAVE Co-eds Cram On Japanese
LEARN ENENdYs LANGUAGE IN NAVY SCHOOLS BLlrz COURSE
LEARN ENEMY'S Il
BY CAROL herman
(NEA Stan Writerl


Boulder, Colo.--Let's listen IN on
an early morning conversation be-
tween two co-eds ct the University
Of Colorado here.
First coed: "ohayo gozaimasu."
Second coed: 'Nippongo wa
muzukashii desu me-"
First coed: Demo, tokiroki raku
nj naru koto mo arimasu."
Second coed: "Sayonaro, mata
izlire :"
What's It all about? We'll, they're
not eating about sorority sister
in pi Latin. They simply have said
good morning." goodLnaturedly
'griped" about the tough course
they are taking, and then said
goodby. And the language? Oh yes,
it's japanese.
Since July /, scores Of girls have
been studying the language Of Nip
pom at the only Navy Japanese Ian
guage school in the country. After
a satisfactory three-month proba-
tionary study period, they will be
commissioned as WAVE officers,
ultimately proficient in reading,
writing and speaking the language
of our Pacific enemy, as well as able
to understand Japanese language
broadcasts. The Navy wants more
women to apply for admission to
the school and all inquiries should
be addressed to the officer in charge,
Lieut.. -Comdr. A. e. Hindmarsh,
USNR, Room 4625, Navy Dept,
Washington, d. Q.
These future translators and in
terpreters have the Job Of learning
In one year, a language that used to
require three to five years Of study.
The girls have six textbooks and 81
dictionaries to "bone' from, because
although the Japanese may lalck
battleships, they do not lack words.
To facilitate this blitzkrieg learn
ing Of a complex language, classes
are limited to six students and the
instructors, most OF whom are Nisei,
whose records have been investi-
gated by the Office Of Naval 1ntelh.
gence, offer almost individual in
struction to each student. The
students attend reading, dictation ana
conversation classes, see sound NOV
les and listen to monograph
records.
Their pattern Of learning is the
same as that Of a child who Is just
learning how to speak. First they
are shown the characters; then
they listen to them and learn to say
them; simultaneously they learn
writin and principles Of grammar.
What kind Of girls have Volun-
teered for this job that requires
spending 1850 hours q year IN class.
5000 hours In study. and $50 hours
In taking examinations? The an
swer is--just about the cream Of the
intellectual crop. The WAVES at
Boulder range in age from 10 to 80,
but the average looks like any col
lege coed, is %, loves to swim and
dance, and Is unmarried. Besides
being college graduates most Of the
girls have either had some previous
training in Japanese or Chinese, or
were Phi Beta Kappas in their I'M
dergraduate days at one OF the more
than 40 schools and universities rep
resented at the school.
While the girls are examining
their craniums full Of Japanese,
they live in a home-like atmosphere
In two former fraternity houses,
Lieut. q. g. Rehecca w. Smith,
formerly head of the English de-
partment at Texas Christian, keeps
the log and acts as chaperon at the
former Phi Gamma Delta house,
where All America "Whizzer"
Whites trophies remain, while En-
sign Tallulah P. Kinds Of Houston,
Tex, is officer in charge at the for
mer Sigma Phi Epsilon house. The
girls are free from 1880 Saturday
noon until o'clock sunday night
and may entertain men callers dur
ing the week in the assembly room
from 8 to 10 p. m. j.,
The houses are adjacent and
share the same garden and the
same mascot, o collie, called Naml-
San, which Is Jap for Honorable
Wave" OF course, she's a female.
Each home Is divided into decks
with a study hall at the end OF each
deck where the girls cram for the
three-hour exams that are given
every Saturday morning.
The daily routine at the school
calls for the strict training given
all WAVES. Reveille is at $3.50 and
at $3.50 room inspection. Clothes
must be neatly folded in dresser
drawers and beds made with hos
pital corners. The girls must look
"shipshape and seamanlike," or
criticisms are recorded on their
permanent Navy records. 49,
The women students have drill
twice a week and four hours OF
physical training, including calls
themes, softball, hiking, riding, has-
ketball, volleyball, field hockey and
swimming. While this Is little less
rigorous than the commando course
that the men take, it is designed 70
eouap WAVES for the school GRIND
and the duties to which they will
be assigned when they graduate
Ensign Fred L. Brannan, who Is In
charge of physical education, says;
almost as soon as I began teach
ing the women, they started asking
if they could try the commando
course. It's not easy, but I think
they'll enjoy it-occaSionally."
DEFENSE PARADE